DUNKIRK — There are so many places 8-year-old Mason Schrantz would rather be, so many things he’d rather be doing.

If he had his way, right now, you might see Mason at Lucky Lanes, celebrating with friends and family as his father, Dominick picks up a spare.

You might see him in his classroom at School 7 conducting a word search puzzle.

You might see him riding his bike or kicking around a soccer ball with his teammates. When the weather allows for it, you might find Mason turning over rocks on the side of Canadaway Creek, collecting bugs and fossils.

You might find Mason with his father visiting a museum or else volunteering for the Alzheimer’s Association, or teaching his 4-year-old brother, Carter how to play the latest video game.

If you caught Mason during lunch, you could find him chowing down on his favorite foods, either pizza or nachos. Later in the afternoon, you may grin watching him dig into a plate of bacon and eggs for dinner. Mason loves to eat breakfast for dinner.

Hugging a little kitten, getting his face slobbered by a beagle pup, playing puzzles on his tablet … these are some of the things Mason would rather be doing.

Instead, Mason is in a life-and-death struggle with T-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and has spent more time in Buffalo’s Children’s Hospital since this past Christmas than anywhere else.

All the strength he used to use for all the fun activities a boy his age should be engaged in has been reserved for enduring surgeries, chemotherapy, blood transfusions and now pneumonia.

Mason’s family has rallied as much as a family can rally, but the time and financial burden has taken its toll.

“This is breaking my heart,” Arlene DeJesus, Mason’s great aunt, said. “The hardship is too much for just the family to help. Mason never complains, ever. (He) just cries when it hurts so bad.”

Mason is being tutored from home when he’s not in the hospital. The School 7 students have showered Mason with moral support in the form of Valentine cards.

Linda Mikula of the charity organization “Bills Fan Thunder” presented Mason and his family with Bills tickets, an official Buffalo Bills jacket for Mason, a football and several other gifts.

To help alleviate some of the financial stress burdening the Schrantz family, a benefit has been planned called Mason Kicks T-Cell Lymphoma, on Saturday, March 24 from 6-11 p.m. at the American Legion Post 62, 211 Central Ave., Dunkirk.

The event will feature a live band, raffles and more.

If you would like to make a raffle donation, contact Dominick at 413-1245; Jen Lidlow at 581-5547; or Ginger, 413-6992.

For cards and monetary donations, please send to Mason at 28 N. Jerboa St., Dunkirk, NY 14048.

Ginger from Big Rick’s One Stop in Dunkirk is the fundraiser manager for the event.