'Incredibly blessed': Residents, leaders rally to support Port Orange girl's cancer battle

PORT ORANGE — Surrounded by a throng of well-wishers, Kim Teachman struggled to find words for her gratitude at a Friday benefit auction to support her daughter Jenna’s battle against pancreatic cancer.

“We are so incredibly blessed, thankful for the support and the love from everyone in this town, in the United States,” she said outside Giuseppe’s Steel City Pizza, where hundreds arrived to participate in a fundraising auction to help the family.

“It’s incredible,” said Teachman, standing next to her husband, Matt. “The support, and the love, is just the most we’ve ever felt and it’s keeping us thriving.”

The event was the latest community fundraising push in a grassroots effort that has already generated nearly $45,000 through a GoFundMe campaign to help support the family as Jenna, 10, a student at Sweetwater Elementary School, undergoes a series of chemotherapy treatments at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.

The results so far have been encouraging, her mother said.

“She just finished her fourth round of chemo and her numbers are going down,” Teachman said, as her daughter played with friends outside the restaurant and reacted with shy, happy smiles to all the attention. “It’s working. The power of prayer is working.”

Benefit auction goal: $50,000 to help Jenna's family

Organizers of Friday’s event hoped to raise $50,000 from an impressive array of items displayed for auction at half a dozen long tables on the restaurant’s screened patio. There were no shortage of bidders as parked vehicles lined the streets surrounding the restaurant after the parking lot overflowed.

The crowd was a mix of neighbors, families from Jenna’s school community, strangers and Volusia County leaders that included Sheriff Mike Chitwood, auto dealer Randy Dye, state Sen. Tom Wright and Halifax Health CEO Jeff Feasel.

Dye, who served as the evening’s host and auctioneer, became emotional as he surveyed the impressive turnout for the benefit.

“This is what’s best about our community,” Dye said, “when people can set aside all the things that divide us for all the things that bring us together. Tonight, we’re going to celebrate this little girl and help this family.”

The list of auction items ranged from gift certificates for horseback riding and parasailing, to fishing charters, mobile vehicle detailing, art work, spa treatments, jewelry, NASCAR memorabilia and an electric guitar autographed by rocker George Thorogood.

“It’s amazing,” said Angel Baum, a friend of the family’s through school activities who organized the event with Tessa Dado, another family friend. “There was no hesitation from anyone to contribute.”

In all there were roughly 150 items, far surpassing the initial goal of 20.

Chitwood donated an opportunity to participate in a SWAT team or marine unit experience, as well as two of his namesake bobblehead dolls. The latter items fetched $2,000 each in the early bidding.

Introducing himself to Jenna, the sheriff also extended her a special invitation.

“How would you like to go up in my helicopter?” he asked. “It’s brand new. You can take anyone you want. When do you want to go?”

For Jenna, a fall off a horse led to rare diagnosis

A fourth-grade honor student, Jenna’s early, exceedingly rare childhood diagnosis of Stage 4 pancreatic cancer might not have happened if not for a fateful fall off a horse two days before Thanksgiving.

Already a veteran around horses, Jenna was riding at a canter on Scarlett, a favorite retired thoroughbred at a horse camp in Samsula, when one of her feet came out of the stirrup. She fell off, rolled on the ground and broke her wrist.

A relatively minor mishap, the fall plunged the Teachman family into an unimaginable series of medical tests, procedures and evaluations after she initially underwent X-rays for a potential broken rib.

The results revealed an unthinkable diagnosis.

Over the holidays, the Teachmans endured a stressful blur of appointments with pediatric oncologists, CT scans, PET scans, a biopsy and surgery to install a port in her chest for chemo.

Pancreatic carcinomas such as Jenna’s adenocarcinoma also are extremely rare, representing less than 5% of pediatric pancreatic tumors, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Statistically, malignant pancreatic tumors are virtually unheard of in children and adolescents, with an incidence of 0.46 cases per 1 million individuals younger than 30 years, according to the U.S. government’s National Cancer Institute.

The challenges have been easier to bear because of the outpouring of community support, concern that has extended across the nation after accounts of the family’s plight were published in both The News-Journal and USA Today, Kim Teachman said.

“We’ve heard from people as far away as South Dakota,” she said. “We’re able to be upbeat because of everyone expressing so much concern. Words can’t express our gratitude.”

Want to help?

If you’d like to contribute to the GoFundMe campaign to support Jenna Teachman’s family during her treatment for Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, visit GoFundMe.com and search supportteamjenna.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia County community turns out to support girl's cancer fight