YOUTH DONATES AUCTION PROCEEDS, $13,000 TO CANCER SOCIETY
Youth and 250 pound pig = $13,000 for American Cancer Society
Emotions were high in the livestock auction ring when Orelia “Ory” Rhodes donated all of the proceeds of her pig to the American Cancer Society today at the Merced County Spring Fair in Los Banos and at $50 a pound that comes to $13,000! Thirty-six members of the community stepped up to purchase the 250 pound pig. Originally there were six buyers that had pledged a total of $8 per pound; Parreira Almond, Dennis & Janet Soares Farming, Allen Von Allman, Joel & LaVonne Allens, Eric & Erlene Fontana and RPAC, LLC.
When Rhodes left the ring everyone started holding up there numbers. “The auctioneer asked what was going on and the crowd replied that they weren’t done,” stated Spring Fair Coordinator Patti Toscano. “People wanted to contribute and be a part of what Rhodes was doing which meant thirty more buyers and a total of $50 a pound.”
A regular volunteer at the Los Banos Memorial Hospital, she was especially moved this year by the children fighting cancer at the hospital, “I’d like to become a pediatrician and help kids,” shared Rhodes. Rhodes, who just celebrated her 17th birthday at the fair on Thursday, has had three family members die of cancer over the past
few years. When asked why she wanted to donate the $13,000 to the American Cancer Society she simply stated, “I thought maybe this money can help someone.” “The kids involved in the 4-H and FFA programs never cease to amaze me with their maturity and worldly thinking,” commented Spring Fair Manager Ron Brandt. “For a high school student to come up with the idea of donating her hard earned income, not just a part of but all, to the American Cancer Society so that the lives of others can be touched, is not something that you usually think of coming from a 17 year old.”
A Dos Palos FFA member, Rhodes is also Fair Royalty at the Merced County Spring Fair as the Miss May Day 1st Runner-up. Incidentally, she is no stranger to giving. Last year Rhodes donated the proceeds of her livestock project to Valley Children’s Hospital. In addition to being a Catapult Youth leader, she donates regularly to a number of community charities and shelters.
“I don’t keep track, I just do,” stated the humble teenager. When pressed for why she spends so much time volunteering she replied, “My Mom! She is the biggest giver ever and we grew up giving. I want to follow in her footsteps.”
