According to Annette Butts, Administrative Secretary for C-A BOCES Allegany County Special Education and the Big Picture Program located in Cuba,“Mercedes is the daughter of one of our aides, Jody Turybury.(And)Parker is the son of one of our teachers, Kerri Davis.”
#PARKERSTRONG
By Kari Margeson,Bolivar Richburg CSD
Special Education Teacher
In September of
2016, Mercedes Turybury, an eighth-grader here at BRCS, lost almost everything
she owned in a tragic house fire.The Bolivar-Richburg family -- along with the
help of the surrounding towns -- came together to help provide clothing, food,
and monetary donations to the Turybury's. The generosity shown to Mercedes and
her family changed something inside of her.She decided to find a worthy cause
and do her best to pay it forward.
Mercedes Turybury (left) is shown with her
teacher, Kari Margeson, who wrote this story.
Mercedes learned
about Parker Davis,a second-grader at Genesee Valley who became injured after
playing basketball. Parker was sent to the hospital for a routine CAT scan.
During the CAT scan, doctors discovered a tumor growing on Parker’s brain.
Surgery could remove only 60% of the tumor. In the months to come, Parker will
receive 60 weeks of chemotherapy treatments at Strong Memorial in Rochester in
hopes of removing the remaining 40% of the tumor.
This means that
Parker and his family will be making a weekly trip from Andover to Rochester for
the next 60 weeks. In an attempt to raise money for the family to help with
their travel expenses, Mercedes put donation jars in both the elementary and
high school main offices.She also put posters up throughout the school to ask
students to help by donating their spare change.As Mercedes learned last year,
every little bit can help!
Mercedes also
wanted to show Parker how much the B-R community supported him.On Friday,
January 27, the Pre-K, Elementary and Middle/High school buildings all came
together to wear red in support of Parker.
The act of
kindness came full circle when Mercedes was able to meet Parker and show him the
pictures of all of the students and staff from Bolivar-Richburg that dressed in
red to support him. She collected all of the donations and was able to present
Parker and his family a check for over $300!On top of that, many people had
donated gas cards, gift cards and presents for Parker.
The
Bolivar-Richburg family would like to extend their well wishes to Parker and his
family. They would also like to thank Mercedes Turybury and her selfless
generosity to take a tragic incident and find the joy that comes with giving to
others. She hopes that more people will find the goodness in their hearts to
PAY IT FORWARD!
This story was featured on the cover of the most recent
Bolivar-Richburg CSD newsletter.
Parker Davis was also featured on the back cover of the
most recent Genesee Valley CSD newsletter. He is the boy shown at the
top of the movable staircase.
