KOLOA — Marlo Louis-Medeiros, a Kauai High School track and field coach, doesn’t remember the last time she played kickball. “But it sounds fun, so the Gym Ratz, a group from the Kauai Athletic Club, is going to be playing,”
KOLOA — Marlo Louis-Medeiros, a Kauai High School track and field coach, doesn’t remember the last time she played kickball.
“But it sounds fun, so the Gym Ratz, a group from the Kauai Athletic Club, is going to be playing,” Louis-Medeiros said. “It’s also a fundraiser for this lady who has leukemia so we’re going to help, too.”
The KAC was one of 20 teams, each with at least 15 players, who woke up Koloa town Sunday morning to raise money for Malina Pereza, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia type M4 just two months ago.
“We’re here to help her,” said Chef Carla Dusenberry of the Hanapepe Soto Zen Temple. “We’re doing shave ice and everything we make goes to help her. We’re donating everything.”
Cynthia Edralin, a multiple sclerosis patient, was among the spectators enjoying food.
“Malina’s uncles and relatives are doing all the cooking,” Edralin said. “I’m here because Lance Edralin is playing in the tournament for the Lazaro team. They’re so cute. They told me, ‘No worry, aunty. We coming to the MS Walk, too.’”
Pereza, recently married and the mother of a 3-year-old daughter, is at Stanford Hospital in California to undergo a stem cell transplant from her brother with hopes of increasing her chances of surviving the leukemia.
“This tournament is not just about raising funds to help her,” said Makaiwa Gunn, Pereza’s cousin and tournament coordinator. “We want her to know how much support and love she has from the community.”
Edralin was thrilled to see how much fun the teams were having as the tournament worked through the tiers while visitors mingled with the revelers.
“This is what makes me believe Kauai is the greatest community,” Gunn said.
Other fundraising efforts for Pereza can be found at www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/friends-of-malina-pereza/124644.
