FUNDRAISER WILL AID CAPE GIRARDEAU TODDLER WHO SUFFERS FROM LEUKEMIA

Every six weeks, Candice Pitcock must take her 2-year-old daughter Savannah to St. Louis for chemotherapy treatments.

That's a problem for Pitcock, a single, unemployed mother who doesn't have a car. Instead, she must borrow a car from friends.

The Cape Girardeau woman said she had been given a used car after her plight was first disclosed in a Southeast Missourian article last October.

But the 13-year-old Plymouth Horizon proved to be in poor shape. "It had a lot of breakdowns and finally it just went totally out," said Pitcock.

"I put $1,300 in it and got $15 out of it," she said.

But Pitcock may soon get another set of wheels, thanks to Amy Mayes and Pat Parsons, who have a Tupperware business based in Cape Girardeau.

They have organized a fund raiser, in which 30 percent of the money from Tupperware orders will go to a fund to benefit Savannah and her family.

Mayes said persons interested in purchasing the Tupperware should contact her at 651-0225 or Key Enterprises, Tupperware Distributors at 335-1000.

"Tupperware ladies care a lot and this is something we want to do," said Parsons, who is a Tupperware distributor for this region, which includes parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Illinois.

Money can also be contributed directly to an account set up by the Barbara Ann Deboer Foundation at Mercantile Bank, 325 N. Kingshighway, in Cape Girardeau.

Mayes said the special Tupperware orders will be taken at least through June.

Parsons said she hopes the fund-raising effort will pay off. "I think really we would like to raise $2,000," she said. "Hopefully, they will open up their hearts."

Since being diagnosed with the disease in September and getting treatment, Savannah's leukemia has been in remission.

Pitcock recalled taking Savannah to the St. Francis Medical Center emergency room. The little girl had been limping on one leg for a couple of weeks prior to the hospital visit. On Labor Day, she couldn't walk.

Even before Savannah went to the emergency room, she looked in bad shape. "A lot of people thought she was abused. She had a really huge black eye," remembered Pitcock.

Pitcock said she was questioned at length by two social workers when she brought Savannah to the hospital.

Once diagnosed, Savannah was moved to Children's Hospital in St. Louis.

The treatment began on Sept. 7 and by Oct. 4, Savannah's leukemia was in remission, Pitcock said.

Today, she runs around like a normal toddler, delighting in playing with her 4-year-old brother Cody. She turns 3 on Wednesday.

If all goes right, Savannah will quit having to take the pills and shots in March 1996.

It's a date, Pitcock's looking forward to. But for now, the immediate concern is transportation, she said.

Pitcock, who only moved to Cape Girardeau last year from Dexter, said she plans to return soon to the Stoddard County community where her mother lives.