Buy some chicken and help raise money for 7-year-old Sophia

A few South Mississippi residents have teamed up with Chick-fil-A for a fundraiser to help with expenses for the family of Sophia Myers, a little girl in Ocean Springs diagnosed this week with an inoperable brain tumor.

“We were trying to find a way to help the family,” said organizer Brittany Gregory, a friend of Sophia’s parents, Joshua and Angel Myers. Angel Myers is an assistant district attorney for George, Greene and Jackson counties.

People can choose a Chick-fil-A sandwich or eight-piece nuggets, each served with chips and a dessert, all for $8 each. All orders must be paid for in advance and placed no later than 6 p.m. March 6.

The orders are set for up pickup at noon on March 14 at the First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall on Live Oak Avenue in Pascagoula, though Gregory said she and organizer Susan Parton are trying to find sites in Gulfport and Biloxi where the meals can be picked up.

“We would like to take the burden of worrying about finances away from (Sophia’s family) so they can focus on their precious baby girl,” the organizers said.

Ocean Springs School District Superintendent Bonita Coleman-Potter said Oak Park Elementary, where Sophia is a first-grader, will next week be looking into what they can do to help the family.

“It’s one of our students,” Coleman-Potter said Friday, “and we are all concerned and we are praying for her healing and we will do anything we can to support her family and her classmates.”

Sophia, 7, is an only child. Her mother is fierce defender of children in her role with the courts.

On Wednesday, doctors diagnosed Sophia, whom her parents call Bug, with diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas, known as DIPG, a tumor on a major structure in the upper part of her brain stem.

Sophia has been undergoing treatment at Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital at University Medical Center in Jackson. Since the diagnosis, South Mississippi residents have rallied to offer her and her family their support.

Relatives have set up a GoFundMe account to help raise money for the family.

Jackson County District Attorney Tony Lawrence said his office is setting up a benefit bank account next week to help the family with finances so they can focus on Sophia’s treatment. Myers has worked under Lawrence for 11 years and the DA has known Sophia since she was born.

Everyone at Lawrence’s office is pitching in to help the family.

State Sen. Brice Wiggins is urging residents statewide to consider donating to Myers, someone he has known since his time working alongside her as an assistant district attorney under Lawrence.

To place your orders for the Chick-fil-A meals and to find out where to make payments, email Gregory at brittanyw.gregory@gmail.com.

This story was originally published February 24, 2017 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Buy some chicken and help raise money for 7-year-old Sophia."