Pitching in for young cancer victim
Published 5:39 pm Saturday, July 6, 2013
The Rite Aid pharmacy on Holland Road sprang into action Friday, raising money for the manager of another area store’s baby daughter who has been diagnosed with cancer.
Steve and Misty Roman learned on Memorial Day weekend their baby daughter, Emma, has cancer in her brain stem, said Pam Allen, manager of the Holland Road store.
Steve Roman manages the Rite Aid on Cedar Road in Chesapeake, and his wife is a pharmacy technician at another area store.
The Romans celebrated Emma’s first birthday Wednesday, Allen said. The brave little girl currently awaits a round of chemotherapy at the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk, where she has already undergone surgeries.
“We just all pitch in every time there’s anything that we need to do,” Allen said. “We are always there for each other.”
Friday’s event included a bake sale and raffle. Managers from several Rite Aid stores were selling hot dogs and barbecue out front into the afternoon, and the community had responded with generosity.
More than $820 was raised, which Allen says will help the Romans be there for Emma.
“Little things like parking can add up,” Allen said, “and they need to be with her.”
The parents, whose two other daughters are aged 13 and 9, are “hanging in there,” she said.
Rite Aid stores also raise money for CHKD itself, with other events throughout the year, Allen said.
But they’ve been doing “everything we can” to help out the Romans, she added
“We are pitching in and letting them know we are family.”