May 21 raffle, gospel event to benefit St. Jude

Gary Atchley of Sikeston, Missouri, has survived cancer five times throughout his life.

He faced his last battle with stage 4 cancer in 1998, but was healed overnight in the pre-operation room in the hospital.

"I was supposed to go in (for surgery) that morning. They had me all ready in the pre-op room and had the IV needle in my hand and God had just really laid on my heart, you know, 'No surgery today.' So they went and checked me again and it was gone," Atchley said. "It was there on a Monday but it wasn't there on a Friday."

Atchley said it was a divine miracle of God that he was healed, and has since felt the call from God to help others with family members afflicted by cancer, especially children.

"The Lord woke me up at 3 o'clock in the morning and laid on my heart, he wanted me to do something for [St. Jude Children's Research Hospital], and that was kind of the end of what he laid on my heart," Atchley said.

Afterward, he prayed around 4 a.m. to ask God to give him confirmation that supporting the children's hospital is what he wanted him to do.

That confirmation came when a woman called his cellphone around 10 a.m. and asked him to pray for her 8-year-old daughter, who had just been diagnosed at St. Jude with a brain tumor.

"After we prayed on the phone with her, the little girl, [the woman's] daughter, God said, 'Now there's your confirmation,'" Atchley said.

Atchley said he wasn't sure how to go about supporting the hospital in a big way, but he knew several local businesses had held fundraisers in the past, and he and his wife have been longtime annual donors to the hospital.

"With me facing cancer like I have faced cancer in the past, and then I look at these kids, small children, that haven't even had a chance in life yet, you know, I'm gonna do everything that I can to help those kids," Atchley said.

He called St. Jude and had to submit an application and go through a background check before he could proceed with any type of fundraiser. He was approved and came in contact with a field representative in Perryville, Missouri, who helped him shape his goal.

Eventually, Atchley said God sent him to request a local car dealership, Morlan Chrysler of Cape Girardeau, donate a vehicle to be raffled off to help raise a large lump sum to be donated to the hospital. He went to speak with the general manager, Jason Todt, to ask for the donation.

"[Todt] thought about it a few minutes and he said, 'I'm just gonna do it.' And I praised him to no end because a man like that's got to have faith in donating a vehicle that costs him that much money -- to me is just a real, real true man," Atchley said.

Todt donated a 2016 Jeep Renegade to be raffled off, with tickets costing $100 apiece.

"We wanted something that was an exciting product," Todt said. "Jeep's been the fastest-growing car company this year and last year, so we wanted something that would create a lot of buzz and a lot of tickets sold."

Morlan gave away a Jeep last year as well, but Todt said this giveaway holds more meaning.

"This just feels better that it's benefiting a cancer research hospital that helps kids out," he said.

The Jeep will be raffled off during an event at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 21, at Christ Church of the Heartland, 720 Bertling St. in Cape Girardeau. Atchley partnered with K103 to help get the word out, and the Kiwanis Club of Scott City is sponsoring the vehicle for the raffle. Atchley also had help from Gary Wren, Larry Kitchen and Delbert Phillips in organizing the event.

"K103 wanted to partner with us; they didn't want it to be their event, they just wanted to partner with us, which I said is fine, but I don't want to just hold it to one radio station -- this is for God and for these kids, so I want everybody involved," Atchley said.

Tickets can be purchased up until the event, with the cap at 500 tickets available for purchase. All are welcome to attend the free event, and tickets are not required for entry. Atchley said all donations will be accepted, no matter the amount.

"If you can't afford to buy a $100 ticket I understand, but think about the kids. Give them $1, give them $5, give them $10 -- every little bit mounts up," he said.

The event will feature a gospel concert with artists Mitch Pullen from Wyatt, Missouri, Mitchel Jon from Hendersonville, Tennessee, and the group For Heaven's Sake from Murray, Kentucky. Atchley also had a company donate pork butts to be sold for $25 during the event to help raise more money.

"We'd like to fill that church house up with people to get a real blessing and to pray for some of these kids and pray for St. Jude's, because prayer is what it's all about -- I'm a firm believer in that and I'm a firm believer in divine healing because I'm living proof that it works and it happens," Atchley said.

Tickets can be purchased at Morlan Chrysler, 374 Siemers Drive in Cape Girardeau, and K103, 324 Broadway in Cape Girardeau, or Morlan Dodge, 1110 S. Main St. in Sikeston, Missouri. Tickets also can be purchased from Atchley by calling (573) 380-6799.

lyoung@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632

Pertinent address: 720 Bertling St., Cape Girardeau