The community is invited to a special concert fundraiser for Morgan Leer and Ava Deckard on May 27 from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Conway High School Gymnasium. The fundraiser will include live music, free parking, food trucks, and a silent auction. Scheduled bands at the event are The New Horizons, The Dixie Hix, Grafted In, Changed, Spring Hollow, The Truelove Quartet, and The Country Revue Band. There will also be food that can be found outside. The food vendors and trucks will be Bubba’s Fish Shack, Bubba Lee’s BBQ, Boba Bar & Co., Old Time Baptist Church’s youth group is going to be there selling hamburgers and hotdogs, as well as 4J’s Sweets and Treats. A silent auction will also be held in the school cafeteria.
“Terri Hight was a teacher to most of my kids, and we absolutely love her. I would do anything for her family,” event organizer Chris Hill stated. “When we found out that Ava had leukemia and was going to be out of town. I began talking to Terri about wanting to do a concert.”
6-year-old Ava Deckard attends first grade at Ezard Elementary in Conway. Last year, she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. She received treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN where she stayed until almost Christmas. She is currently going through chemotherapy at the St. Jude’s Affiliate Clinic, Mercy Kids in Springfield. She still has around 100 weeks of chemotherapy left. She is responding well to the treatment so far, but also takes medications at home.
When the idea of a fundraiser to help this family came about, Hill got to work planning. He worked with the Deckard family to hash out the lineup for the evening when another idea was brought to the table.
“Ava's mom, Kaylee, brought forth the idea to split the proceeds with the Leer family as well,” he explained. “So at that point, we began planning and decided we were going to do the benefit and proceeds are going to be split in half between the two families.”
Morgan Leer is an 11-year-old who is in fifth grade at Ezard Elementary. In August of last year, the Leer family found out that both of their children had Schwachman-Diamond Disorder. Prior to Morgan’s diagnosis, her brother was confirmed to have the disorder. Morgan carries two extra genes, which doctors say makes this disease even more dangerous. Morgan’s bone marrow is failing at 40% and she is currently in a hospital where she will remain until at least mid-July, recovering from a bone marrow transplant. Morgan has a long road ahead of her in terms of recovery.
In addition to the concert and food portion of the fundraiser, there will be a Cornhole Tournament that starts at 10:00 a.m. in front of the high school. Entry costs $25 per team and the limit is 50 teams. Paid entry into the tournament also grants you admission into the benefit concert later that day.
Prizes include:
First Place- 30% of registration fees
Second Place - 20% of registration fees
Third Place - 10% of registration fees
Regular admission for non-tournament attendees will cost $15 for adults, $5 for students, and kids five and under are free. It is a pay at the door fundraiser where all proceeds go to the Leer and Deckard families to help them with the battles as Morgan and Ava fight life-threatening diseases.
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