BY STACI WILSON
Mountain View junior Dempsey Hollenbeck took the wheel of her father’s late model racecar to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. PHOTO COURTESY DEMPSEY HOLLENBECK
Dempsey Hollenbeck has been going to the racetrack with her father, Chad, all of her life.
She’s always wanted to get behind the wheel of the late-model race car. Last summer, she got her chance in Selinsgrove Speedway as part of her high school senior project.
As the excitement over the chance to finally race grew last summer, Hollenbeck’s cousin Brooke Arnold, was undergoing her fourth brain surgery. And the Mountain View junior knew she also wanted to make a difference.
“I thought it would be a good idea to do something with her,” Hollenbeck said. “She fought furiously through the brain surgery.”
The senior project was “tweaked” and “Laps for Leukemia” was born.
Arnold was diagnosed with leukemia when she was three years old. She has been in remission for seven years.
“It became bigger than any of us thought it was going to be,” Hollenbeck said.
Arnold helped her with the t-shirt design. Shirts were sold and the community rallied around the project.
Elk Lake senior Sabrina Clark also got involved. Her sister, Victoria, is one of Arnold’s closest friends. Clark was showing and selling a lamb at the Harford Fair for her graduation project.
The lamp weighed in at 111-pounds and sold for $43 per pound. She donated her proceeds to Hollenbeck’s “Laps for Leukemia.”
In total, Hollenbeck raised $18,500 which was donated Friday to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in a presentation held at Mountain View High School.
She wiped away tears as she spoke about the project and what it meant to her before the check presentation.
LLS Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter President Ellen Rubesin said, “This is unbelievable. You all are heroes.”
“With work like this, our research is booming,” Rubesin said, “Especially for child leukemia, our cure rate is so much better.”
Katie Freind, LLS Director of School Programs, told the friends and family gathered for the presentation that school programs raise about $29 million annually across the country. The average is $1,310, she said. “Mountain View is one of the highest in the country,” Freind added.
Arnold said being part of the project she inspired “felt great.”
“I’m glad people believe in me and support me,” Arnold said. “It means a lot that people are willing to help find a cure.”
Dempsey is the daughter of Chad and Shelly Hollenbeck.
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