When 8-year-old Dylan Berio of Middleborough was diagnosed with brain cancer five years ago, his family received a $5,000 check from Cops for Kids with Cancer, a Braintree-based nonprofit that aims to help families with the costs that come with an unexpected pediatric cancer diagnosis.
Now, Dylan is returning the favor: He’s teaming up with a group of students and staff members at Chamberlain International School to raise money for the nonprofit. The Middleborough boarding and day school holds classes year-round for students with special needs.
Though the students and staff at the school are soliciting donations online and through word of mouth, they’re not limiting themselves to typical fund-raising techniques. They’re raising money through weightlifting, too.
All proceeds from the Southern Mass Blast 2016, an amateur weightlifting meet taking place on Sunday, Aug. 21, at Synergy Functional Fitness in Lakeville, will go to Cops for Kids with Cancer. The competition will feature weightlifters of all ages and weights, ranging from a 13-year-old girl to a 62-year-old man.
Two Chamberlain students will be competing — Noah, 19, and Max, 17. They’ll be joined by two staff members — Keith Hancock, 41, and Ryan Angus, 33. School officials asked that the students be identified by their first names only, to protect their privacy.
The idea to team up with Dylan came from Hancock, the school’s controller and a longtime weightlifter who facilitates an extracurricular workout group for Chamberlain students. The
Dylan picked Cops for Kids with Cancer after talking with his parents andreading posts about the organization on Facebook. The nonprofit, run by volunteers including many active and retired police officers, tries to help local families with expenses such as meals and gas when traveling to Boston for cancer treatment.
“Even five years into this, there are kids being diagnosed every day and families just beginning their journey,’’ said Dawn Berio, Dylan’s mother. “So this is our way of giving back.’’
While it’s a fund-raiser, no one is taking the commitment to the weightlifting competition lightly. Hancock sometimes uses his days off from work to take Noah and Max to train at East Coast Fitness in Lakeville. Most weeknights, Angus takes them to the YMCA in town to train for two hours or more at a time.
“I don’t mind being sore the next day,’’ said Noah, “because I’m doing it for a great cause.’’
He and Max say weightlifting has improved them physically and emotionally; both came to Chamberlain because of behavioral challenges. But they’re not lifting for selfish reasons — they say they’re amazed by Dylan’s passion for charity.
“He’s only 8 years old and he’s already thinking about others over himself,’’ said Max, who was away and missed Dylan when the boy visited the team earlier this summer.
“He was funny,’’ Berio said about her son’s visit. “He was telling them, ‘You’re not lifting enough! You have to lift more! You have to get bigger!’ ’’
“I was beat tired,’’ Noah said, recounting the meeting, “but I knew I had to lift for him.’’
Berio said her son sometimes watches videos of the Chamberlain team training before he receives chemotherapy.
“It really helps him,’’ she said. “It makes him feel good and it inspires him. I know Dylan inspires them. It works both ways.’’
Dylan will be an honorary judge at the competition and will present a sword, the competition trophy, to the champion. But if you ask his mother, she will say he’s getting a whole lot more than fun out of the experience.
“I think he realizes that there are compassionate people and good people in this world, and people that are very selfless,’’ she said. “And he’s made friendships out of this, which is a good thing.’’
To donate to Dylan’s fund-raiser, visit www.youcaring. com/cops-for-kids-with-cancer-579433 or go to either of Middleborough’s Rockland Trust banks and ask to give to the Cops for Kids with Cancer account. jacob.carozza@globe.com@jacobcarozza
