The Yelm community is stepping up to the plate to help fundraise for 5-year-old Jonny Jennerjahn and his family, as he battles through a terminal diagnosis of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). A live auction and dinner event has been scheduled for 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Yelm Senior Center.
DIPG, according to dipg.org, is a form of brain tumor located in part of the brainstem called the pons. The name DIPG itself pertains to how the tumor grows, what kind of cells created the tumor and its location.
Mikayla Ramey, a Yelm High School graduate and Jonny’s cousin, said the Jennerjahn family must travel from Graham to Colorado every four weeks for the 5-year-old’s treatment. She said her cousins have to pay for travel, lodging and have to take long periods off from their jobs for the travel.
All of the proceeds from the live auction and dinner event will be donated to the family to provide financial assistance for Jonny’s journey with DIPG. Monetary contributions can be sent to the Jennerjahn family through Paypal (@jonnyboy2019), Cashapp ($SarahJennerjahn) or Venmo (@sarah-jennerjahn-113).
“The treatment is supposed to help prolong his life. It’s going to help shrink the tumor and stop it from growing anymore. However long this treatment works is how long he’s going to be here. If this treatment stops working, then that will be the end of the line,” Ramey said. “I want to try to help them because money should be the least of their worries right now. The day that she reached out to us, I started figuring some things out, and within 24 hours, I had a location, the date and all of the information planned out.”
Ramey began organizing the event for her family member by going to 55 different businesses throughout Yelm and providing them with flyers and donation request letters. She said the response from local business owners and community members was amazing.
“I’ve gotten quite a bit of donations already from local businesses and residents just wanting to donate to a good cause,” Ramey said. “I would like to accept donations until the 21st of November, but I’m going to have sheets the day of in case someone brings an item they’d like to donate the day of the event. We’ll have extra bidding sheets as well.
“It really surprised me,” she added of people’s interest in supporting the family. “I feel like a lot of people have good hearts, but at the same time it’s surprising because I’m a random person giving them a flyer. They read what I’ve written and chose to donate something. It shows the kindness that people have in the community. I’m grateful.”
Jonny was diagnosed with DIPG in October of 2023, and his family was told that without radiation, he’d only live six to nine months. With radiation, Jonny’s life expectancy is 12 to 18 months.
“The first couple of weeks after they found out the news, he couldn’t walk or sit up on his own. After the first round of radiation, he got a lot better. It helped shrink the tumor. With DIPG, it’s incurable. The radiation just helps shrink it. It can’t go away,” Ramey said. “The crazy thing is that on his good days, if you see him, you’d have absolutely no idea. He’s just a normal 5-year-old kid. Obviously, he has bad days, and they’ve had scary moments, but on good days, if it was a random person seeing him, they’d have no idea.”
Jonny’s mother, Sarah Jennerjahn, said her son’s world has been nothing but Nerf guns, Roblox, Fortnite, Skibidi Toilet and YouTube. She said if the family can get out and about, he loves the Hands-On Children’s Museum, riding his motorcycle and working in the pasture.
“It’s amazing and heart warming [to see local community members and businesses support Jonny],” Jennerjahn wrote to the Nisqually Valley News on Oct. 21. “We will never have the words to thank all the ones that have stepped up and either reached out or donated in this unfortunate time of ours.”
In addition to the silent auction and dinner, Ramey said merchandise for Jonny, with proceeds supporting his cause, can be purchased online at https://twodogsleather.myshopify.com/collections/jonnyboy-strong. She said all of the clothing items on the website feature the 5-year-old’s favorite activities.
“I want everyone to know that we are thankful for everything that we’ve received so far. I hope that we can really bless them and help them not have to worry about money,” Ramey said. “Money should be the least amount of worry that they have. I want them to be able to just spend time with their son, and not have to worry about money.”
Doors for the fundraiser will open at 2 p.m., with dinner beginning at 2:30 p.m. Bidding for auction items will begin at the start of the event, though the auction will close at 5 p.m. DJ Mike Hayes will host music and karaoke throughout the evening, and Mr. Dougs is catering a taco bar and sides.
To donate auction items, reach out to Ramey at mikayla.ramey@outlook.com.