Honoring Cody Cody Green, a Carroll Elementary fifth grader, was presented a special team jersey, balloons, and a stuffed animal at the Coaches vs. Cancer boys basketball game Friday night. The balloons and gift were for Cody’s birthday and were compliments of The Butterfly in Flora. Pictured with Cody, l-r, are Dave Snowberger, a friend of the Green family; Tracy Green, Cody’s mom; and basketball player Seth Eldridge. Photo by Stephenie Pencek Carroll Elementary fifth grader Cody Green was presented a special team jersey at the Coaches vs. Cancer basketball game Friday night at Carroll.

The team honored him to show support in his battle against leukemia. He also was given balloons and a gift for his birthday.

The basketball team is one part of a community that is becoming aware of Cody’s struggles, and is offering to help in various ways.

Cody was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (A.L.L.) when he was one and a half years old – in 2001. He received treatment at Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis, and his leukemia went into remission. But in 2007, it returned, when he was 7. In 2009, he took his last chemo treatment, and again was in remission.

Things were going well for Cody with his health, but life took a turn for the family, and Tracy Green and her three sons had to relocate. Cody’s brothers are Eric, a sophomore at Carroll, and Andrew, a seventh grader. They moved from the Rossville school district to the Carroll school district last school year. Tracy feared leaving Rossville because it was such a caring community, and the people there were so helpful to her family.

Cody remained in remission at Carroll, and the family was settling in and making new friends.

Then tragedy struck. On Aug. 3, 2011, the boys were making a pizza when they received a call from the Red Cross. Their mother had been in an accident. While attending a Sugarland Concert at the Indiana State Fair, Tracy was crushed under a stage that collapsed. She was in the hospital with severe injuries to her head and legs. The boys were cared for by her mother and Tracy’s close friend, David Snowberger. Tracy was not able to return to work for weeks.

Cody is on a website called CaringBridge. It connects people who are experiencing a significant health challenge to family and friends and anyone else who wants to lend support.

Postings about Cody were about his activities and that he remained in remission – until a different posting came from his mother on Oct. 12, 2011. She had just found out the day before that Cody’s leukemia had returned, and at age 11, he would again start chemo.

After overcoming a couple more setbacks due to his compromised immune system, Cody was able to come home from the hospital for Christmas.

Keristen Ford, a friend and neighbor of the Greens, told how the community came together.

“Christmas was amazing!” she said. “Churches donated gifts and food for the family, clothes for the kids, and even fuel for the heating of the house. Tracy later told me had it not been for God sending angels in the community, she has no idea how she would have done it.”

“To ease the load on Tracy as she worked 40 hours a week and still commuted to Indy in the evenings to see Cody, Eric and Andrew stayed with us, often at my insistence,” Keristen said. “Members of the community knew this and started contacting me. They wanted to help this family they didn’t know but they had heard about. One email turned into two, then two into eight or ten.”

Keristen replied to those who emailed her and started a Facebook page called “Cody Green’s Community Kickin’ Cancer.”

A group was organized and had a meeting. Hearing about the cause, one local farmer offered to donate two hogs. A pork dinner will be held in April as a fundraiser for Cody and his family.

“We have Zumba instructors who have volunteered to hold a Zumba-thon, and the Flora Community Club has stepped up and will sponsor a Carroll alumni basketball game on Feb. 26 and a dance for fifth through eighth grades on March 17,” Keristen said. “The Carroll fifth grade students have designed and will be selling T-shirts with the help of the Stitching Line. Junior Achievement, FFA, and 4-H clubs have all come forward, wanting to help. What a blessed community we live in!”

Cody is again in remission, but is taking chemo in lighter doses, described as a maintenance plan. Keristen said Cody is in need of a bone marrow transplant to insure he remains cancer-free. She said there have been two donors located as a match, and after the completion of his maintenance chemo, doctors are in hopes that his body will be strong enough and healthy enough to have the transplant.

“Cody seems to have the upper hand, but is still not out of the woods,” Keristen said. “We are continuing to move forward to raise funds for Cody and his family, but as much as raising funds, we also want to raise awareness. Cancer has taken too many loved ones in our small community.”

Anyone who would like more information on the Cody Green fundraisers or would like to make a donation can contact: Keristen Ford, (765) 413-9464 or keristenford@yahoo.com; Stephanie Kressley, skressley@embarqmail.com; Brent Marley, bwmarley16@aol.com; or Julie Overholser, jaoverholser@yahoo.com.

The contact persons can also be found on Facebook. The links to Cody’s CaringBridge and Facebook pages are: http://www.caringbridge.org/vis it/CODYGREEN, and https://www.facebook.com/gro ups/Codygreen/#!/groups/Cody green/.