Fundraiser continues to support Stand by Me

By Robert Williams

Editor

Ten years ago, Sophia Strand started raising funds to fight cancer in first grade when her teacher Brandi Trapp was diagnosed with breast cancer a few days before school started. Her first run at fundraising raised $400, which she gave to Trapp to help with chemotherapy treatments and helping with expenses of a newborn baby boy.

Strand, now a high school junior, has built a legacy of giving that surpassed $50,000 in total in 2023 and that number will continue to grow after the fifth annual Hornets Hoops and Hope fundraiser that was held Friday, Feb. 23, to coincide with a doubleheader of basketball games.

The original event was planned for late January, but an influenza outbreak pushed the date to the end of the season.

“It was already set up so the only thing that is different is the teams that we’re playing,” Strand said.

Strand has gotten help from family, community and fellow students to raise money for the Stand by Me foundation.

“It’s the fifth annual, so we’re really excited,” she said. “The T-shirts were designed by fellow junior Emma Ketter. She is an artistic gift.”

Stand by Me is a local charity created by the Helmers family of Frazee in 2019 that provides financial aid through grants to parent(s)/guardian(s) who need to leave their employment, which results in lost wages; to provide in-hospital support to their child during long hospital admissions due to chemotherapy or medical procedures related to cancer.

The Helmers eldest son Vincent was diagnosed with brain cancer during his senior year at Frazee High School. In spring 2019, Vincent underwent brain surgery, and he was comatose for two weeks. 

Lying there in his hospital bed, his blood pressure would become elevated, and the only thing that stabilized it was the feeling of one of his parents, holding his hand. That precious physical presence became the driving force behind Stand by Me.

Strand and the Helmers have a personal connection as well.

“I’ve always loved Frazee and when something like this started up around here it was no question that I wanted to help locally,” she said. “Actually, the first family that they helped was my little cousin Grantley (Johnson), who passed away a month after Vincent so mine and the Helmers’ family have been close since that. It was a no-brainer that I need to help them.”

“We’re trying to get as much money raised as possible,” said Strand.

To aid in that effort, a new feature was brought to this year’s event in a live auction held by Austin Bachmann of Bachmann Auctioneers LLC, for what Strand noted was to help sell larger items, along with some signed pieces.

“All the money goes to Stand by Me,” said Strand.

Strand is an unusual and special high school student. Many student-athletes have left a legacy at their school through feats in academics or in athletics, but Strand has continued to make a big contribution to her community and people in need. Philanthropy is not a regular path to travel through high school for most kids and despite being an incredible example to her fellow students, the reigning Miss Frazee Teen does not see it as anything more than helping out.

“This has just become my normal and a part of what I am and okay, let’s go do it again,” she said.

There is a corresponding fundraising going on in town, hosted and sponsored by the local VFW in Frazee to help cover expenses for Strand’s upcoming summer trip with the Junior Team USA volleyball squad to Italy. 

She made a similar trip in 2023 to the Dominican Republic. This year’s excursion includes a tournament in Rome and a history tour in Milan. Strand is the only player returning to her Team USA squad from 2023.

An envelope fundraiser is posted at the Frazee VFW Post 7702 that continues until the end of March. The VFW has noted Strand’s efforts in the past in their advertising of the fundraiser stating, “This girl has done so many things for Frazee at such a young age, she deserves our community’s support.”

Visit the VFW for more information and to contribute.