Rallying for a loved one

• RL-B class

The Round Lake-Brewster Class of 2011 show their support of friend and classmate Benjamin Cunningham after his recent car accident through fundraisers selling shirts and cookbooks to assist the family in financial matters.
• Cunningham

Benjamin Cunningham leads one of his cattle out of the show ring following competition in the Nobles County 4-H beef show Aug. 14, at the fairgrounds in Worthington.

Talk about it

ROUND LAKE — At just six years old, little Parker Murphy of Round Lake certainly has a big heart.

For the past two weeks, the first grader and 4-H Cloverbud member has been selling Parker’s Produce at a makeshift stand outside his mom’s hair salon in Round Lake, and at the Amoco station in Brewster, to raise money for Benjamin Cunningham. The Round Lake teen was seriously injured in a car crash on his way home from the Nobles County Fair on Aug. 15.

The Murphys have lived next door to Paul and Miriam Cunningham for nearly 15 years and, according to Dawn Murphy, Parker’s mom, the neighbors are more like family. Miriam operates a daycare, and Parker has been spending his days with her ever since he was a baby.

“Parker considers Benjamin to be his big brother,” said Dawn.

So, when word spread around town that Miriam planned to keep the daycare open as the family’s only source of income, people like the Murphys decided to do what they could to keep the Cunninghams in Sioux Falls, S.D., as their son recuperated.

Parker had been selling “Parker’s Produce,” for a little while already, but when Dawn suggested he sell his produce and give the money to the Cunninghams, Parker quickly agreed to the idea.

“He wanted to empty out his piggy bank and give it all to Benjamin,” said Dawn — all $66 of it.

On Aug. 17, Parker set up his produce stand at Jim’s Amoco in Brewster with the help of his grandpa Mel Tennessen of Brewster, as well as neighbors Patti Tibodeau and her son, Brandon Andersen. In one day, the produce stand earned $218. Then, on Aug. 21, Parker set up his stand in front of his mom’s salon in Round Lake in the morning and at East Side Acres Campground that afternoon, collecting another $182 for the Cunningham family.

“People are so generous — they’ve just been great,” said Dawn.

Parker has been selling peppers, cantaloupe, green beans and some tomatoes that were donated by his Grandpa Tennessen.

“We’re in the process of getting more things out of our garden,” Dawn said, adding that Parker’s Produce will be set up this morning in front of the Head over Heals Hair Studio in Round Lake.

Though Parker is a boy of few words when being interviewed by a reporter, he’s quick to say how much Benjamin means to him.

“He plays with us — he’s got a (basketball) hoop at his house,” Parker said. “He plays Wii with me.”

And Benjamin even let Parker win a few times.

Touch of Class

Benjamin Cunningham was supposed to start his senior year earlier this week at Round Lake-Brewster (RL-B) High School. Instead, he is recuperating from serious head and facial injuries in a Sioux Falls hospital.

While his smiling face may be missing from the classroom for a while, his fellow classmates have rallied to support one of their own.

Last spring, as juniors, the class organized a cookbook for this summer’s all-school reunion. They ordered 450 books and, thanks to the company’s overrun, ended up with 495 copies to sell. After the reunion in July, they still had about half of them left.

Miriam Cunningham and Martha Eichenberger collaborated on the cookbook, which was filled with nearly 500 recipes submitted by graduates and students of the Round Lake-Brewster schools. The leftover copies were being stored in both of their homes.

On the night of Benjamin’s accident, Eichenberger was in her computer room wondering how she could help the Cunninghams.

“There’s always a box of cookbooks sitting in there,” she recalled. “I looked at that and I looked at my daughter Mara, and I said I knew how to make some money.”

Mara, who is also a classmate of Benjamin’s, sent a text message to the senior class, and they agreed to donate the proceeds from the remaining cookbooks to the Cunningham family. Within five days, every remaining cookbook was sold. The best part was that people didn’t just pay $15 for the cookbook — some gave two or three times that amount as an additional donation.

“The senior class could have made $3,500, but they chose not to — they chose to give it away, which is just awesome,” said an emotional Martha Eichenberger. “I can’t give them enough credit.”

Lon Eichenberger, RL-B teacher and head boys’ basketball coach, said Benjamin’s accident has been tough, “but you find out how much the community is there for you.”

This morning, Southwestern United (a consolidation of RL-B/Southwest Star Concept) will have a football scrimmage at 9 a.m. in Brewster, and people have lined up concessions with the proceeds going to the Cunningham family. Also in the works for the football season is a special Wildcat Athletics T-shirt that will contain a heart and Benjamin’s initials on the back. A similar project will be planned for the basketball season, Lon Eichenberger said.

Benjamin was a three-sport athlete during his junior year, playing football, basketball and baseball.

4-H’ers for Benjamin

Nobles County 4-H livestock exhibitors who earned a trip to the Minnesota State Fair this weekend took with them a big show of support for the Cunningham family. T-shirts arrived earlier this week, and 4-H’ers in the livestock encampment were encouraged to wear them on Thursday, the first day of the Great Minnesota Get-Together.

The T-shirts, a bright blue with white lettering, feature a picture of a steer on the front (Benjamin shows beef cattle as a 4-H project) with the words, “Bucky’s Support Staff.” The back contains the message, “Stay Strong. Keep Fighting.”

As of Thursday afternoon, a second order was made for additional T-shirts, with nearly 300 already sold or spoken for. There will be a few extra T-shirts available for purchase after Labor Day at the Nobles County Extension Office, located in the lower level of the Government Center in downtown Worthington.

4-H members heading up to the state fair for the general encampment, Sept. 4-6, will also be encouraged to wear their special T-shirts.

Road to recovery

Friday morning, the Cunninghams received more good news about their son’s recovery. Benjamin had a good night, and his lungs are now clear and looking good after a brief case of pneumonia.

“He’s had a fever for the last couple of days, so they’re still trying to figure out where that is coming from,” said Miriam.

The swelling is also gone from Benjamin’s brain, and he was fitted on Thursday for a helmet that will allow him to sit up and move a bit more freely while still having protection for his head.

In recent days, doctors have been weaning Benjamin of some of the medications and narcotics, which is leading to an increased response by the teen. He has tried to talk, but the tube in his mouth has made that difficult.

“The doctors feel he’s making good progress,” Miriam said, adding that they don’t know how long Benjamin will remain in the hospital.

They have had a lot of visitors and appreciate all the sentiments of support for the family.

“We wish to thank everyone for the continued support, thoughts, prayers, visits and fundraisers you have all expressed to our family,” she said. “We are truly blessed to have so many family and friends surrounding us as we travel Benjamin’s road to his recovery.”

Since Benjamin’s crash, the Cunninghams have kept a favorite Bible verse at hand from Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

“We truly believe that God answers our prayers,” Miriam said. “God is great. Love and prayers to all of you.”

People can keep updated on Benjamin’s progress by visiting www.caringbridge.org and using the website name benjamincunningham.

Tags: round lake, news, cunningham, brewster, fundraisers