Hebrew Park Fundraising Event to Benefit Lacey Girl With Cancer

A fundraising event hosted by the Lacey Soccer Club will be held on Saturday, June 2 in support of Ana Kopack, a Lanoka Harbor School fourth-grader who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

“I had Ana Kopack in pre-school and her three older brothers,” said event organizer Karen Vincentini of “I have a spot in my heart for kids who have something like this.”

Ana Kopack was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a type of muscle cancer, in March 2011. She travels to St. Christopher’s hospital in Philadelphia often for treatments and is currently being homeschooled.

“She’s an amazing kid,” her father Robert Kopack previously said. “She has a great smile. She’s strong and has a great attitude. She just wants to get rid of cancer and get back to normal.”

Robert Kopack described his daughter’s diagnosis as “hard” but not just because Ana is ill. The trips back and forth to Philadelphia have taken its toll on the family.

“It’s hard on them too because we’re not around a lot more,” said Robert Kopack, who has three other children. “They’re doing the best they can. They’re kids. Our whole lives were turned upside down. Everything’s different. We’re doing what we have to do to keep (Ana) healthy and get her treatments.”

Vincentini was shocked when she found out Kopack was suffering from Rhabdomyosarcoma. “I couldn’t believe it,” she said.

Vincentini has held fundraising events like this in the past for local children suffering from illnesses.

This fundraiser, which will kick off on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hebrew Park, will help the Kopack’s cover medical expenses, she said.

“It’s a hard disease,” Vincentini said. “This is really putting them through hell.”

The event will feature activities, games, crafts, face painting, a bake sale and gift basket raffles.

At 6 p.m., a benefit soccer game will be held between the recreation coaches and travel team coaches.

“We’re trying to get as many people as we can over there,” Vincentini said. “We’re just trying to raise even a couple hundred dollars.”

For more information or to make a donation, please call Vincentini at 609-618-1456.

Next up, Spiaggia e Luna of Barnegat will have a Dine to Donate event for Ana Kopack on Tuesday, June 5. For anyone who brings in the flyer for the Hebrew Park fundraiser, 10 percent of the proceeds will go to the Kopack's. The flyer is attached to this story as a PDF.