(Editor’s Note: The following article was submitted by Becker teacher and softball coach, Jason Baune.) 

It is often said that one of the advantages of living in a smaller town is an increased sense of community and a commitment to helping a neighbor when they are in need. 

On Friday, April 12 that sense of community was on display as the Becker School community rallied around Charles Wojciechowski and his family. 

Charles is well known in Becker as he has been a fitness instructor at the Becker Community Center since 2006. In late 2023, he began having extreme pain in his back and ribs. After multiple scans and doctor visits, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. He has since undergone multiple procedures to relieve pain, including injections of cement into spinal fractures and steroid injections to kill nerve endings in his chest.

As they have since their inaugural Strikeout Cancer event in 2017, the high school softball and baseball teams were ready to step up and help a family in need. Charles’ brother-in-law, Preston Voit, is not only a Becker police officer but also the school’s junior varsity baseball coach. After mentioning his family member’s battle, the softball and baseball teams decided to use this year’s event to raise funds for the Wojciechowski family. 

With the help of McDowall Custom Embroidery — who donated all of their labor — 450 Strikeout Cancer t-shirts were designed and sold prior to the April 12 games against Monticello. Those sales, along with generous donations of concessions profit from the Becker Blast Softball Association, Grandpa Steve’s Kettle Corn, and Becker Blends meant that over $5,200 was raised and donated to the Wojciechowski family.

When members of the Becker Education Association heard about the needs of the Wojciechowski family, the teachers knew that they too wanted to support Charles, his wife Ashley, and their daughters, Finnley (sixth grade) and Kendall (third grade). 

Each spring the BEA hosts a benefit to help those in need in the community and this year they decided to support the Wojciechowski family with their 16th annual BEA Benefit. A benefit committee was quickly formed and with the help of many teachers and support staff, a spaghetti dinner was planned and silent auction items were collected from close to one hundred area businesses and families.

In the hours following the April 12 Strikeout Cancer games, over 300 people showed up at Pebble Creek Bar and Grill to shower love and support on the family. By the end of the evening, Becker teachers had raised over $20,500 to help the family, bringing the day’s total over $25,700 donated to the Wojciechowski family.

Charles continues to keep his spirits high as he pushes forward in his battle with multiple myeloma. This summer he will undergo a bone marrow transplant that will include weeks in the hospital and months of recovery. If you’d like to support the Wojciechowski family, an account has been created at Sherburne State Bank in their name.