Organizers are gearing up for a benefit auction and pulled pork diner this Saturday to help Layton Hoyer of Diamond.
Hoyer was diagnosed with testicular cancer on Feb. 8 of this year. He has no insurance.
The event kicks off with a biscuits and gravy breakfast at 8 a.m., followed by a 3-on-3 basketball tournament (teams are to show up at 8:30 a.m. and the tourney begins at 9 a.m.). The silent auction (need not be present to win) will commence at 10 a.m. and ends at 6:30 p.m., along with a live auction at 6 p.m. A dinner will be served from 3-7 p.m. All events are at Diamond High School.
“(Hoyer) works on a farm between Sarcoxie and Diamond. He is a hard working kid, and he will do anything for anybody,” said Susan VanLue, one of the organizers. “He is single, but dating a girl for about three years now. He is a good kid, hard working. Loves to hunt, he is an outdoors person.”
Silent auction items include gift certificates, hair products and other items. The live auction consists of hunting trips, fishing trips, duck hunting trip and .410 shotgun, and a elk hunt in New Mexico, valued at $15,000.
The cost for a basketball team is $45 per team, and the winner gets its money back.
Also, a raffle for a .22 rifle will be drawn on Saturday. They also have a half of a hog to be raffled off. Concessions will be sold throughout the day. VanLue is pleased with the response thus far.
“So far, everything has surpassed everything they had expected as far as donations for the auction and the number of teams that have signed up, donated money into the checking account,” she said. “We are hoping for 200-300 people in and out on Saturday, but more would be ice cream on the cake.”
Donations are still being accepted. There is also a checking account set up in Hoyer’s name at Community Bank and Trust’s Diamond location. All proceeds will go back to Hoyer.
