Benefit Raises $6,000 for a Local Teacher Battling Cancer

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. Local Kim Landis is proof of just how strong someone can be when things get tough.

She and her husband, Marc are proud parents to 14-year-old triplets and a 12-year-old. She is also a La Grange ISD middle school science teacher and she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

Landis shares how she found out about the diagnosis, “I went in for my (very first) annual mammogram on Saturday, January 9 a little over a month before my 42nd birthday. The following Monday the clinic called to ask me to come back in for ‘more testing’ and to talk to the radiologist. When I went back for an ultrasound and another mammogram they recommended I see a breast specialist. They never used ‘the C word’, but when I called the number they had given me for the breast specialist, the recording began ‘Thank you for calling Texas Oncology…’ that’s when I put it together.”

Grace Pulkrabek, the owner of LG Spirits, wanted to help Landis with her medical expenses in any way she could. “I have known Marc for years since he works for UPS and we get a lot of deliveries. They and their kids also helped us late into the night move into our new location,” Pulkrabek said. “When we found out we just knew we had to help her and her great family so we decided to have a benefit.”

The benefit, held on May 7, sold 500 tickets, and LG Spirits with the help of our giving community was able to present Landis with a check for $6,000. This was made possible from sales of chopped BBQ brisket sandwiches made by Joe Arnold, a bake sale, and a percentage of LG Spirits’ sales that day.

“Grace is such an amazing friend. She has such a huge heart and cares so much about everyone in this community. I can’t believe she took this on! She said she had never done anything like this before, and I’m so honored that she asked if she could do this fundraiser for my family and me. It went so smoothly because she is so organized and makes connections with members of the community,” said Landis. “I know the support of my students, family and this community is the reason I have been able to remain so positive and healthy throughout this process.”

As of now, she doesn’t think she will be able to teach next semester due to her treatments, so the benefit and donations are going to be used to pay her medical bills and supplement some of her income. If you would still like to donate you can check out her GoFundMe page at gofund. me/1236f330 or you can drop your donation off at LG Spirits.

Here is the most recent update on Landis’s GoFundMe page on how she is doing: “Kim has finished the second round of the new chemo. The side effects of this kind of chemo are not as bad as her last chemo, thank goodness. However, the chemo isn’t working like we were hoping. She will stay on this chemo for five more weeks then have more testing done to see if the tumor is shrinking. If not, she will have surgery and radiation sooner than expected. The good news is that the lymph nodes are looking better. Please pray that the stupid tumor and the new ‘tail’ it’s grown will just give up and go away!!”