Community Corner

Family's Struggle a Community's Concern

The Beef 'O' Brady's Bell Shoals family is cooking up a weekend of support for a young father who's facing a second fight against cancer. It starts with a student-faculty basketball game at Bloomingdale High.

 

The Bloomingdale community is invited this weekend to help support a young father and his family get through a second bout with cancer, with a student-faculty basektball game at the high school May 10 followed by a spirit night at the Beef 'O' Brady's on Bell Shoals Road in Valrico.

There, on Saturday, May 11, a yard sale begins at 7 a.m., followed by a host of family friendly activities starting at around noon, including a bouncy house, cotton candy and face-painting stations for kids.

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"Later in the evening there will be a DJ and a couple bands," added Kathryn Belcher, a server at Beef's, in an interview following her April 29 presentation to the FishHawk-Rotary Club, which meets at the restaurant at noon on Mondays.

The fundraiser is for Kim Jaqua — known to her Beef's customers as
K.J.. — and her finace, Roger L. Camille, the father of their 2-year-old child, Christian. Camille has been re-diagnosed with lymphoma cancer.

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Cards bearing green ribbons, in support of the fight against lymphoma, are for purchase to be hung throughout the Beef's establishment, founded in its Valrico location in 1985. The card notes that "all proceeds received are not-for-profit and wilbe contributed to the Camille Family  and the Camille Family Cancer Fund for support and lymphoma cancer awareness."

Also for sale, two different styles of green bracelets, for $1 and $3, respectively, bearing the words, "faith," "hope" and "love."

"Join us in helping K.J. and her family through this difficult time," reads the flyer Belcher handed out to the Rotarians this week. "Help this wonderful family pay medical and household expenses during his treatment, while he is unable to work."

Belcher noted that Jaqua has done "so much for this community, and for the customers who come here," to Beef 'O' Brady's on Bell Shoals Road.

"To see them struggle through cancer a second time is not easy," she said. "We want to help them thorugh it any way we can."

Toward that end, a bake sale will be ongoing at the student versus faculty basketball game scheduled for Bloomingdale High School on Friday night, May 10, starting at 7 p.m. A part of the proceeds from that event will benefit the cancer drive as well, Belcher said.

Donations can be made as well to the Camille Family Cancer Fund.

"Come out and help K.J. and her family and just have a great time," Belcher said. "Roger is a great guy, a great father and a great friend. He'd do anything for anybody, so let's help him out and show that we're a good community with heart."

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