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READFIELD – A local teen who is battling cancer is using her Make-A-Wish gift to spearhead a fundraising drive to renovate the Maranacook Community High School softball field to honor a local student-athlete.
Alexis Michaud, 17, of Manchester, a pitcher on the team, designed her donation toward the $50,000 project, and other community members and businesses have joined her.
Michaud was diagnosed in June 2021 with a rare bone cancer that mostly attacks the spinal column. In September of that year, Michaud underwent nearly 20 hours of surgery over two days at Pittsburgh Medical Center to remove a tumor and fuse vertebrae to repair the damage. Her cancer is in remission.
In April, she was presented with all-new softball uniforms and notified that the Maine Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America was going to grant her wish to help renovate the field. She was presented with a new scoreboard for the field at the Make-A-Wish gala in June, but the funding does not cover the full renovation cost.
Members of the Maranacook community, including Harry Lanphear, Linda Smith, Matt Dwyer and Melissa O’Neal-Low, are teaming together to raise the additional money needed to address drainage and excavation issues, install new bleachers and other upgrades. Kennebec Savings Bank recently pitched in with a $10,000 donation, and urged other businesses to chip in as well.
“We are facing some pretty significant costs with regard to the drainage problems at the field, which render it unusable early in the softball season and require the high school girls to play at the middle school field,” Lanphear said. “We hope to raise the remaining funds needed to address these challenges, which will allow Alexis and her team to play a full season on their own field next year.”
Donations may be made to the GoFundMe account gofund.me/cf2a402f. Contact O’Neal Low at 207-649-7252 or Lanphear at 207-242-2906 for details regarding tax deductible sponsorship-level donations.
PHOTO: Alexis Michaud. (Submitted photo)
