Pediatric cancer is not something we take lightly at the high school. It is a long and tiring journey for the families and kids involved. On September 11th, 2026 the high school hosted its 17th annual Blackout game to help support the families going through this journey. 

Brenda Dykema is the one behind the Blackout game, 25 years ago she had close friends going through pediatric cancer and she got involved in volunteering for the Pediatric Oncology Resource Team (PORT); this team does a variety of things like helping relieve families by staying with kids in the hospital, making care packages, and making kids dream rooms come true by decorating their hospital rooms to make them feel more at home for these long hospital stays. This time volunteering and getting to know the families and kids at the hospital inspired Dykema and sparked a passion and idea within her. Her son was a junior football player at the high school at the time. When she shared this with one of the kids she was working with he mentioned that he hoped to play football one day,this gave her an idea to not only represent these kids going through their cancer journey but also give the high school some perspective on the life they have. Her one idea has impacted many lives and it continues to do so as we reach year 17 of supporting the cause.

Dykema takes great pride in being able to do something like this, and she continues to do it not for recognition but for the cause itself.

“With the Blackout, it gives me a lot of passion to do it because I see where the money goes and I get to see how great it affects families,” Dykema said. 

Dykema is inspired by the players that take part in this game and the impact they have on these kids and the money they help fundraise for such an amazing cause. 

“Everybody has a story to tell, but by wanting to share their story they realize they are raising money for kids and everybody has the same thought that ‘hey we should do something for these kids,’” Dykema said. “And with the players, I’ve wanted them to shift their ideas not on themselves, not on playing the game, or wearing a certain jersey, but just think ‘what can I do for others and not think about myself.’” 

Dykema sees the impact that one idea can have on a whole community and encourages others to believe in themselves and stick with an idea till the end. 

“One little thought can really go a long way,” Dykema said. “And just by doing that and following through, the amount of money we have raised has been incredible. And that’s what I want to share with the community and the kids.”

The Lodden family is one of the three families that we sponsored through this game: John and Alicia Lodden have two kids, Camden and Hadley. What people don’t see from just looking at this family is the story that lies beneath the surface: their trials and tribulations with pediatric cancer. Camden’s daily routine as a kindergartener consisted of learning numbers, letters, words and colors, play breaks, naptimes, lunch and recess, and ending the day by going home. This simple life abruptly shifted into new routines, including endless hospital visits, and invasive surgeries. Their life as they knew it was gone and would never be the same. 

On Memorial Day weekend of 2025 while camping John and Alicia noticed a slight shake in Camden’s right hand, that shake slowly spread to his right arm. Throughout June his right foot stopped functioning properly. As any parent would, they brought him into the doctor, they suggested a CT scan on June 25th got the results back that would alter their lives. Camden had a brain tumor. Camden was then admitted to the children’s hospital to get scan after scan, a week later the team of doctors decided to perform surgery to remove the tumor. The surgeries didn’t end there– after a number of scans following the surgery they decided to go back in to assure they got it all. After the surgeries, biopsies were done, they discovered that the tumor was cancerous. This meant another month in the hospital for the Loddens, performing a second brain surgery to install a shunt (this drains brain fluid down to his stomach). After a month in the hospital they were able to go home, but chemotherapy began once a month which stretched across five days. This lasted for six months. In January 2026 Camden started the healing process, however, he soon started having issues with headaches and nausea. They found that this was due to the shunt in his brain being clogged, which meant a third brain surgery. After this surgery they were cleared to go home. Since then they have an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) appointment every three months to make sure that Camden is staying healthy. Camden Lodden is posing on the football field at the Blackout game before he takes the field with his family. Camden and his family were recognized at the game and were patrons for the Blackout game this year.

Although Camden is cancer-free, John and Alicia still feel a heaviness on them during every scan, every appointment, constantly filled with  fears of cancer returning. 

“Leading up to that scan, you just get anxiety, because you’re worrying about it. ‘What if it’s back?’ It’s just the weight on your shoulders of what we went through and the scare. Being scared of it coming back never truly goes away, despite being back to living a normal life, “John said. “ We’re super thankful that he’s doing well and he got through everything and life is moving forward again, but it’s still super scary.”

The toll that cancer takes on families does not go unnoticed, not only for the child going through it but the parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents. John has seen the hold it has on not only Camden but Hadley as well. 

“It was really hard on our daughter, and just siblings in general, when they have a sibling going through something like this, it’s so hard on them because you’re away from them. All the attention is on the kid going through their cancer journey and attention is taken away from the sibling,” John said.  “Especially when we were in the hospital for a month, our daughter was staying with family members and other people almost the entire time. So we were away from her. So that was really hard on her, and has really taken a toll on her emotionally and mentally. But it’s also given my wife and I and the rest of us, almost a closer bond and made us a lot stronger. But at the same time, it’s just overall hard on families. I mean, it’s a huge financial burden, it’s a huge mental burden, and it really does take a strain on families.” 

John and his family see great value in the Blackout game; the money fundraised goes directly to the PORT team who transform rooms for kids and help them feel more at home. This truly helps families feel more supported and less alone during this isolating time. 

“It shows that there’s a whole community there to support you and make you feel like you’re not alone, and just seeing firsthand, how the PORT team, which is where this money from the Blackout game goes to, seeing how they’re able to help kids in the hospital and families and transform kids’ rooms is amazing. It truly puts a smile on kids’ faces at the hospital when they’re in their darkest time. Just seeing how many people actually show up to that game and support the pediatric cancer week is amazing,” John said 

Varsity football player and cousin to Camden, Hunter Vergouwe didn’t realize the impact it would have on him and his family until it hit them. 

“I’ve already known that it was a big deal, and a lot of families struggle with it, but I didn’t really realize how much it really affected families,” Vergouwe said. 

When playing in the Blackout game, it becomes bigger than just winning the game, Vergouwe sees it as a chance for the community to come together and help a cause bigger than they realize. 

“I feel like it’s a good way to raise money, to help families that need it, and that can’t pay for treatments. So I feel like it’s really important and it helps the community a lot,” Vergouwe said.Pictured (left to right) Alicia Lodden, Hadley Lodden, Hunter Vergouwe, Camden Lodden and John Lodden stand together at the Blackout game. Vergouwe, cousin of Camden, played hard in this game for his cousin and family. 

John has experienced the impact that cancer can have on families and he came to the realization of how serious cancer is and how much it can take away from you. 

“Pediatric cancer, it’s real. It’s something that so many people might go to this game or might fundraise and they hear about it, but until it hits your family, you don’t realize just exactly how real it truly is,” John said.