Roughly 150 community members who attended a fundraiser benefiting Brody Hamilton, a boy from Onalaska who is currently battling brain cancer, raised at least $28,000 on Saturday, Oct. 19.

Fundraiser organizers had tallied approximately $27,700 of the donations as of Monday morning and expected the final total to exceed $28,000.

A special raffle item put together by Brody and Tylie Tobin, another young Lewis County local also battling cancer, raised $1,900 directly for the pair’s brain tumor team at Seattle Children’s Hospital to help further their research.

The rest of the proceeds go directly to Brody and his family to help them with expenses such as hospital bills, lodging and transportation as they continue down Brody’s brain cancer journey.

Brody is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments and, according to his family, is responding well. They ask that people continue praying for Brody as he goes through the next round of chemotherapy.

“Last night was simply amazing,” Brody’s mom, Grace Hamilton, said of the event in a Facebook post on Sunday, Oct. 20. “The amount of love our family felt by our community that just wants to show up and support people going through the unimaginable … It's humbling, to say the least. It’s overwhelming. There is no way possible to show our gratitude. We can just say thank you all so much for coming to love on us.”

Saturday’s fundraiser, held at Jester’s Auto Museum and Event Center in Chehalis, included a wide variety of silent auction items, a dessert dash, raffles, music by folk duo Danika & Benny, dinner by JJ’s To Go and bar top service by Jennifer O’Dell. The event was MC’d by Kyle Markstrom.

Markstrom and Brody’s family additionally thanked Mary Reaves and Omroa Bhagwandin for their work in organizing the event, and the business owners and individuals who donated silent auction items and desserts.

“These events cannot be successful without all of the people who volunteer and pitch in. ‘Many hands make light work,’” Markstrom said in a Facebook post on Sunday. “Brody’s family, friends and the community stepped up big. That's what it's all about.”

Those who missed Saturday’s fundraiser but still want to donate can do so via GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/2a428eff or Venmo at BrodyStrong13.