Family holds second annual fundraiser for son's scleroderma nonprofit

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Family holds second annual fundraiser for son's scleroderma nonprofit

Patrick Varine | Wednesday, November 20, 2019 9:50 a.m.

Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review

Family members of Kody Churma, from left, mother Laurie Churma, sisters Brooke and Montana Churma, and father Duane Churma, at right, all from Washington Township, let a sky lantern afloat during the second annual lantern release fundraiser for Scler-Churma, a non-profit foundation founded by Kody Churma, who died in September 2018 from scleroderma, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019 at the Shootin’ Bull Tavern in Washington Township. Laurie Churma said the funds raised for the foundation will help those who have the disease, as well as other autoimmune diseases. "He was a very humble man," said Brooke Churma, Kody’s sister. "He wanted to help others."

Laurie Churma of Washington Township was joined by friends and family Tuesday as they paid tribute to her son Kody and raised money to fund research into the disease that took his life.

In less than two years, Kody Churma went from a healthy young man to one who was unable to hold a fishing pole, and couldn’t draw because he wasn’t able to hold onto a pencil. Kody died from complications related to scleroderma, an autoimmune disease that attacks skin tissue and can damage internal organs.

Before he died in September 2018 at age 26, Kody started Scler-Churma, a nonprofit organization aimed at raising awareness and educating others about the disease. The organization held its second annual fundraiser on Tuesday at Shootin’ Bull Tavern near the Murrysville-Washington Township border, ending the evening with a lantern release in Kody’s memory.

For more, see SclerChurma.org.

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