Cause & Effect

By SEAN BARRON and SHELBY SCHROEDER

Hundreds attend dinner to support McDonald man

“It's beautiful. I thank God for all the people who came out.”

111That largely summed up Mike Kutsch’s feelings upon seeing the hundreds of people who gathered on his behalf.

The crowd came to Girard First United Methodist Church, 22 N. Market St., for Sunday’s spaghetti dinner benefit to help Kutsch, who suffers from Huntington’s disease, and his family.

About three years ago, Kutsch, of McDonald, was diagnosed at the Cleveland Clinic with the inherited disease, which often affects a person’s cognitive abilities and physical skills. The $7-a-plate fundraiser was set up mostly to help defray some costs associated with Kutsch’s treatment and rehabilitation, as well as necessary modifications to their home, explained his wife, Heather.

Those include adding railings and making certain rooms more accessible for Kutsch, Heather said.

Kutsch, who uses a walker, has spent more than a month at Concord Care Center of Cortland but often comes home on weekends, she said. Whenever possible, Heather and their two children, Maddison, 7, and Hunter, 9, visit Kutsch there, added Heather, who works full time as a marketing representative for Ryan & Associates Inc.

Not having Kutsch home has been difficult on Heather and the kids, but the support of friends, church, family and the community has been amazing, she explained.

“The community has really reached out to help us,” Heather said, adding that someone has anonymously been paying the family’s utility bills.

For about six months, she said, the Kutsches have been on a waiting list to receive a Medicaid waiver designed to take funds normally used for nursing-home services and have them pay for in-home care. Once the family’s waiver comes through, Mike should return home, she noted.

Heather Kutsch’s ability to balance the needs of her family with working full time, taking her children to football practice and dance classes and fulfilling other commitments is not lost on Renee Jefferson of Ravenna, who’s one of her best friends.

“Every day she carries the weight of the world on her shoulders,” said Jefferson, who met Heather in kindergarten and Mike during their days as Mathews High School students. “She keeps a positive attitude, despite the difficult circumstances, and deals with more than most people should bear.”

Heather Kutsch thanked, among others, several family members, friends and the McDonald High School chapter of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization for their help in putting the four-hour fundraiser together.

Delaney Fowler, a McDonald High sophomore and BB/BS member, spent time cleaning tables and selling raffle tickets at the event. Mainly, though, it was being there for the Kutsches that motivated Delaney’s desire to attend, she said.

“I just like being here for Maddison and helping the family,” added Delaney, who’s also Maddison’s Big Sister.

If either parent has Huntington’s disease, their child has a 50 percent chance of getting it, noted Wesley G. Johnston Jr., president of the Northeast Ohio chapter of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America.

A special blood test will reveal if a person has the disease but is unable to determine when symptoms will appear, Johnston pointed out. Anyone who tests positive should go to a clinic to see a psychiatrist, who can help the person deal with the emotional aftermath, he noted.

Primary goals of the HDSA are to find ways to delay the onset, as well as raise money for research to develop drugs that help people cognitively, and alter the gene that causes HD, Johnston explained.

Kristin Zverloff, a social worker with the Northeast Ohio chapter, noted that HD, which has no known cure, is particularly hard on families because the loved one will continue to decline physically, psychologically and cognitively.

The benefit also included a 50/50 raffle, bake sale and Chinese auction.

This isn’t the first time the community has come together to support the Kutsches. Heather Kutsch said the local high school donated 20 boxes of food from a food drive she was never told about, and kids from the local Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization mowed their lawn and raked their leaves.

“You would not believe how much our community has done for us,” she said. “I’ve been blown away by everyone’s help and support.”

Before Mike Kutsch became too debilitated to walk, the pastor of their church visited with the family at their home in McDonald. Heather told the Rev. Betsy Schenk of the family’s struggles: Mike’s health was deteriorating, they’d been fighting for Medicaid benefits, and she was the provider for four. Soon, Heather explained, her husband would be unable to leave the home without the help of at least two adults.

The Kutsches needed a way to get Mike outside, so after talking with the family, the Rev. Ms. Schenk met with the men’s church group.

“I talked with the men’s group and said, ‘You know, there’s a ministry opportunity here,’” Schenk said.

Schenk said that she’d witnessed the men’s carpentry skills in previous mission trips and knew they could pull it together for a project they’d never taken on before: a wheelchair ramp.

The church paid for some $1,400 in wood and supplies. The men consulted the city for ramp regulations and Lowe’s home improvement store for building tips. Within a few weeks of working during their free time, they completed the ramp.

“The church is a family,” said Dick Smith, who helped with the construction. “Mike and Heather are our brother and sister, and the church owes it to them and the community to help out.”