Cozad Community Makes Plans to Support Ben Ide and Family
When one of its own is facing a difficult road, the Cozad community has a way of showing up.
That support will be on full display Thursday, October 1, when Rivet Design Co. hosts a benefit for Cozad’s Ben Ide and his family from 5 to 8 p.m. in downtown Cozad on Meridian Avenue between Eighth and Ninth streets.
Ben recently underwent surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha to remove a brain tumor. The tumor was later confirmed to be medulloblastoma. Since then, Ben has been transferred to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where he has undergone additional surgeries and begun the next phase of his treatment.
He is currently undergoing four weeks of radiation and physical therapy. That will be followed by approximately four months of chemotherapy taking place at St. Jude.
Throughout the process, Ben’s parents, Eric and Meggan Ide, have been taking turns traveling back and forth between Memphis and Cozad so they can be with Ben while also caring for his two brothers, Myles and Landry.
For Jody Laird, owner of Rivet Design Co. and one of the benefit organizers, the decision to organize an event for Ben and his family was an easy one.
“Ben is part of the Laird family,” Laird said. “In a situation like this, we can’t fix it and there is very little we can do, but we can do this.”
Laird said the event is an opportunity for the community to come together, show its support and help ease some of the financial burden that comes with an extended medical journey, including travel and medical expenses.
“It is important to show up for family and for community,” Laird said.
The evening will include a free-will donation meal of burgers, chips and beans, along with music from Formerly 3 from 5 to 8 p.m. Busy Bees Cheesecake and a drink trailer will also be available.
Children can enjoy bounce houses, antique fire truck rides and Justin Morris’ “plane train.” A cornhole tournament will also be held, with two-person teams costing $10 per person. All proceeds from the tournament will go to the Ide family. Preregistration is requested through the Cozad Cornhole Facebook page.
Inside Rivet Design Co., a photo booth will give community members an opportunity to leave pictures and videos for Ben. “We Are Benny Strong” T-shirts and buttons will also be available.
Additional activities are still being planned.
Frontier Family Pharmacy and Frontier Home Medical, which traditionally host an annual Fall Festival in October, have chosen to forgo their event this year and instead support the benefit for Ben.
In a Facebook message, the businesses said the Fall Festival has long been a favorite opportunity to bring people together, but this year they wanted to direct that support toward the Ide family.
All proceeds from the October 1 benefit will go to the Ide family.
For Laird and the many businesses and individuals helping make the evening possible, the event is about more than raising money. It is about surrounding Ben, Eric, Meggan, Myles and Landry with the support of the community they call home.