Fundraiser planned for local 3-year-old diagnosed with leukemia
Apr. 4—ROCHESTER — Donna Kostel has been working to fundraise for her granddaughter with Type B cell Leukemia.
No one was expecting leukemia when 3-year-old Violet Marquardt got sick in January. Marquardt is described as a sweet and energetic child by Kostel and despite the rest of the family crying, she always smiles.
"It's still a fairly new diagnosis but she fell sick in the middle of January and it wasn't really anything chronic," said Kostel. "It was just a fever for any unknown reason. Took her in because it had been three days and no break in the fever and then this was the diagnosis. So you know by mid to the third week in January, there was a diagnosis and treatment started and since then it's just been watching her go through the stages of chemo."
For Kostel and the family it feels like every time they make progress and there are also setbacks. They are all trying to remain positive through it all and want to continue making memories through everything going on.
"It's an emotional journey. You take one step forward and five steps back. One week, her numbers look good, the next week they're not. It's forward and backward. A couple of times she hasn't been able to get her treatment just because her numbers have been off."
To help offset some of the hospital costs and allow her parents to spend more time with Violet during this time, Kostel has been working to help fundraise on their behalf.
There is a GoFundMe in place
for Violet where nearly $9,000 was raised as of the morning of April 4.
Kostel has also talked to local businesses to gather baskets and donations to host a large fundraising event at the Eagles Club in Rochester on April 6, 2023 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
"So we're gonna have a bake sale," said Kostel. "We'll just have sale prices on so anybody can come and help themselves and buy fresh baked goods. I'm going to have a silent auction. And right now I'm at about 150 baskets which is quite a few and I got some really nice, unique stuff."
They will have sloppy joes, baked beans, chips and water served for lunch and there will be a raffle drawing at 3:30 p.m. They have six raffle items, including a six-hour tattoo session with Ash Tattoo and a weeklong stay in a cabin at Pioneer campground.
Kostel and her family have been overwhelmed by the community support. They are grateful for the donations and efforts by the community to help their family.
"I have four daughters," said Kostel. "My three daughters are helping with meals or co-workers are helping and providing the items and basket items, but I've been pretty much organizing most of it. It's been very busy but I'm very, very fortunate that I had the opportunity to do this for my granddaughter. It is a lot of work and it will be a little relief when it's over but I'm getting excited and I'm hoping for a great turnout."
In addition to the fundraising efforts this weekend at the Eagles Club, Texas Roadhouse is also holding a fundraiser on April 16, 2024. Anyone, dine-in or takeout, can show the flyer for Violet's fundraiser and 10% of their order will be donated to Violet and her family. They will also match up to $1,000 to donate as well. They will be present at the event on Saturday, handing out flyers.
"We get together with a limited family and we're still making memories and taking pictures and she's one thing that always stands out is she's always smiling," said Kostel. "She's smiling. So she's a tough cookie. She's hanging in there, but we've got to get her up over the fence. We're still trying to get there."
