October 14, is the third annual “Our Sunflower Friends” event. Our Sunflower Friends is a non-profit 501(c )3 faith based organization that raises money throughout the year and especially during the main event in October for families with children who are battling disease or face hardship due to a life changing accident. This year Our Sunflower Friends is sponsoring two little boys both who are battling cancer.

One is Adam Keller. Adam is 3 years old and has been fighting Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma for a year now. He has done well with the 5 rounds of chemo, tumor removal and stem cell transplant and has recently completed antibody therapy. He is now in his last 6 months of treatment in becoming cancer free.

The other little boy is Parker. He was born on April 9, 2015. When he was 6 months old he developed a lazy eye. His mother, Leslie, became concerned and took him to see the doctor. It turns out that Parker has a rare cancer called Bilateral Retinoblastoma. Parker has received treatments and surgery in the last 6 months to remove his worst eye to keep the cancer from spreading. Good news is since surgery the tumor has not spread nor grown in size, all which is very good news for Parker. Leslie, being a single mother, faces many difficulties and hardships while striving to meet the needs for Parker in his treatments and continual battle against cancer.

All of these procedures are very costly. All of the money raised by Our Sunflower Friends goes to the families. With your help they can meet their goal and mission in making life a little easier and less stressful for these two families.

The event on Oct. 14 is a two part event held at the Ellis County Expo located at 2300 US 287 in Waxahachie. The daytime portion between 11am and 4pm is for children and adults alike. It is $5 at the gate for ages 13 and up. The event will include Video Game Truck, Balloon Launch, Rock Wall Climbing, Bounce Houses, Pony Rides, Face Painting, Live Magic Show, Fire Trucks for the kids to sit in and climb on and Stuff n’ Go Animal. There will be a Brisket Cook off with a 60/40 cash split. Also a Chili CASI sanctioned registered cook-off event, so if you need points, here’s your chance to rake some in close to home. Winners for the cook offs will be announced at 3pm.

The second part of the event will be from 5pm to 10pm. It will be for ages 16 and up. This portion will include Casino Night with food, drinks and a live band. The Ellis County Expo is a BYOB facility, so please feel free to Bring Your Own Beverage/Beer of your choice. There will be door prizes for raffle, including a $2000 vacation package of your choosing for one lucky winner. The Casino tickets are $50 each and includes $500 in Casino Bucks, a meal, drinks and entertainment by the Stratoblasters band.

To purchase casino or raffle tickets, please call 972 567-8975.

Please come and have fun at this event to help two families have a better life.

Go to their website or Facebook to learn more about the organization and get involved if you would like to help.