SNOQUALMIE VALLEY – As an ex-Army man and a registered nurse, Ed Heffernan doesn’t seem like someone who would fall ill easily.
But unfortunately cancer makes no exceptions for the healthy and strong.
Heffernan, 33, was diagnosed with multiple melanoma last February and will undergo a bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy over the next three months.
Enter: Christine Chartier.
The founder of Operation: Thank-a-GI was moved by news of her childhood friend’s illness and will hold a spaghetti dinner fund raiser and raffle drawing to assist Heffernan and his family with the costs of his cancer treatment.
“I was inspired to help Ed because he is a veteran in need,” Chartier said. “That is part of the ‘Operation: Thank-a-GI’ program; not only helping our GIs, but helping veterans, most especially veterans in need.”
The “Spaghetti Feed/Raffle Fundraiser” on Nov. 28 will involve much more than pasta, with performances by Harley Brumbaugh’s Voices of the Valley, singer/performer Steve Thoreson, and James the Puppeteer and his Marionettes.
A raffle with a wide variety of prizes will also take place with 20 percent of the proceeds going to Heffernan and his family and 80 percent to VFW Post 9476 and its Ladies Auxiliary, which also helps GIs and veterans in need.
Some raffle prizes include an overnight stay and breakfast for two at the Salish Lodge and Spa worth $400; six weeks of group dance lessons for two at Dance All Night; a manicure and pedicure at Bella Vita Salon and Spa; two gift packages with tickets for the “Strike the Harp” Christmas concert; CDs from Fred Coleman and the Seattle Choral Company; a $25 gift certificate from Snoqualmie Falls Brewery Co. and much more.
Chartier founded Operation: Thank-a-GI to help GIs and veterans by organizing food and item drives for putting together care packages to send to GIs stationed overseas; raise awareness of what the local VFW Post 9476 in Snoqualmie does; and highlight what the other VFW posts across the nation are doing to help “these beloved men and women.”
Now a Wenatchee resident, Heffernan grew up in the Valley and graduated from Mount Si High School in 1990. He joined the Army after graduating and was sent to Yugoslavia for a peace-keeping operation in 1995 and was in basic training during Desert Storm. Heffernan was released from the Army in 1998 and studied premed at Central Washington University and Wenatchee Valley College.
He married his wife Becky, also an RN, and now has two young children.
Heffernan is currently employed at Lake Chelan Community Hospital, though for now his family is staying with his parents in North Bend.
The procedure Heffernan will undergo can cost anywhere from $80,000 to $250,000. Luckily, his insurance covers much of that cost. Heffernan said he’s very thankful for Chartier’s help during this difficult time.
“I was very touched because we knew each other growing up,” Heffernan said. “I thought it was wonderful that she took it upon herself to do that.”
The spaghetti dinner will take place Nov. 28 from 4-7 p.m. at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, 39025 S.E. Alpha St., Snoqualmie, and is sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Mount Si Post No. 9476. A free-will donation is suggested and tickets for the raffles cost $1 each.
* For information on the event, contact Chartier at (425) 888-9152.
Staff Writer Melissa Kruse can be contacted at (425) 888-2311 or by e-mail at melissa.kruse@valleyrecord.com.
