Final Touches Being Made in Fundraiser for Johnston Mom Fighting Cancer

Finishing touches are being made to a fundraiser for a .

Deb and Butch McGrew are making final rounds to area businesses that have volunteered their services or donations for the .

The McGrews, Brandi's mother and stepfather, have been the driving force behind the fundraiser, which takes place March 31 at in Urbandale.

"My husband is out right now seeing what else he can collect," Deb said. "He had a few place to go back to."

Deb will solidify plans for the fundraiser this weekend, including how long the silent auction will be open.

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Brandi Beckman, 35, moved back to Johnston last May with her husband and three sons to be near her family while she fights the especially aggressive form of breast cancer.

How to Help
(From a letter by Amanda Pankratz, a friend of Brandi's and the store manager at the Johnston Starbucks)

• My store is accepting donations of one-pound coffees, teas and other retail items which we will make into gift baskets for her silent auction on the 31st.

• My store and I have started a "Beckman family fund" drive, which will be collected in monetary value and presented as a check on the 31st, on behalf of my team and their immediate family and friends. This is designed specifically so that her and her husband and 3 boys can hopefully go on a family trip together and spend a little bit of quality time with one another, all expenses paid.

• I am personally working on a gift basket designed specifically for her which will include gift certificates to her favorite local restaurants, CDs, books, movies, slippers, lip gloss, etc. … lots of comfy, girly things.

• I am looking for your local businesses to donate whatever it is that they can, either for the silent auction or for her and her family personally. I will make sure that you are each individually recognized.

• Finally, my team and I are making her a scrapbook with notes/quotes on hope/faith/inspiration/family, along with cards, personal notes, pictures, similar stories, etc.

Pankratz and her team have also created a fund for donations to the family at www.giveforward.com/brandisangelfundraiser.