Brookings breakfast to raise money for 14-year-old with cancer

By Jay Roe

The Brookings Register

Posted 1/2/25

BROOKINGS — Teaching character and serving the community are the twin pillars of Trail Life, a non-denominational Christian boys’ group. And on Jan. 11, local Troop 5511 will put those …

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Brookings breakfast to raise money for 14-year-old with cancer

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BROOKINGS — Teaching character and serving the community are the twin pillars of Trail Life, a non-denominational Christian boys’ group. And on Jan. 11, local Troop 5511 will put those principles into action with a fundraiser to help one of their own — 14-year old Ephraim Katz, who was recently diagnosed with osteosarcoma. 

“Every last penny goes to Ephraim,” Craig Ysbrand, Troop 5511 troop master, said. “It’s at Mount Calvary on Jan. 11 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It’s a free-will offering pancake feed. There’ll probably be some sausage and stuff like that also. We’re just hoping to have people come in and donate a free will offering.”

Osteosarcoma is a rare and aggresive form of bone cancer that often develops in young people.

All are welcome at the breakfast, which also features a silent auction.

“Getting donated items was surprisingly easier than I thought … People in this community have always been great for things like this. Brookings is a great town, and a lot of love has come out of this town,” Ysbrand said. “We tried to make it both guy- and mom-oriented. So we’ve got some hairstyle stuff as well like as one place donated like a $400 crossbow — we’re going to raffle that one off. That’s $25 for the crossbow raffle. And for the silent auction, we’re going to set up a bunch of tables with the items and people can just write a bid on there. Whoever wins the bid at the end of the breakfast, they get the item.”

He said helping people is what Trail Life is all about.

“(Trail Life) is a boy-focused Christian organization. It’s not overly preachy, because there’s multiple denominations there,” Ysbrand said. “We’re just trying to teach boys to be good Christian leaders, to be servant leaders, to have character and at the same time to act like men.”

He said Ephraim has achieved the level of Trail Life navigator.

“When (Ephraim) joined Trail Life in 2019, that’s when I got to know his dad. I’ve been kind of the leader of Ephraim’s group because my son’s his age. So I’ve followed these boys for the last four years,” Ysbrand said. “They live in Volga. His dad works at Daktronics. We knew them through Trail Life and he’s a friend of my son’s. So when the men’s group at Mount Calvary wanted to team up with Trail Life to do something for Ephraim — I’m the troop master — so that’s how the fundraiser started.”

He said Trail Life teaches kids to give back to their community.

“People who just only focus on their own family never teach their kids anything beyond themselves … I think we’re just doing what we’re supposed to be doing,” Ysbrand said. “So we do a lot of service projects. Like with the Optimist Club — they do lots of neat things — we’ve married up with them several times. They have the breakfast for all the police officers in town every May as a thank you. We’ve helped serve food with them. We’ve picked up garbage after the Hobo Day parade. Part of being a man of good character is having service involved in your life.”

They also teach life skills and try to have fun.

“This spring we went to Newton Hills, and we taught them to read maps without GPS — but you can take a compass. Then we’ve done fun stuff, like I hid their food they had for supper. So they had to find their food using terrain association,” Ysbrand said. “Last winter, we rented out the SDSU pool. And we had them jump into the pool with all their clothes on, then they make a lifejacket. So they’ve got to get their pants off and tie them in a knot — there’s a certain way you can put air into it — and that creates a lifejacket.”

He said they also emphasize leadership skills.

“This summer, we went camping for five days — Ephraim was part of that — and the boys take turns being in the leadership role,” Ysbrand said. “That teaches them, if I’m not in the leadership role I better work hard for the guys in the leadership role. Because if I slack off and don’t do what I’m supposed to do, then when I’m in the leadership role — he’s going to have attitude. Even if you’re a leader, you still follow somebody.”

He said it was only natural for Troop 5511 to rally around Ephraim.

“You have to take care of people,” Ysbrand said. “We want them to be strong men, but at the same time be loving. That’s the mix of true biblical manhood — love mixed with being strong and bold, and then standing up for what’s right.”

Ysbrand said he’s proud to be a mentor to Ephraim and the others.

“It has been a blessing to me to be able to teach these boys. They are all like sons to me,” he said. “The mentoring also goes from the older boys to the younger boys. When I was 14 years old, the idea of mentoring would have been alien to me. My friends tended to pick on the younger boys. Our 12-14 year old navigators have done a great job of mentoring the younger boys. They understand that you can be tough and manly — and still care.”

More information on Ephraim and how to support his family is available through either Caring Bridge or GoFundMe.

Contact Jay Roe at jroe@brookingsregister.com.