Making Dough for Ellie Jo: Judah Fundraises to Fight Cancer

What’s more uplifting than playing volleyball and fundraising for a young girl fighting cancer? That is what this year’s Block Out Cancer games achieved. On January 25, two Judah senior volleyball players — Maggie Newell and Riley Pritts — hosted the Block Out Cancer volleyball tournament at Judah Christian School to raise money to support Judah kindergartener Ellie Jo Katzer. 

Block Out Cancer is a Judah tradition where anyone can play in a volleyball tournament. Students, teachers, parents, and coaches play against each other to take home the prized Block Out Cancer trophy. People show off their volleyball skills and their creativity, with team names like “Over Served” and “Mission Unblockable.” Block Out Cancer even gives parents of volleyball players the chance to beat their daughters at their own game and students the chance to settle (or provoke) class rivalries. 

But while everyone loves the competitiveness and fun of Block Out Cancer, it’s really about something more. Block Out Cancer supports a family struggling against cancer.

Ellie Jo Katzer and her mom Ginger

This year’s cancer-fighting family is the Katzers. Ellie Jo Katzer is a Judah student with acute myeloid leukemia. According to the American Cancer Society, acute myeloid leukemia is a type of blood cancer where abnormal white blood cells rapidly multiply in the bone marrow, crowding out healthy blood cells.

Ellie Jo’s mom, Ginger Katzer, wrote a letter about the family’s story. Maggie Newell and Riley Pritts read the letter at the Block Out Cancer tournament.

The trouble started when Ellie’s parents noticed her acting differently. “She was falling over randomly,” the family letter said, “and she would be stunned for a few seconds after. She would complain of horrendous headaches and be lethargic. If you know Ellie Jo, she is anything but still.” 

So with hearts full of concern for their daughter, Ginger and Gary Katzer took Ellie Jo to multiple doctors. None of them saw anything but a healthy child. “It wasn't until we saw a developmental pediatrician,” said the family letter, “that the doctors suggested we see other specialists and get a complete bloodwork done on her. It was a Wednesday afternoon when we got her bloodwork done, and a few hours later we received a phone call, stating that her levels were off. That was the first time we heard the possibility of her having acute myeloid leukemia.” 

The Katzers were devastated by the news. The summer was full of tests, scans, consultations, and appointments. “During this process,” the family said, “we also discovered that she was carrying an infection in her tonsils.” 

Ellie Jo is now receiving treatments, and after a genetic test, she will start chemo. Even through all of these trials and hard times, she remains, the family says, “a thriving little girl who loves her life, loves her school, and loves her Jesus.” 

Jesus was clearly present at this year’s Block Out Cancer games. In the past, a whole team of people ran the annual event. But no one had that luxury this year. Maggie and Riley organized, planned, and ran the entire fundraiser. These two senior girls spent hours working to make this a successful Block Out Cancer fundraiser for Ellie Jo.

Yet with just these two students in charge, this year’s Block Out Cancer raised the most money ever in the history of Judah’s Block Out Cancer event. Jesus heard Judah’s prayers and provided for the Katzers. Jesus worked through willing people.

Judah’s annual Block Out Cancer event always creates an opportunity for fun and excitement for the whole school. But it’s also a time when people can come together to help a family that needs the community’s support. Judah is blessed to be the kind of place where we can have fun even as we raise money to stand with those in need of everyone’s care. We are blessed to be a school where people care for each other.

—Braden Laird, class of ’25