'Care for Kara' fund-raiser set

BOB MARTINSON/Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - A benefit spaghetti dinner and auction will be held tomorrow night to raise money for a leukemia-striken 17-year-old Burchell High School student.

The benefit for Kara MacIver is scheduled for 5 p.m.-9 p.m. at the Wasilla VFW, 301 E. Lakeview Ave., off Knik-Goose Bay Road.

Kara's friends and family hope to use the money to pay some of the many costs involved in getting Kara a desperately needed bone-marrow transplant, which could occur in June at Seattle's Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center.

In addition to those costs, Kara cannot continue to live in her parents' home until it is either completely rebuilt or they build a new house to live in, because her immune system will be weakened upon her return. She cannot live near carpeting, or the presence of black mold, which is found in many older homes.

Kara has an 18-month-old son and has been attacking a huge load of credits, pursuing her diploma from Burchell High School this year.

"Kara is an inspiration to all the other kids at the school and doesn't want to be a burden on anyone," said Becky Day, a family friend. The June date for the transplant was chosen because Kara desperately wants to graduate, but will apparently fall just short of making it this semester. "She has worked so hard to try and catch up her credits and she took 21 credits last time, getting straight A's, but her counselor said she will still fall about six credits short," Day said. "She is such a good person and is a totally great mother to her little boy."

Kara's mother, Dawn, said Kara "had to miss a year of school during her pregnancy."