Heart and resolve: A young boy and his family need community’s help

You might not realize it, but sometimes it does take a community to raise a child — or at least to let a family know that they are not alone.

When Wayne County learned that little Cooper Bryan, this year’s Relay for Life youth chairman, was battling cancer, hundreds of people stepped up to help him and others like him. His parents said they have been astonished by the number of people who have made that brave little boy one of their own.

And now there is another little boy who needs his community.

Spencer Rollins isn’t even really old enough to realize that his heart doesn’t quite work right. He probably knows he is in the hospital and that he doesn’t feel well, but he doesn’t understand the words that his doctors use or remember the surgeries he has had to endure in the two years since his birth.

The son of Air Force pilot Andy Rollins and his wife, Katie, after all, is only 2 years old.

The Rollins family has not had it easy.

Gas is expensive and there have had to be many trips to Duke Hospital in Durham for surgeries, appointments and everything else.

Imagine how much money that takes — just to be able to be there to hold your son’s hand.

And imagine also what it must be like to wonder if this procedure will be the magic one that will allow him to come home.

To look at Spencer, you wouldn’t know that he is battling. You can’t really tell that he is anything but a happy, healthy baby boy.

But look into his parents’ eyes and you will see that the road has not been easy.

So, here’s where we are.

One of this community’s Air Force family is sick and his parents are trying hard to be able to afford all that goes along with taking care of a sick child.

This is a community of great heart and resolve — one that steps up when there is a need.

We are all struggling with increasing gas prices and all the other expenses that come with running a family. But there is probably a little something we could do to help make life a little easier for the Rollins family — even if it means sacrificing a little ourselves.

Even if the donation is merely $5 — one less cup of coffee or one more meal at home — it is a start — one gallon of gas closer for Spencer’s mom and dad, one less worry.

Cooper Bryan’s family has seen just what this community can do when it puts its mind to a task.

Let’s show Andy and Katie, too, that little Spencer is one of us — and that we are here for him.

If you can make a donation, please do — or if a card to the family is all you can manage — that’s just as important. A kind word and knowing you are not alone can work wonders.

Donations should be sent to the Spencer Rollins Fund, P.O. Box 1107, Goldsboro, N.C. 27533.

Published in Editorials on May 31, 2008 11:45 PM