By Jana Cone/reporter
TIFTON — A Day for Diana will be held at Fulwood Park on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to raise funds for 7-year-old Diana Olalde, who needs a bone marrow transplant. Olalde was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia last May.
Olalde is presently at home in Tifton and plans to be at the park on Saturday. “St. Jude is reviewing her case at this time,” said Linda Bryant, Olalde’s cousin by marriage.
“We want to thank the Tifton community for everything they have done,” Bryant said. She said there is presently $40,000 in the Olalde account at First Community Bank. The approximate cost of the bone marrow transplant is $500,000.
Bryant said she wanted the public to know that should Olalde be accepted by St. Jude Hospital, the funds at First Community Bank will be held until her treatment is completed. She said that whatever money Olalde did not require for her treatment would be given to other organizations that help children.
Bryant said the Day for Diana will have a live band and a children’s Dance Off. There will also be Karaoke For Kids, a dunking booth, train rides, a jump castle and a two hour wrestling show. The wrestlers are Mike Payne and Jake Slater. “We will have other activities for the children,” Bryant said. “We’ll have dart balloon, ring bag toss and other games.”
To raise money, Bryant said the train ride and a few other events will have a small charge. “We are also selling raffle tickets,” Bryant said. Area businesses have donated the prizes for the raffle.
Philip Kellerman, president of the Harvest of Hope Foundation, the only national foundation to raise funds exclusively for migrant farm workers and their families, will attend the Day For Diana. Kellerman will be selling Sweetwater Organic Coffee, organically grown coffee from Gainesville, Fla. Kellerman and the Harvest of Hope Foundation are located in Gainesville.
To contact reporter Jana Cone, call 382-4321, ext. 208.
