Several community groups, including the Westminster Church, a Nazarene church, will be hosting an Aug. 8 benefit for State Patrol Trooper Gary Hutchinson, who has with mantle cell lymphoma .
The benefit will be from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Venue, at 120th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard.
The benefit, which is free, will have two stages of live entertainment as well as snacks, prizes and raffles.
Those attending can contribute to The Hutch Fund, set up to help defray the medical costs of Hutchinson, who has undergone extensive chemotherapy treatment for five months and is expected to undergo at least seven more months of treatment.
Hutchinson and his wife, Kim, have a four-year-old daughter, Courtnie.
Much of the effort on behalf of Hutchinson is being headed by Mary Stoneback.
Stoneback is a triplet who with her two identical sisters forms a unique group of trumpet players who perform as the “Stoneback Sisters.”
Stoneback said that the entertainment will last three hours and include a professional jazz combo, a State Patrol band and other entertainers, including trumpet solos.
Bill Bone, Hutchinson’s father-in-law, said Hutchinson, who is based at the State Patrol’s Commerce City office, developed a lump in his throat earlier this year that became so large that it changed his voice.
After extensive tests, lymphoma was diagnosed and Hutchinson began chemotherapy treatment immediately.
Mantle cell lymphoma is a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that attacks lymph nodes in the neck, armpit, liver and groin.
Hutchinson has Stage 4 lymphoma, which means that the lymphoma has spread beyond the lymph nodes in his neck and groin to other sites in his body.
Bone said that Hutchinson went back into the hospital Tuesday and began extremely aggressive chemo treatment.
“He is a big tough guy, but this stuff (the chemo) just about gets you. They say if the cancer doesn’t get you, the chemo will,” Bone said.
Bone said Hutchinson has bills of approximately $20,000, stemming from deductibles and co-pays.
The treatments have kept Hutchinson from working overtime, which has also hurt the family’s financial stability.
Bone said his son-in-law has been able to remain at full salary because of the generosity of other state troopers, who pool comp time and sick time which can be utilized by other troopers if they become ill.
Already, $15,000 has been raised to help cover Hutchinson’s medical costs, including $8,000 raised at a golf tournament last Sunday and another $7,000 in private donations.
“If we can raise another $5,000, I think we will be there,” said Bone.
Employees of Starbucks District 460, which includes stores in Broomfield, Westminster and Arvada, are helping organize the event.
The Stoneback triplets have played with bands, orchestras and artists across the United States, including the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, the John Philip Sousa Band and the United States Air Force Academy Band of the West.
Another fundraiser – a spaghetti feed – will be held at 6 p.m. Sept. 5 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9741 at 700 Carbondale Drive in Dacono.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
