ANDOVER – The most important ingredient at a spaghetti dinner Saturday, Feb. 14, in Andover wasn’t tomato sauce or pasta, but generosity.
People showed up to the benefit dinner at Andover Christian Church to help Zelda Kovach, 5, who has an inoperable brain tumor and Level 3 autism.
Her parents, Mathew and Katherinne, were amazed by the show of support for the charitable effort, put on by Pymatuning Valley Ruri-teens and the Laker Ruritans. At least 200 attended.
“It’s phenomenal,” Mathew said. “I’m at a loss for words.”
He added that it was “definitely” a community-driven event.
“The community came out and showed their support for a child that really needed a boost at this time in her life,” he said.
Katherinne thought the turnout was amazing.
“We’re so speechless just by the donation, by the amount of people that came to support us,” she said.
The money raised will go toward a special bed for Zelda equipped with sensors that costs $12,000 that insurance has not paid for. In addition, Mathew said the proceeds will be used for a feeding chair, medical stroller and making a Make a Wish playhouse safe for Zelda. The playhouse is expected to arrive in May.
In addition to the spaghetti dinner benefit, The Ruri-teens and the Ruritans also held a raffle featuring two prizes, a 20-inch Blackstone grill or an Ohio State gift package, while the Ruritans also held a gun raffle.
That’s wasn’t all.
Donations were also received, including $15,000 from the Andover Eagles and another $1,000 from the Andover Eagles Ladies Auxiliary.
At the spaghetti dinner benefit, an oversized $30,000 ceremonial check was presented to Zelda and her parents.
When some additional proceeds are counted, the total amount raised from the overall charitable was about $32,000, according to Linda Dotterweich, a Laker Ruritan member.
She thought the amount was astounding.
“We went over our goal, but that’s good for the family,” she said.
Laker Ruritans’ President Roy Dotterweich said the benefit dinner was a real team effort.
“Everybody had a job,” he said, noting this ran the gamut from cooking spaghetti to making salads.
There were several comments on the Ruritans’ Facebook page about the effort.
The Colebrook Community Center offered kudos for a “wonderful and great job to everyone who has worked on this for the family.”
Karen Dewey wrote, “So many hands came together to make this happen. We are blessed. A labor of love for Zelda and her family.”
“My eyes are watering. What a blessing. So thankful for this community,” Christy Davis said.
Christy Paul posted, “Amazing!!! Way to go Laker Ruritans and teens!!!!!!”
Mathew and Katherinne hope this year can be a healing one for Zelda, giving her a chance to just be a kid.
Fueling that hope is news that Zelda’s tumor is stable.
“For the past four years Zelda has been on different treatments for her brain tumor,” Katherinne wrote in an update she recently posted on Facebook. “She’s had appointment after appointment scheduled with various specialists for various issues, oftentimes having more than one appointment per week. Well, Zelda had an MRI yesterday and we’re happy to say the results are good. The tumor is stable and has been during the time she’s been on traditional chemo. Zelda’s team and her father and I feel comfortable stopping chemo for the time being and just monitoring her tumor with scans every three months. Her new oncologist didn’t feel comfortable with the two-year chemotherapy plan especially given how hard it’s been on Zelda’s body. So, for the first time in four years Zelda gets to live as close to a normal childhood as she can. No more nausea, weight loss or hair loss and now her body has a chance to flourish and finally get its iron deficiency under control.”
