Fundraiser planned for Deer Park woman

While Kerri Williams may be going through a rough patch, one thing she is not short on is friends. As a hairdresser in Deer Park, she is part of the community.

Now that community is pitching in to help her. Williams, 25, is a self-employed single mother of 5-month-old daughter, Summer. When Summer was 8 weeks old, Williams was diagnosed with melanoma (a form of skin cancer). Now, she is undergoing treatments for stage three melanoma.

In the past nine weeks, Williams has undergone two surgeries and is preparing for a round of radiation and possibly interferon injection treatments for the next year.

Because Williams is such a rare case due to her young age, there is also a chance of Williams participating in experimental trial treatments at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston.

To help pay for her day-to-day bills and medical expenses, friends and family are throwing a fundraiser Saturday at the Deer Park Elk Hall, 12 W. South Ave. The event features a taco feed starting at 5:30 p.m. and an auction at 7 p.m. Taco feed prices are $6 for adults and $3 for children 6-12.

Auction items were donated from businesses and community members. Items include everything from helicopter rides, to movie nights, and trucks of hay or gravel. Two Carrie Underwood tickets are also going to be raffled off.

“It’s about her and Summer making ends meet,” said DD Culton, Williams’ boss at the Hair Depot in Deer Park. “For someone who is 25, she just wows me. Not once has she said, ‘why me.’ ”

Friends and family have also set up a Kerri Williams Benevolent Fund at Washington Trust Bank to accept cash donations.