Friends Host Car Wash to Help Pal in Cancer Fight

Fliers by Jade and Angelica Davis.

Oak Lawn, IL, June 14, 2016 -- Friends vow to wash every dirty car in Oak Lawn to raise money to help an ailing pal who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer.

Tara Hill, an Oak Lawn Community High School alumna and current student at Saint Xavier University, has been been battling Ewing’s Sarcoma since 2014, a type of tumor that forms in bone and soft tissue.

This Friday ,June 17 from noon to 4 p.m.,Tara’s friends will be at OLCHS, in the southwest parking lot at 9400 Southwest Highway, washing dirty cars for a suggested donation of $5 or more. All proceeds will go to Tara’s medical treatments and to help her family pay some household bills.

Ewing sarcoma is most common in adolescents in young adults. Tara, who is now 20, was diagnosed in 2014 during her senior year at OLCHS. After having the tumor surgically removed, her cancer recently came back. She is currently undergoing radiation and chemo treatment at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.

During her years at OLCHS, Tara played on the Spartan volleyball and badminton teams. She was a standout badminton player, qualifying for IHSA state finals and was named the team’s Most Valuable Player in 2014.

Tara has just finished her sophomore year at SXU where she is majoring in speech pathology. During her valiant fight against cancer, Tara has kept up with her studies.

Jessica Rodriguez, a former OLCHS classmate and close friend, is organizing the car wash fundraiser.

“Tara is an innocent and kind person,” Jessica said. “We were opposites in the funniest way possible. I’m a bolder person. She made me a better and nicer person.”

Tara’s family has also created a blog, “Tara Jeanne, Small But Powerful,” keeping friends and family in the loop on Tara’s treatments.

Tara can use a little cheering up and encouragement, so if you’d like to shoot her an email, the address is tarahill162@yahoo.com.

The family is also accepting online donations at Give Forward.