A Manitowoc County Farm will be playing host to a fundraiser this weekend for a very special young man.
The fundraiser for the family of Henry Tyeptanar will be held at the Balde Farm, located at 5628 Brunner Road in Manitowoc on Saturday.
We spoke with Emily Tyeptanar, Henry’s mother, who spoke about Henry’s diagnosis.
“His disease is called Myotubular Myopathy, or MTM for short,” she explained. “Basically, he is wheelchair-bound, and has a trach to breathe and a ventilator. (He) has a lot of medical needs, a lot of therapies, definitely a lot of respiratory treatments.”
However, Emily and her husband Michael have not let this keep Henry from leading a full life.
He recently received a wish from Make a Wish where he was able to go to Disneyland to meet his favorite character, Crush from Finding Nemo.
He also participates in the Miracle League of the Lakeshore, which his parents say he enjoys very much.
Sarah Balde, one of the owners of the farm where the fundraiser is being held, is also one of Henry’s nurses, and she was the one who actually suggested they hold it at her farm.
“They needed a wheelchair van and God put a little tug in my heart that I should help them out,” she revealed. “We do fundraisers on our farm, so I talked to (Emily) and asked if she would be ok with that. She said yes.”
The event will feature a ton of fun activities, including games, raffle baskets, 50/50 raffles, great food, a dunk tank, hayrides, a bounce house, and a petting zoo just to name a few.
Henry’s dad Michael tells us he is amazed by the amount of support they have received from the community so far.
“It’s been really overwhelming just to see that people are so willing to give and to help,” he said. “I think it has been a hard couple of years for a lot of people, with COVID behind us. Just to know that people are willing to help and want to help has been amazing.”
The fundraiser will run from noon to 4:00 p.m. Saturday with all funds raised going to cover Henry’s medical expenses.
They will be accepting cash, Venmo, and card, but there is also a GoFundMe page set up for those unable to attend.
