Benefit raises $35K for student

A fund-raiser for the IU student diagnosed with bacterial meningitis in September drew more than 600 people and brought in more than $35,000 to help her family with medical bills. Friends of freshman Ashley Lee's family organized the Nov. 28 event at Terre Haute South High School.\nThe donations came in the form of ticket sales, donations and an auction held at the event. All the proceeds raised go directly to Lee's family to help pay for her hospital expenses. She has spent the better part of the past two months in the hospital.\n"The turnout for the fund-raiser was awesome," said Emily Donahue, a family friend who helped organize the event. "It exceeded our expectations because we weren't sure how many people would come out on short notice, but we were fortunate enough that the local newspapers let people know about it."\nAside from publicity in the newspapers, the benefit was emceed by the local NBC and CBS affiliates in Terre Haute.\n"This was definitely a community event where everybody came together as one," Donahue said.\nDonahue also said another group of students in Terre Haute are looking to organize a 3K or 5K run in Lee's name at IU in the spring, but the event has not been finalized as of yet.\nCurrently, Lee is undergoing physical rehabilitation and there is no expectation as to when she will return to school, though her father Tom Lee said her condition is continuously getting better.\n"At this point I do not think that we can foresee that far ahead, but I can tell you that Ashley is very anxious and is looking forward to getting back to school at IU," Tom Lee said.\nJust prior to Thanksgiving, the Lee family moved Ashley's belongings out of her dorm with the help of IU staff at Briscoe Quad.\nDonations can still be made to Ashley at any First National Bank or Old National Bank\n"For a handful of our friends to pull this event off in only a three and a half week period and reach out to over a thousand people in the community, to come out and support us speaks very well of the Terre Haute community," Tom Lee said. "We're not a large city or a real small city, but to get a thousand people to say that they want to help support is very unbelievable"