AUG. 28 BENEFIT AIDS SIKESTON MAN WITH LARGE MEDICAL BILLS

SIKESTON -- A benefit will be held Aug. 28 for a Sikeston man who is suffering from Hodgkin's disease.

The benefit for Terry McKinnie will be held at 7 p.m. at Tanner Street Church of God in Sikeston. It will feature gospel singing by Tina Sadler of Poplar Bluff, the Full Circle group from Risco and the Bobbitt Family from Jonesboro, Ark.

Debbie Tarno of Sikeston helped organize the benefit. She said McKinnie has incurred major medical bills for treatment of the cancer.

Now, she said, he has no medical insurance and likely won't be able to return to his job with a food wholesaler.

"I just hope it's a sellout," Tarno said of the benefit. "I just want it to be a success for him." She said the church seats around 400.

Tarno said she organized the benefit after hearing of McKinnie's plight. "I felt so sorry for him when he came into the office and said his insurance had been canceled," said Tarno, who works for McKinnie's dentist, Dr. Steve Nast of Sikeston.

Tarno said the McKinnie family has incurred thousands of dollars in medical bills.

Tickets for the benefit can be purchased at the door. The cost is $6 for adults and $4 for children 12 and under. Tickets also can be purchased in advance at Nast's office, 801 N. Main in Sikeston, at a cost of $5 for adults and $3 for children.