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| A Young Survivor and His Cause |
Twin teenage brothers Richie and Robbie Iest had a tradition of going to the Chowchilla Fair each spring to sell their family's prized heifers.
But last year those plans changed. Richie was having severe back pain and was brought into Valley Children's Emergency Department. He was later diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma and started chemotherapy the next night.
Richie spent most of that summer in the Hospital's ICU and Craycroft wing in the care of Drs. Vinod Balasa and Faisal Razzaqi. Three months after he was diagnosed, Richie got a clean scan and was cancer free, just in time to start his freshman year of high school with his brother.
When they returned to the Fair last spring, Richie told his story to the crowd and announced all proceeds from this year's heifer would be donated to Valley Children's oncology department. The heifer raised $21,275. When Mr. Greg Hostetler of Dos Palos heard about Richie's idea and the community's generosity, he graciously agreed without Richie's knowledge to match the proceeds of the auction to bring the grand total to an astounding $42,550.
On August 9, Richie and his family came to the Hospital to present their check. He was overwhelmed to learn of Mr. Hostetler's matching donation.
We would like to thank Richie Iest and the entire Iest family for their continued generosity to Valley Children's, and to Greg Hostetler for his amazing gift to support the efforts of a high school student who was trying to make a difference in the community.
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