For the past two Saturdays, baseball or softball teams have converged at Morse Park, not only to play but also to raise funds for Eric’s Survivors, a Newton County Relay For Life team.

“This is our first year for the tournament,” said Heather Reiboldt, co-organizer of the ball tourn-ament. “The proceeds will go toward the 2009 Relay.”

The Relay For Life team is named for Eric Honeycutt, who passed away from Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL). He was born May 30, 1980, and passed away on Aug.
28, 1987.

“We had nine boys’ teams and nine girls’ teams,” Reiboldt said. “We did a round robin for the teams. I think that we had a good turnout this year, considering it is our first year.
Hopefully we can spread the word about how it went this year and we will more involved next year.”

Later this year, Reiboldt is hoping to have a co-ed adult tournament, the date has not yet been set.

ALL is a common leukemia, with about 4,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States, according to a previous article in the Neosho Daily News. Most cases of ALL occur in children under the age of 10, but can appear in all age groups. It is not inherited and it is caused by a change in the cells in the bone marrow. It is a disease that gets worse quickly.

“He was diagnosed when he was 2 years and four months old with leukemia,” said Karen Honeycutt, Eric’s mother. “Eric had low grade fever, lymph nodes swollen, and severe fatigue.”

Eric lived for five years with leukemia.

“Eric’s leukemia was the most common type of cancer that they have,” Honeycutt said.
“But for some reason, he did not just respond. He went through chemo and radiation.
He never did get off medicine, he relapsed every time.”

Eric attended the old Benton Elementary School and would have gone into second grade.

After attending a Relay event, Honeycutt decided to start Eric’s Survivors. They have been doing the Relay for the past four years.

But there is something very unique about their team.

Four of the members are fellow classmates of Eric’s. Honeycutt also said they, along with the other members of church or friends and family, walk during the Newton County Relay For Life event.

“We have probably 25 or more members this year, a lot of church members and family.
It keeps us growing,” Honeycutt said.

Honeycutt said she also does this Relay to honor and remember her son.

“Losing a child is a horrendous experience. I can’t explain on what it is like,” she said.
“Just the thought of another child going though it. If we could find a cure, we will just have a party every year, because we just don’t want anyone else to have to go through what Eric had to go through.”

This tournament is the first big fundraiser for the team. In the past, they have raised money from the sale of some items and even a pizza night. But most of the money has come from the dedication of the team members asking for donations from residents.

“It is a dynamite team, they do a great job,” Honeycutt noted. “We have raised, in the last four years, probably somewhere in the neighborhood of  $16,000.”

This year’s fundraiser tournament is a head start for next year’s total.

“We just want to raise money for next year. This was Heather’s brainstorm and she has done very good with it,” Honeycutt said. “She also has some ideas for future things in the fall that Eric survivors will be doing. So you will hear a lot about Eric’s Survivors this next year.”

Relay For Life is a fun-filled, overnight event. Teams of eight to 15 members gather with tents and sleeping bags to participate in the largest fundraising walk in the nation.
Relay For Life unites friends, families, businesses, hospitals, schools and churches ... people from all walks of life. Teams seek sponsorship prior to the Relay, all with the goal of supporting a cure for cancer.

Relay For Life began nationally in 1984, when one person raised $27,000 for the cause to defeat cancer. Today, Relays are held nationwide and last 12 hours.