Maureen Mommaerts spends every day helping others as a social worker in the West De Pere School District.
After she received devastating news just a week or two before the school year started, the district wanted to do something to help Maureen and her family.
Thursday night it held a breast cancer awareness night during the varsity Volleyball game, to raise money and awareness to fight the disease, and to give support to Mommaerts.
The event included a raffle, bake sale, 50/50, t-shirt sale, and donations, with all proceeds going to Mommaerts and her family.
"It's hard to describe how much that means to me," Mommaerts said tearfully.
Four years ago, she battled and beat breast cancer. Then, she found out just before school started that the cancer came back. This time, it's terminal.
"I can imagine this could be very lonely but I don't feel lonely at all," Mommaerts explained.
That's because in addition to her husband and three children, the West De Pere School District has stepped up to support her. It all started with "Dig Pink" t-shirts, the idea of assistant varsity volleyball coach Jena Tollefson. They sold over 600 shirts to raise money.
From there, they decided to have a breast cancer awareness night at Thursday's volleyball match against Xavier.
"We were so excited that we could donate all this money to someone so deserving," Tollefson said.
For Mommaerts, the evening was special.
"I get really overwhelmed because I'm just in awe of the support that they've given me," she said.
Mommaerts' three children are all in the West De Pere District. She said she's known for awhile that the district was special, and this has just proved it even more.
"I know that [my children] are taken care of," she said.
The "Dig Pink" night raised over $6,000 for Mommaerts and her family.
