SHELBY — After attending multiple benefits to support friends and neighbors, Katie Silcox said she never thought she’d be on the receiving end of an organized charity.
Silcox was diagnosed with a granulosa cell tumor in summer 2022 and had emergency surgery for a ruptured ovarian tumor.
“Then, the doctors did the pathology report and I found out it was cancer,” Silcox said. “It might not pop up again for five or 10 years, but the hard part is the unknown.”
After her diagnosis, Silcox’s niece Lexi Foley said she wanted to organize a benefit to help pay for her medical bills.
“When she found out she had cancer, I said we definitely need to do something because they don’t have health insurance,” Foley said. “The emergency surgery, the hospital stay and the ambulance ride was a lot happening.”
Foley organized a benefit for Silcox on Saturday at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Shelby. More than 100 people attended the benefit to raise money for Silcox through ticket sales, 50/50 raffle tickets and auction items.
“We got a lot of donations from people in Shelby and surrounding communities too, so we’ve been really fortunate,” Foley said. “There’s been so many businesses and people who have donated auction items, money or their time.
“It’s just been an emotional, mental and physical rollercoaster for Katie, so I know they appreciate it. We’re very, very thankful for everybody that’s coming tonight and who’s donated.”
Foley said she was thankful for Rich Banichar for volunteering to cook and organize the benefit dinner.
Banichar said his children went to Shelby High School with Silcox and the two families have known each other for years.
“Not long ago in this very hall, Katie and Zack had their wedding reception and they asked me to say a prayer for that,” Banichar said. “Today, I’m going to say a prayer again, so I must not have done too bad the first time.
“It seems like everybody’s one big family here today and that’s what we’ll all need to be to pray for Katie’s recovery.”
Banichar said he’s used to cooking food for large crowds, so he was happy to organize Saturday’s dinner.
“When something like this happens to a person, you look around and think it could happen to anybody — it could happen to my daughter, or anybody’s child, so you feel obligated to do whatever you can do,” he said.
Zack Silcox, Katie Silcox’s husband, said he wants to thank family, friends and strangers for attending the benefit, making donations and praying for her recovery.
“This is humbling for us,” he said. “We’re used to going to benefits for everybody else, and you don’t really think, ‘One day, this will be me,’ but here we are. People we don’t even know showed up to support us, and we’re so grateful.”
Donate on Venmo to @Katie-Silcox-Benefit.
