Troops in Afghanistan raising money for Centerville boy

Logan Varnadoe looks around his shade tent Saturday during a benefit yard sale for him on Houston Lake Boulevard in Centerville. The money raised will be used to help pay for Logan?s hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Logan?s feeding tube is in the backpack to his left. Logan?s mother, April, said his story ?went viral? after a man snatched donations raised by a lemonade stand sale and ran. Now a military unit in Afghanistan is helping raising funds for his treatment as well.

JASON VORHEES ? jvorhees@macon.comBuy Photo

CENTERVILLE -- A lemonade-stand heist 15 months ago sparked support from far and wide for Logan Varnadoe, a toddler with serious medical issues.

Now he is getting help from about as far away as it gets. Some U.S. troops in Afghanistan are raising money for Logan?s medical treatment.

In April 2011, Logan?s 13-year-old cousin and a couple of her friends were selling lemonade to raise money for him when a man snatched their donation jar and ran. He was arrested, and the story ?went viral? said Logan?s mother, April Varnadoe. The outrage led to many people wanting to help.

Now, members of Department of State Air Wing in Afghanistan are raising money for Logan. The unit is a mixture of troops from different branches of the military and from other nations, as well as civilians. They provide security and work to stop the opium trade that funds the Taliban.

A check for the money the troops have raised will be presented to Varnadoe at a fundraiser set for Friday at Central City Park in Macon from 7-9 p.m. It will include a dinner and raffle. That same day, lunches will be delivered to businesses to raise money for Logan.

Krystal Campau, whose Marine husband Michael Campau, serves in the Department of State Air Wing, is a Macon chef and is doing the cooking for the fundraisers. She didn?t find it hard to volunteer considering what the troops are doing.

?They are over there getting shot at and are raising money for this little boy here,? she said. ?It?s just amazing.?

Sean Carney, a member of the air wing, has been keeping up with Logan since the lemonade stand robbery and organized the fundraiser.

Logan, 3, was born with about a third of the brain matter of a normal infant.

A benefit yard sale, organized by Logan?s nurses, was held Saturday in Centerville. The money from that and the fundraisers Friday are to help pay for hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments Logan will get starting Aug. 13 at a clinic in Hilton Head, S.C. He will get two treatments per day for 20 days straight. It will cost $5,000 just for the treatments, and Medicaid doesn?t pay for it.

Varnadoe said the treatment has been used to help improve functioning in children with Logan?s condition, which is called periventricular leukomalacia.

?It?s not a cure-all, but its supposed to help rejuvenate his brain,? she said.

Logan medical journey has included 14 surgeries, including stomach surgery. He is fed through a feeding tube to his stomach, and Varnadoe said some adjustments to that have improved his awareness and he seems to smile more.

As she sat with him at the yard sale, Logan gently banged on a toy piano, which she said is his favorite toy.

The court case in the lemonade heist is still pending.

Anyone who would like to know more about the fundraisers or would like lunches delivered can call Varnadoe at 228-9249, or e-mail april.amerson@yahoo.com, or contact Campau at krystal.campau@gmail.com. Food donations are also needed.

Source: http://www.macon.com/2012/07/14/2094591/troops-in-afghanistan-raising.html

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