Photos submitted by Nicolette Munoz ~
Mateo Cota, nicknamed “The Beast” by friends and family, is suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The youngest of three boys and the son of Ed and Erika Cota Mateo isn’t alone, and neither are his family.
On Nov. 14 a broad cross-section of the Central Coast Community turned out to support the Cotas during a Family Fun Day- fundraising event at Thousand Hills Ranch.
Although raising money to help deal with the costs associated with having a sick child was a big part of the event, many of those who came also had themselves tested as potential bone marrow donors.
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells, in which immature white blood cells are over-produced and multiply in the bone marrow, inhibiting production of normal cells. It is most commonly diagnosed in children, ages 2- 5.
While cash helps the family pay for basic family needs including medical co-pays, travel costs to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, prescriptions, and offsets time missed from work, it’s not a cure on its own.
Representatives from Be The Match were on hand to collect swabs for possible bone marrow matches. “We collected 44 swabs at our last event,” said Erika Cota before the big day, adding that they’d hoped to break the record.
A specific match for Mateo isn’t always necessary to help, as organizations like Be the Match often arrange lengthy chains of donors willing to help out another person until matches are found for all. For details see: bethematch.org.
A long list of local event planning and party activity companies donated their presence for the day as well. Notably, Doc Brown’s Time Machine rental continued their tradition of lining up an event for a good cause in-between other bookings.
Donations at the Fun Day were even dropped into a “Flux Capaciter”
Auten Boys BBQ provided a $15 plate meal for visitors and SLo Coast Coffee was there for a adults while Rebecca’s Ice Cream Truck filled up the kiddos.
Radical Reptiles and Face Painting by Gina also provided some diverse things to look at.
To find out more about Mateo’s fight go online to: www.TeamMateoBeast.org, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TeamMateoBeast A Crowd-Funding site for Mateo can be found at: www.youcaring.com/teammateobeast.
