First Posted: 2/24/2015
KENTON — A former drum major for the Ohio State University marching band has a love that goes much deeper than his Buckeye spirit: his mother.
Although Stewart Kitchen, drum major in 2006 and 2007, treasures his uniforms, he auctioned two pieces on eBay during the past week to aid mom Mitzi’s fight against angiosarcoma, a rare form of cancer affecting the inner lining of blood vessels.
“I wanted to do something for my mother and spread awareness,” said Kitchen, 28, a 2010 OSU graduate now working as the university’s drum-major instructor. “It really wasn’t a difficult decision to make.”
In selling his breastplate and band hat, as well as an OSU cheerleading sweater donated by friend Zac Nixon, Kitchen raised $2,370 through the auction.
Mitzi Kitchen, a married mother of four who lives in Kenton and works as a program assistant at the OSU Extension in Upper Sandusky, said her older son’s gesture overwhelmed her.
“I hated the idea that he was selling things that meant so much to him,” she said. “He was insistent. … I gave him my blessing.”
The money from the sale of the breastplate ($1,550) will go directly to offset Mitzi Kitchen’s medical expenses, Stewart Kitchen said. The money paid for the hat ($620) will be given to the Urban and Shelley Meyer Fund for Cancer Research. And the $200 paid for the sweater will be split between his mother’s bills and the research fund.
In addition, Stewart had already established a separate direct-donation account via GoFundMe — called Mitzi Beats Cancer! — that has raised about $4,300 for his mother’s medical expenses.
Nixon, a 2008 OSU alumnus, lost his stepfather in 2010 to Hodgkin’s lymphoma — a setback that motivated him to help Kitchen.
“He’s so down-to-earth and such a good guy,” Nixon said of his friend. “Anytime there is money that can go toward cancer research to end cancer, I’m going to do my best to assist in that type of situation.”
Mitzi Kitchen, who learned of her diagnosis in October, is about halfway through her treatment regimen of eight rounds of chemotherapy.
“I have my up and down days,” she said. “It’s worth the down days when I have my up days.”
Kitchen’s younger sister, Alyssa, 25, said she didn’t know about the auction until Stewart posted something about it recently on his Facebook page.
“I’m really proud that he was willing to do something like that for our mom,” she said.
“You just realize family is the most important.”
Mitzi Kitchen, 52, has also received plenty of support in Kenton.
“Mom has always been bubbly and outgoing,” Alyssa Kenton said. “It’s amazing to see the community she helps come back full circle and giving back. Now that she’s in need, others are reaching out to help her.”
Stewart Kitchen said the auctions don’t violate any university policies, and the band doesn’t fall under NCAA regulations that apply to OSU athletic teams.
He still has some band memorabilia and the experience itself to cling to, he said.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to have been drum major for two years, and there are a lot of great memories.”
