Jean Cote residents recently came out to support two of their own, raising $8,000 for Neil and Terry Richmond for their medical trip to Tijuana, Mexico in January 2009. He suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholestrol and she suffers from a form of lymphoma, which cannot be cured. They are going to Mexico for non-standard medical treaments, called chelation, to deal with their conditions. They need $25,000 for treatments and the trip. They will be in Mexico for three or four weeks and are taking three of their children with them. A spaghetti dinner and silent auction were held at the Jean Cote community centre Dec. 6 and approximately 100 people attended. The auction items included Christmas ornaments, a framed painting of a horse, kitchen appliances, blankets, stain glass art and a hunter's knife set. There was live entertainment, including Jean Moore who sang Christmas songs. Before dinner, Terry Richmond went on stage for a special presentation. Gerry and Marie Dubois read a letter from three family members, Jean, Shelly and Aleida Dubois. Their family provided $1,325 to the Richmonds in appreciation for all the help they have given them. "We hope this will help to take the financial strain off your family and it gives us great pleasure to be able to help out," says the letter. This money comes from a trust fund set up in memory of Chantelle Dubois, who died from brain cancer Oct. 17. She weas 20 years old and was Gerry and Marie Dubois's granddaughter. The couple provided Terry Richmond another $175 they raised from a bottle drive on behalf of their granddaughter, bringing their family's contribution to $1,500. "I did not expect that family to give me such a generous gift," says Terry Richmond. "It makes me feel blessed to be in a caring community. There's a lot of good people in this area." Neil Richmond, too, is grateful for the community's support. "It's just awesome, incredible," he says. "These are our neighbours and some of them we don't even know." He has a sense of kindred spirit from the community, which brings out the significance of scripture. His family are devout Christians. Kim Bessette and the other organizers tallied the silent auction sheets and announced they raised $6,500, bringing the evening's total to $8,000. At the end of the event, Jean Moore had everyone join hands near the edge of the stage and she led them in singing "Amazing Grace". Tentatively the Richmonds leave for Mexico Jan. 8, 2008 and return Feb. 4.