A Facebook group for Ascension Parish mothers rallied together to provide their children an evening of fun while helping a7-year-old leukemia survivor, Paislee Townley.

Lil Bambinos Playtorium, in Gonzales, hosted children of all ages May 30. The event, which allowed children to play games and explore the center's equipment, raised about $1,000 to help pay for some of Paislees medical expenses.

Weve had an idea for a while now to have an event like this, said Lindsey Del Bosque, who helped organize Play for Paislee. We can make new friends, meet each others kids and help Paislee all at the same time.

(Play for Paislee) has been a great opportunity for the community to come together, said Derrick Taylor, Paislee'sstepfather. This community is a close-knit group that has been helping us out.

Paisleewas diagnosed in May 2016 on her sixth birthday with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Since then, Paisleehas received chemotherapy treatments at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, as well as its Baton Rouge affiliate.

Taylor believes Paislees diagnosis has brought their family closer. The family also includes children Alyssa, 18, and Blaize, 12.

There have been lots of tears shed through all this, but its helped us grow stronger as a family, Taylor said. Each one of us has to be strong for Paislee. We have to put aside our needs and pick up each other.

Paislee, currently in remission, still has a long journey of tests and treatments, including daily oral chemotherapy. Her mother, Courtney Taylor, said Paislee is in the final phase of her treatment plan. She added she hopes Paislee will be well enough to return to school this fall.

This is the maintenance phase of the plan, she said. But, its 120 weeks of treatment. Her last treatment is scheduled for November of 2018.

The idea for the event came from Del Bosque, according to Lil Bambinos owner Ashlee Lambeth.

I love to do this, Lambeth said. There are lots of people in this parish who want to help. Everybody is close, and we just love it.

The money raised at Lil Bambinos came from a $10 admission fee and raffles for a summer-themed basket and an LSU quilt, made by Virginia Austin and Mary Patricia Brashier.

People have been enthusiastic about helping out, especially in our moms group, Del Bosque said. "If you say somebody needs help, we jump in and are there to do whatever we can.

Donations to help defray Paislees medical expenses are being accepted at gofundme.com/22vk5pas.

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Families rally for leukemia survivor - The Advocate