A very special fundraising event held in Okotoks on November 29th saw the community come together in support of one-year-old Okotokian, Lukah Mitchell.

Morgan Langner, Coordinator for the "Let Them Be Little," event that took place at Big Sky BBQ Pit, says the response from the community for silent auction items was overwhelming.

"It was wall to wall, it was crazy. We're walking around, and it got to the point of, ok, where are we going to put these now?" she said.

Lukah was diagnosed with a tumour in her abdomen in late October that required surgery, leading to the discovery that she also needed organ replacements.

Langner says the event was far beyond what they'd hoped for, with a sold out crowd of approximately 150 patrons, and donations exceeding their goals.

"Right now, and this is definitely an unofficial number, because we haven't received all the bids yet, but we are at about $8200 from that night. it was such a success," she said.

Langner adds residents from as far as Calgary came out, simply to donate to the cause. There were also patrons in the establishment during the set-up process, who kindly made donations after discovering what the event was for.

Langner says little Lukah is a trooper and is coming along well.

"It looks like Lukah is starting to kind of come around. I'm not sure how that is looking right now, but she was handling it quite well. I mean, she had an army behind her, especially coming from a community like Okotoks," she said.

The Go Fund Me page has raised approximately $46,000, bringing the grand total to just over $52,000 in support of the Mitchell family.

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