2-Year Old Cancer Patient To Benefit From Garage Sale

CHICAGO, IL -- There may not be a bigger high school rivalry on Chicago's South Side than the one that exists between St. Rita and Mount Carmel. But this weekend, a student at one school will host an event to help the nephew of a beloved former student of the other.

Tim Long, a junior at St. Rita, will host a three-day garage sale from Friday, June 2 through Sunday, June 4 in the 2600 block of West 104th Street in West Beverly to benefit Beau Dowling, a two-year-old boy battling cancer. Dowling is the nephew of Kevin Dowling, a former Mount Carmel football player who died of heat stroke in 1995 and of who the Kevin Dowling Scholarship for graduates of Mount Carmel and St. John Fisher School is named.

Long, a St. John Fisher alum, became a recipient of the Kevin Dowling Scholarship as an eighth grader entering St. Rita.

“If a young man such as Tim takes the lead, we can change the world,” said Paul Galetto, St. Rita CEO. Dowling Foundation Coordinator Jim McKeever referred to him as "a phenomenal kid."

“He’s the kind of kid you trust with your baby,” McKeever said.

Long worked with his mother, Jackie on the logistics behind the multi-property garage sale this weekend. According to a news release, they "recruited neighbors" to open up their garages to store bikes, tools and novelty items for this weekend's event.

A singing red-nose reindeer is just one of the items expected to go quickly.

“My mom and our family have always been involved in efforts in the neighborhood and I just thought a garage sale would raise a good amount of money to pay a bunch of bills,” said Tim.

Jackie praised the Beverly community as one where "you can give easily."

Photo provided