DECATUR — A benefit “Pennies for Pounds” chili supper and silent auction for Gina Keller, who is undergoing cancer treatments in Little Rock, will be held from 4 to 8 p.m., Nov. 11 at the Decatur Community Center.

Keller, who lives in Rogers, is suffering from Multiple Myloma, a type of blood and bone marrow cancer, and is on her second month-long stint of chemotherapy treatments at the University of Arkansas Medical Science Myloma Institute in Little Rock. She will need a total of six of the month-long treatments as well as a bone marrow transplant over the coming year.

Friday's chili supper is part of Cathy Pound's “Pennies for Pounds” fundraising efforts for Keller. Pound, who works at E-Z Mart in Decatur, has limited resources, so she took what she did have - plenty of extra weight and lots of friends who love her - and turned it into a fundraiser.

So far she has lost 18 pounds by following a low-carb diet and doing water aerobics and yoga. She has raised more than $640 from friends who have sponsoredher weight loss. She has enough support to raise $34 for each pound she loses.

“Gina and her husband were blown away by the outpouring of support and love from people they don't even know,” said Pound, explaining that many of her local E-Z Mart customers have donated generously to the cause.

While Keller has insurance to cover her medical expenses, Pound says her goal is to help pay for at least one-month's rent for Keller. During her treatments, Keller and her husband have to keep up with the expenses of her home in Rogers and an apartment in Little Rock.Pound has set a goal to lose 80 pounds and plans to continue her fundraising efforts and weight loss until Keller's treatments are over.

“I love Cathy dearly, she's the most awesome person,” said Keller, who described Pound as an angel. “I can't say enough good things about her.”

During a phone interview on Saturday, Keller's voice was strong and energetic, never revealing the fact that she had just completed several days of chemotherapy. Keller said she has always been a high-energy person who has worked two jobs, so feeling wiped out most ofthe time has been a challenge.

Keller works as a marketing representative for Vista Health and delivers newspapers for Northwest Arkansas Newspapers. Before working at Vista Health, she worked as a Benton County parole officer for 15 years. Keller's husband is the football coach for the Oakdale Middle School in Rogers and the couple has two college-age sons.

Keller and Pound became friends when Keller was doing a newspaper delivery route in Bentonville and Pound was working at an E-Z Mart along her route.

Keller said she has been amazed at the community support, noting that while she was home for the past two weeks, parents of her husband's junior high football team provided dinners for her family every night.

Donations of silent auction items are welcomed, along with pots of chili and desserts. Everyone who donates a dessert or a pot of chili will have their name put in a drawing for one of two $25 gift certificates. An account for Gina Keller has been set up at Arvest Bank and more information is available on the fundraisers facebook page: “Pennies for Pounds."

News, Pages 3 on 11/09/2011