Girls rally to raise money for friend with cancer

DELAFIELD -- It isn't easy to fight cancer at any age, let alone at age eight.  Unfortunately, that's the reality for second-grade student Christopher Schraufnagel at Cushing Elementary School in Delafield.  He’s not alone in his fight, though.  He’s got the strong support of three young girls, who’ve rallied together to help him battle the disease one penny at a time.

Before school starts at 8 a.m., the collection jar quickly fills up.

“On day one, we got $221.52,” fourth-grader April Hull said.

Every day for the last week and a half, Hull has teamed up with Lauren Schraufnagel and Clare Vogel to collect money for their friend battling brain cancer.

“He's just a joyful little boy and I just love to see a smile on his face,” Hull said.

“I just love to see him and what he does as a person and he's so brave,” Vogel said.

“Christopher was considered in remission in December, and then he relapsed within the last month.  Now, we're trying a new treatment option and moving forward with a new battle,” Christopher’s mother, Lisa Schraufnagel said.

Christopher has missed quite a bit of school, but he got the strength Thursday, May 31st to come see what his friends and sister had done.

“Even though I'm older, I look up to him still.  I thought it'd be fun to do it because Christopher’s dream is to find a cure for cancer," Christopher’s sister, Lauren Schraufnagel said.

The show of support is much more than they've expected.  After only eight days, the three have already raised $1,152.

“Our goal was 500, so that just blows my mind,” Hull said.

All the money collected will go to "Team Christopher" for the MACC Fund's Trek 100 event on June 9th.  The proceeds then go to childhood cancer research.

“It's such a lot of money that can support the team,” Christopher said after seeing how much money has been raised so far.

He says it’ll go a long way to achieving his lifelong goal. “To be a scientist and find a cure for cancer,” Christopher said.

“It was all their doing, and organizing, and they just took it and ran with it.  I'm just so proud of them,” Lisa Schraufnagel said.

The girls will be collecting donations through Friday night, June 1st, when the school's end of the year party will be held.

If you would like to contribute to the MACC Fund's "Trek 100" event, or specifically, to "Team Christopher," click here.