SILVER CREEK — On Monday night, the Silver Creek Central School district community did its best to support one of their own. Vigo Meyer, a 13-year-old student, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in early December, and is currently staying at the Ronald McDonald house Monday through Friday. With him in mind, the district decided to turn Monday into a big fundraising event for Meyer, spearheaded by the boys varsity basketball team and the Key Club.

“Giving back to the community is a very important part of our culture at Silver Creek and we will do all we can to help, especially when it is one of our very own Black Knight families,” said Key Club President Shannon Karcz. “We are all praying for and cheering Vigo on as he battles through this. We are determined to make sure his family knows that he and his family are not alone.”

The Key Club was already holding a spaghetti dinner at the school for their Italian Night Dinner and planned on donating the proceeds to Meyer, but the whole thing was parlayed into one big fundraising event. The basketball team invited the varsity cheerleaders to cheer at halftime of their Monday night game, and basket raffles were held at the school throughout the course of the evening. Jill Meyer, Vigo’s mom, said that despite not being able to be there, the support means so much to her and her son.

“I’m absolutely stunned. Words can’t express the emotion behind the support from our community,” she said. “I’m overwhelmed, that’s the best word for it. The support is amazing. People coming out of the woodwork to help us and do things for us and our families.”

Submitted photo Silver Creekcheerleaders perform during halftime of Monday night’s basketball game.

Meyer said Vigo is doing pretty well, and is being weaned off some of his medications, while doctors are deciding how to proceed in his treatment.

Donations for Vigo have been plentiful as well. On top of Booster Club moms Kelly Woleben and Gretchen Covert organizing the basket raffle, a community member also donated a paid massage to Vigo to help with the soreness brought on by chemotherapy.

These efforts for Vigo are not the only ones upcoming, either. On March 13, Silver Creek graduate Amy Romanik organized another benefit at the Silver Creek Fireman’s Club, beginning at 1 p.m. Karcz said that it’s no surprise that the school and community are all getting involved.

“Silver Creek is known for our BKP, Black Knight Pride, and it was only natural that everyone wanted to get involved,” Karcz said. “The sense of support and BKP continues outside of the building walls as there are gold and silver ribbons hanging throughout the community made by one of our fantastic bus drivers, Colleen Smith and hung by members of the Key Club.”

Additionally, Vigo’s Make-A-Wish request was approved, meaning that in the next couple weeks, he’ll receive a new gaming laptop, the latest Nintendo Switch model, and some supplies to go with those things.

Submitted photo Key Club member Victoria Iskra prepares a spaghetti dinner during the fundraiser.

Jill Meyer updates Vigo’s condition regularly on her Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/teamVigo2008, while Vigo’s GoFundMe is available at https://www.gofundme.com/f/team-vigo?utm–campaign=p–cp+share-sheet&utm–medium=copy–link–all&utm–source=customer.