Firefighters ‘Adopt’ A Child Hauser Breakfast Raises Record $3,000 To Help Boy Battling Cancer

Nolan Foster was a perfect choice for local firefighters who were picking a sponsor child for their annual breakfast with Santa.

The 10-month-old has shiny blue eyes, a smidgen of curiosity, a contagious dimpled smile and an enormous sense of humor.

What made him ideal for this breakfast, though, was that Nolan has cancer.

For the past 15 Decembers, Hauser Lake firefighters have held the all-you-can-eat breakfast to raise funds for a child with cancer. More people lined up Sunday than in previous years at Hauser’s fire station for $3 plates of sausage, eggs and pancakes.

Firefighters served breakfast to more than 700 people, Capt. Gary Mobbs said. About $3,000 was raised for Nolan’s family, setting Hauser records for money raised and people served.

This year, the effort will help Nolan’s family survive the ordeals of surgery, chemotherapy and too many nights in Spokane hospitals.

By 10 a.m., firefighters had made two extra trips for more food to feed 615 people. Hungry patrons stood in a line that circled the fire station.

Santa Claus, sitting next to a large Christmas tree, handed out goodies and posed for pictures with children.

Long tables were covered with construction paper. Bottles of pancake syrup were emptied and filled near plates of disappearing margarine.

Near the firefighters’ jackets hanging on a wall, smiling volunteers cooked and served food. The fire station smelled like a typical Sunday morning breakfast - with enough biscuits, gravy and pancakes for everyone.

Firefighters and auxiliary members volunteered their time Sunday to serve hundreds of breakfasts.

Last year, the group went through 225 pounds of sausage, 520 biscuits and 119 dozen eggs for 622 people, according to Mobbs. The group raised $2,500.

“We’ve been just hammered since 8 o’clock,” Mobbs said during a quick break from serving food. “Word of mouth just keeps getting bigger and bigger.”

Firefighters began the breakfast, called “Shalena’s Breakfast with Santa,” in 1985 to help Mobbs pay for his daughter’s medical bills. Shalena, who had a form of cancer similar to Nolan’s, died when she was 3.

Since then, the breakfast has been a labor of love, Mobbs said.

“I know what they’re going through,” said Mobbs, who admits the event is a challenge after his experience. “It’s hard - maybe some of it’s harder for me than it is for them. … I have to relive it.”

Ebba and Scott Foster didn’t know their baby had a growing cancerous tumor in his brain until he was 4 months old when Ebba Foster noticed a bump above Nolan’s right ear. The cancer was advanced and growing.

“It concerned me because it wasn’t symmetrical,” Ebba Foster said. “I saw the MRI, and it was crystal clear.”

The tumor had grown so large it had its own vascular system, according to Ebba Foster. It had taken over 80 percent of the right side of Nolan’s brain.

Two surgeries later, the rare cancer is 95 percent gone. But Nolan has only a 30 percent chance of surviving, doctors tell his parents. He is to be treated with chemotherapy until he’s 3 years old. Then he may need radiation.

“We believe in the power of positive thinking and prayer,” said Ebba Foster, who quit her job raising and breeding horses in Athol, Idaho, to dedicate all her time to her son’s needs.

Nolan sat with his parents at the breakfast Sunday as they said hello to anyone who introduced himself or herself.

Today doctors will decide on another chemotherapy procedure for Nolan, Ebba Foster said.

In the meantime, Hauser firefighters will donate the money they made to the Foster family for extra expenses, such as gasoline to continue driving back and forth to Spokane for Nolan’s treatments.

“We like helping people,” Mobbs said. “What a great cause. It doesn’t get much better than this.”

This sidebar appeared with the story:

TO GIVE

Donations

People still can help Nolan Foster’s family. For more information, call Capt. Gary Mobbs at (208) 773-4522 or send donations to Hauser Lake Fire Department, attention Capt. Gary Mobbs, 6345 W. Hauser Lake Road, Post Falls, Idaho 83854.