Community members strive for big impact

WE OFTEN tell stories about people from the community who are doing their best to make a different in the world. This week, there are two local families who exemplify that behavior — and go way beyond it.

The Brinzes of Fox Island have been touched in many different ways by breast cancer. Dorothy Brinz lost her mother to the disease in 1996, and she had two aunts survive after both were diagnosed in 1989 and 1990.

The Abalahins of Port Orchard and the Hetticks of Horseshoe Lake are still reeling from the loss of 8-year-old Jaxon Abalahin last October from a rare, incurable disease.

The tie that bonds them together is hope.

The Brinzes have been working tirelessly since February to organize the first Uptown Car Show. Dorothy started from scratch and convinced sponsors to donate necessary equipment or prizes — even venue space. Her original thought of having a small car show on Fox Island turned to a larger idea, a Cruise the Narrows-type event at Tacoma Narrows Airport. But the airport could only show 100 cars.

People doubted Brinz’s ability to put on such an event and draw so much attention to it. She said one high-ranking official in a local car club laughed at her when she told him of her plans. That official isn’t laughing anymore. He’s one of the car owners who will be showing more than 200 vehicles on May 30 at Uptown Gig Harbor.

Brinz’s efforts are all geared toward the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day, a 60-mile walk set for September in Seattle. She’s asking car owners to donate $20 or more to help her raise the required $2,300 to participate. She’ll likely come close to doubling that amount — and 100 percent of it will go toward the fight against the disease.

The other remarkable story is the formation of Jaxon’s Cure, a nonprofit dedicated to researching subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). The Abalahins and Hetticks could have given up hope when Jaxon lost his battle with the disease seven months ago, but it’s had the reverse effect.

Sure, the family grieves. But they also hope they can spread the word about SSPE, a progressive brain disorder caused by a mutated form of the measles. Jaxson’s Cure is a well-functioning nonprofit that will host benefit concerts May 30-31 at Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church in Gig Harbor. They’ve also found a researcher from the Scripps Research Institute to help with the cause.

While they’re separate causes, the families can be judged by a simple fact: They won’t accept “no cure” as an answer. And as long as people like the Brinzes, Abalahins and Hetticks live in our community, we’re one step closer to beating those diseases.