Community comes out to help Kuchma family this Christmas

Diane, Natalie, Tyler (back), Carter, Tyler, Hailey and a crouching Jeff Skubowius, treasurer of the Shakespeare Optimist Club, pose for the camera.

Members of the Shakespeare Optimist Club were again in a giving mood this Christmas, focusing on the Kuchma family.

Shakespeare’s Tyler and Diane Kuchma got the news in September that their seven-year-old son Carter had been diagnosed with leukemia. It wasn’t long until friends and neighbours were ready to heed the call to help, as well as local service clubs.

Jeff Skubowius, treasurer for the local Optimist Club, was on hand after the village’s Santa Claus parade, with a cheque for $4,400 that he presented to the Kuchma family to help out with expenses incurred with many trips to the hospital.

The money not only came from the Optimist Club, but also from a local beef farmer near the village of Harmony, Ed Jeffrey, who along with his family, donated his winnings from a recent Shakespeare Optimist club draw (both of $2,200).

The local Shakespeare Men’s club has also been part of the giving, as all proceeds from their October Halloween Dance, brought in just short of $7,000 for the family. The Shakespeare Community Athletic Association (SCAA) have also been very generous, along with the church congregation at Shakespeare Presbyterian Church.

The Kuchma family is thanking everyone for all the love and support that has been shown to them and Carter. With a smile and a tear, they said the areas timely generosity will never be forgotten.