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ATWATER, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - An lawsuit was held Friday to grant the beingness of Atwater Elementary Assistant Principal, Ron Hoffart, who died astatine 56 years aged from lung crab successful August.
Mitchell Senior Elementary organized a walkathon and raised adjacent to $4,000 to assistance support those battling cancer.
"Ron loved this community. He loved this school. So, it's conscionable astonishing to spot each the kids retired present walking teachers, staff, successful grant of Ron and their loved ones who person been impacted by cancer," Ron's wife, Donna Hoffart said.
Donna was filled with emotion aft seeing the assemblage coming unneurotic for her husband.
After receiving his diagnosis past year, his colleagues and hundreds of kids stuck by his side, helping raise consciousness and showering Ron and his household with emotion and support.
"They progressive the kids a batch successful antithetic things similar hats for Hoffart, and they had achromatic bracelets for lung crab awareness," Donna said.
At the extremity of past schoolhouse year, Math Teacher Ronaliee Johnson started readying Friday’s walkathon. Ron adjacent pitched in, offering his ideas.
"We had talked astir ways that we could assistance our students spot the value of helping others. And I had asked him if determination were definite organizations that helped him on the way," Johnson said.
Unfortunately, Ron wasn't capable to spot successful idiosyncratic however his kiddos raised thousands of dollars successful his honor. But Donna knows, helium was inactive determination successful spirit.
"I bash consciousness similar he's smiling down connected america today," she said.
The wealth the kids raised volition spell to organizations that helped Ron during treatment.
"Lantern Care was an astonishing organization. They helped with state wealth and wealth for staying successful hotels due to the fact that Ron got a batch of his treatments astatine Stanford," Donna said.
Expenses were besides a interest for 8th grader Ava Souza and her family. Last year, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma.
"It's conscionable truly taken a toll connected my household and me," Souza said.
Souza is grateful for events similar Fridays, an accidental to rise wealth for families going done 1 of the toughest battles.
"I deliberation it volition truly assistance families. I cognize however appreciative my household was to get wealth and how, similar each past dollar, it was truly conscionable a large help," she said.
The schoolhouse hopes to marque the walkathon an yearly tradition.
