Jared is a 9 year-old boy from Newport who was diagnosed with stage 4 Squamous Cell Carcinoma of unknown primary in March 2005. To date, Jared is the only known child to be diagnosed with this adult form of cancer. After Jared's diagnosis, the family did extensive research and was crushed to find out that the average survival time from diagnosis is 3-4 months.

The family wasn't about to give up. They decided to decline "traditional" treatments since there wasn't a cure. They started looking at alternative medicine in hopes of extending his life. They found a clinic in Georgia that accepted his case, and then later they ended up at another clinic in Mississippi. Between the two, they have found a course of treatment that has put Jared in remission!

As you can imagine, the family has been financially strained with haveing to travel so often so that Jared could receive the treatments needed to save his life. They also had to go from two incomes down to one. As if this wasn't stressful enough, add the uncertainly of not knowing if your child will live or die, plus being away for weeks at a time from family and friends. While Mom, Nicole, would travel with Jared, Dad, Barney, would stay home to work and take are of Jared's two younger brothers.

T.H.A.N.K.S. is hoping to be able to help the family get back on their feet. We hope that by helping them out financially, they can focus more on keeping Jared healthy, and not worrying about how to fund his treatments. It's no secret that Jared still has a long road ahead of him...but his amazing little boy and his family are sure to do just fine."