RANDOLPH – A group of committed high school students from Randolph Central School, their mentors and generous community members have made a difference in the life of a local family.

This year’s recipient of the Randolph Love Fund is Brynn Pagett, a ninth grade student at Randolph Central School who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis shortly following her birth.

Cystic fibrosis is the leading fatal genetic disease, affecting 30,000 children and adults in the United States alone. A defective gene causes abnormal sodium transportation in cell membranes, which creates thick sticky mucus in various glands throughout the body. The pancreas becomes obstructed, blocking important digestive enzymes and results in malabsorption and diabetes. The biggest concern is the thick mucus in the lungs that leads to chronic infections and loss of lung function.

Brynn’s condition requires her to do at least two half-hour breathing treatments a day and take many different medications to help keep the mucus moving and prevent infections. Yet, sometimes this is not enough and she needs to be admitted into the hospital for a “tune-up.” Brynn is currently back in Buffalo Children’s Hospital for one of those tune-ups. During this time, she is given powerful IV antibiotics and will do four breathing treatments a day.

Generally, these stays at the hospital occur once a year and last between 10 days to two weeks. This can be a difficult time, as she is a very active young lady who truly wants to be in school, spending time with her friends and involved in extracurricular activities. Brynn is currently on the varsity volleyball team and the Randolph freshman also plays softball in the spring.

Brynn received a brand new Apple iPad Air 2 tablet from the Randolph Community Love Fund (RCLF) to help her stay caught up on her work while in the hospital. Her parents, Jeff and Jennifer Pagett, received $500 from the RCLF to help with travel expenses during her stay.

“This is exactly what the Love Fund was established for,” said co-chair Debbie Luce. “There seems to be so many people in our community who are put under financial stress due to illnesses. When the patient is required to be in the hospital for a lengthy period of time, family members often have to take time off of work, not to mention the amount of travel time, gas and food expenses. Anything we can do to lessen the burden for these families we will try to do.”

“We are all so thankful for the support of family, friends and the community,” said Brynn’s father, Jeff Pagett who is a teacher at Southwestern School. “The monetary support is a great help with the many trips to and from Buffalo and the iPad will definitely help her keep up with her homework. We are proud and grateful to live in such a fantastic community as Randolph.”

The Randolph Love Fund was started in 2013 when the first annual “Cards Against Cancer” benefit was held to raise money for a local family who suffered a devastating loss from cancer. Event coordinators, Debbie Luce and Paul Steward, were amazed by the generosity and support of the Randolph Community. So much so, it was decided that the benefit should be held each year with the hopes of helping many families, not just one.

The RCLF was established as a financial flow-through conduit through the Randolph Area Community Development Corporation (RACDC). If anyone knows of a person or family who has financial needs due to the devastating effect of an illness, please contact Luce or Steward at the high school at (716) 358-7007 or email them at dluce@randolphcsd.org or psteward@randolphcsd.org, or call RACDC at (716) 358-9701.