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Benefit dinner to raise funds for transplant patient
By Sean Barron
BOARDMAN
A spaghetti-dinner benefit to assist a former Mahoning Valley woman who recently received a double-lung transplant is set for 12:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Operating Engineers Local 66 Union Hall, 291 McClurg Road.
The event is to raise funds to help 25-year-old Tina Carkido, now of North Royalton near Akron, with expenses related to the life-saving procedure she underwent Dec. 19.
Carkido, formerly of Youngstown, was born with cystic fibrosis, an inherited, chronic disease in which thick mucus builds up in the lungs and digestive tract. As a result, she has spent much of her life in hospitals.
On Thursday, Carkido was at the Cleveland Clinic and was unable to be reached.
A goal is to raise $45,000 to defray costs associated with the transplant surgery, noted Noreen Mazon of Boardman, Carkido’s aunt and an event organizer.
Tickets are $8 each, and children younger than 6 get in free if they accompany their parents or guardians to the union hall. Takeout orders also are available.
The dinner also will feature gift-basket auctions, a 50/50 drawing and a motorcycle raffle.
Attendees are asked to make checks payable to the Children’s Organ Transplant Association and write “In honor of Tina C.” on the check. All funds will go to Carkido, Mazon said.
The 24-year-old Bloomington, Ind.-based COTA gives hope and assistance to children and young adults who need, or have had, a transplant by raising money to pay related expenses, its mission statement says.