More than 100 people turned out to Four Doors Down Restaurant in Mattituck last week to support 21-year-old Riverhead native Reilly Butler, who was recently diagnosed a rare type of brain cancer.
Her sister, Donna Butler, of Riverhead, organized the Rock for Reilly fundraiser in her honor.
“We raised more than $4,000 the night of the event,” said Butler.“It absolutely blows me away.”
The fundraiser benefitted DanceBlue, the children’s hematology and oncology clinic where her younger sister is being treated in Kentucky. Reilly was in her junior year at University of Kentucky when she was diagnosed in March.
The event had a suggested donation of $5 to enter, and featured an open mic with a long list of local artists waiting to play. There was also a Chinese auction with donated baskets, some from a little closer to home than others.
“We’ve had to go as far as Nassau county to pick up a basket from people that we don’t even really know,” Butler said. “We had donations coming online in from people who’ve never even met Reilly.”
It’s been an eye-opening experience in the two months since Reilly’s been diagnosed, Butler said.
“It’s different. When you see something online and it tugs at your heart strings, and you donate, that’s one thing,” she said. “But to be on the receiving end, when it’s your family… it’s amazing.”
At the end of the night, Butler and several family members shaved their heads as part of a donation to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.
“We made around $3,200 in the fundraiser for St. Baldrick’s,” Butler said, speaking of an online fundraiser to “sponsor” her head-shaving. The fundraiser ends today, and is currently at $3,190, a whopping 319 percent of its original goal. “Plus, we got several bags of hair to send to be made into wigs for kids.”
The “kids” were what inspired the donation to DanceBlue, Butler said in an interview several days ago.
“[The donation] was Reilly’s idea,” Butler said. “She said, ‘it would really help out the kids I see here in the hospital every day.’”
Reilly remains in good spirits, Butler said, with an attentive family and a good support system to help her through her first round of treatment, which she will finish in August.
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Courtney Blasl
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