Preschoolers Raise $10,000 For Classmate Battling Rare Brain Cancer
REDDING, Calif. (CBS Local) -- Preschoolers in Northern California raised more than $10,000 from a hot cocoa stand for one of their classmates who is battling a rare brain cancer.
Jasper Mazzocco, who attends Redding Cooperative Preschool in Redding, has been away from school since November 2019, when doctors at UC Davis discovered he had a brain tumor the size of a tennis ball.
While Jasper was away fighting cancer, his classmates in Redding organized a hot cocoa fundraiser for him and his family on Jan. 10 called "Hot Cocoa for a Cure."
The children at the school and their families volunteered their time and supplies to hold the fundraiser outside of Trader Joe's and Dick's Sporting Goods.
Employees from a nearby Starbucks also helped run the hot cocoa stand and donated supplies.
Hundreds of people showed up to donate.
Jessica Stephens, Jasper's preschool teacher, says the fundraiser raised over $10,000.
"It's amazing, It's wonderful to see how much people care for people they don't know," she told KRCR. "There were stories throughout the day of people who came who were cancer survivors or who had lost children. People came from Burney [California], there are so many people we'd like to thank."
Jasper's mom said her son's tumor is shrinking with chemotherapy.
"He will need at at least one more cycle of chemo most likely two more before it will be safe to operate but all the doctors say this is the best possible response we could have hoped for," she wrote Jan. 12 on the family's GoFundMe page.
