Gardner Fire steps up Henry's Heroes fundraiser - who's Henry and why does he need a hero?

Young Henry Dernalowicz has a lot of supporters in the community, and those at the Gardner Fire Department are giving residents a chance to show their support through a unique fundraising campaign.

Henry, who will turn 3 in March, was diagnosed with a rare kidney cancer after his parents found a lump in his abdomen in December. Henry was diagnosed with Stage 2 Wilms Tumor, underwent a nephrectomy, and is currently undergoing several weeks of chemotherapy at the Jimmy Fund Clinic in Boston. Henry's progress can be monitored via the family's Henry's Heroes page on Facebook.

In addition to a GoFundMe account, which has so far raised over $22,000 for the Dernalowicz family, Gardner Firefighters Local 2215, the union that represents Gardner firefighters, has established a fundraiser for Henry, who is the son of City Councilor Alek Dernalowicz and his wife, Angela.

Union officials will be selling T-shirts at the Gardner Fire Department during regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with cash and Venmo accepted. All proceeds will go directly to the Dernalowicz family.

All money raised by T-shirt sales will go to help the Dernalowicz family

“The funds raised will go towards medical expenses, travel, stay-at-home necessities, and anything else that might come up on this journey,” said Angela.

Firefighter Matt Berner was one of the organizers of the fundraiser. He said he had been a friend of Angela’s brother for decades, and that Alek had several friends on the Gardner Fire Department, so there was no question that the city’s firefighters would find a way to help the Dernalowicz family.

“We decided to sell T-shirts – something we could wear while on shift and something we could sell to the public,” Berner said, adding that a previous department T-shirt fundraiser for breast cancer awareness had been very successful.

The shirts, which were provided and printed by Lisa McDowell at Shut-Out Screen Printing in Gardner, come in two colors: navy blue for fire department employees, and royal blue members of the public.

Berner said the goal of the fundraiser was to raise as much money as possible for the Dernalowicz family  during their time of need. He said about 50 shirts out of a first run of 200 had sold within about 24 hours after the fundraiser was announced. The shirts are being sold for $25 each.

“I would love to sell all 200 shirts, that would be a pretty good goal for us, but there’s no cap – it’s as many shirts as we can sell,” he said. “We’re in the business of helping people, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Gardner firefighters grateful for chance to help

The members of the Gardner Fire Department were pleased to have a chance to help Henry and his family, Berner said.

“We’re a pretty small department for being a city department; we have 40 guys, and most of us have young kids, so if anyone of us were in this situation, we’d all love a helping hand, and we got into this career to help people,” he said. “And us knowing who Alek is with him being a city councilor, and our relationship with him, we thought this was a good opportunity to help somebody out who helps us out when we need it.”

More: Gardner Fire responded to a near-record number of calls in 2023: what that means for you

Angela said she was grateful for the support shown to her family.

“We cannot thank our family, friends, community enough for their outpouring of thoughts, prayers and support,” she said.

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This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Gardner Fire Department fundraiser for Henry's Heroes