PHOTO COURTESY CHANDI LONG
Ocean Pines resident Max Long, 5, is in remission of B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, and will celebrate during the Mighty Max Bingo Fundraiser at the Greene Turtle in West Ocean City next Thursday, Jan. 31.

By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer

(Jan. 31, 2019) Show support for children’s cancer awareness and a local boy who has battled the disease during the Mighty Max Bingo Fundraiser, tonight, Thursday, from 6-10 p.m. at the Greene Turtle in West Ocean City.

In October 2017, Scott and Chandi Long, of Ocean Pines, received the worst diagnosis any parent could hear from a doctor; that their child has cancer. Their then 4-year-old son Max was diagnosed with B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Long spent a total of 126 days at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. for treatment, with his mother, a personal trainer at Power House Gym in West Ocean City, by his side the whole time. Currently, Long is in remission.

However, there have been countless weekly trips to the hospital for treatments, tests and lumbar punctures as well as some emergency transports due to spiked fevers and other infections. The treatments that Long will receive on this maintenance phase will last for three years and have been very costly.

Five friends who exercise at Power House Gym – Kathy Winte, Joan Gadomski, Vickie Brady, Ardella Anderson and Lynn Bush – joined together to help the Long family financially.

“The five of us are part of what we call ourselves, ‘the Posse.’ We all train with Chandi, his mom, and we decided that the timing was right to do something for the family,” Winte said. “Max, he’s our superhero in the community fighting leukemia … he’s given so many people so much inspiration to fight like a champion and fight like a hero to overcome his adversity.”

For a $10 entry fee, guests can enjoy appetizers, happy hour prices on drinks and receive a door prize ticket. Tickets for bingo cost $2 each and the event will also offer a 50/50 raffle and Chinese auction. In addition, there will be a basket of hope raffle for $5 a ticket or get five for $20.

“What an amazing community that we’ve moved into,” Chandi Long said. “We moved out to Ocean Pines about three and half years now, and we moved out here because we were looking for a tight-knit community, somewhere a little different from where we’ve lived before. We have just been completely overwhelmed by the amount of community support that we’ve received since Max’s diagnosis. It’s just been an outpouring of love and support.”

The event is family friendly and welcomes children to participate in bingo as well.

Prizes for bingo include gift cards, T-shirts and prizes from local restaurants and businesses. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Long family.

“The event feels bigger than just Max,” Long said. “They’re raising money for our family, but … in addition to that, it raises awareness for childhood cancer. People see [cancer] as something that is extremely rare and although it is rare, it’s something that affects kids in every single community. For me, the financial part is phenomenal and greatly needed and appreciated, but it’s also getting people together to talk about pediatric cancer and to see Max as a member of their community, somebody who has actually been going through it and personalizes it.”

For more information, call the Greene Turtle at 410-213-1500 or visit the Mighty Max Bingo Facebook page to make a monetary donation.