Fundraiser Saturday for preemie
Published 10:31 am Friday, September 26, 2008
Keziah Struyk won’t be able to hear the music played Saturday at a benefit in her name in Austin.
She’s in a hospital where she has been since birth.
Keziah was born 11 weeks early in July.
The premature baby is a patient at St. Marys Hospital in Rochester.
Friends and family have organized a benefit to raise funds to defray medical expenses incurred by the baby’s parents, Jim “Spanky” Struyk and Bridgette Johnson.
The benefit, a “Celebration of Life,” will be held from 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday at Whispering Pines Ranch Assisted Living (formerly the Sheriff’s Youth Program’s Boys Ranch) at 1916 Fourth St. S.E.
The entrance fee is $5 per person. Food will be available for a donation.
Full Circle, King Chubby, Anforuser, Right to Arm Bears and Rattlesnake Daddy will perform.
All proceeds will go to the family. The bands are donating their time and talents.
The music festival will be held outdoors, so partygoers are advised to bring lawn chairs and blankets. In the event of rain, it will be moved indoors to the gymnasium.
When the sun goes down Saturday, organizers plan to light a bonfire for everyone’s enjoyment.
Keziah is gaining weight, according to a family spokesperson, but her lungs are not developed to allow breathing on her own.
She is expected to be released from the St. Marys in late October or on her original due date.
The baby is the first-born child of her parents.