KOOTENAI COUNTY, Idaho — Firefighters in Hauser Lake, Idaho came together on Sunday to raise support for a local child battling cancer.
For 38 years the Hauser Lake Fire Department has hosted ‘Shalena’s Breakfast with Santa,’ an annual holiday pancake breakfast to raise money for families of children undergoing cancer treatment.
The idea started decades ago when Shalena Mobbs, the daughter of Captain Gary Mobbs, lost her fight against neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that develops in nerve cells as they grow.
Since then, Captain Mobbs has been helping families who are going through a similar situation to what his family experienced.
“I thought, ‘What a great idea, so I brought it to the fire fighters. Why don’t we do a pancake feed and raise money for a child that has cancer in Idaho,'” he said.
HLFD and the community have raised nearly a million dollars for local families since the breakfast began decades ago.
“It’s bittersweet for myself and my family, because we lost Shalena in her battle, but her name continues on here and there’s a wall of happiness right there, with all the children we’ve sponsored for 38 years,” said Captain Mobbs.
This year, the breakfast sponsored 6-year-old Lane Trulson from Spirit Lake.
Lane was diagnosed with Lukemia in August.
“You know, that first month, he really didn’t talk. He would sit in his bed and stare. It was really hard. He wasn’t communicating. He wasn’t happy. It was a struggle,” said his mother, Lindsay Trulson.
While Lane’s journey is an up-and-down one, his mother said ‘Shalena’s Breakfast with Santa’ gave them hope for what is to come.
Captain Mobbs said helping people in the community is what it’s all about.
“We’re there when it’s their worst times, a lot of the time. We’re helping to pick up the pieces for them in the background. That’s what the fire service and EMS does,” he said.
COPYRIGHT 2024 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.