Officers from South Effingham High School’s Future Farmers of America program presented 6-year-old Brayden Alleman  a check for $2,700 in his hospital room Thursday. The FFA group, led by SEHS Principal Mark Winters and club advisor Bill Eaves, said they raised the money to help the family with their medical expenses.

Alleman is battling leukemia and has been in the pediatrics ward at Memorial University Health Center in Savannah for the past three months.

His mother Karin said she had new cause for hope with reports that matching umbilical cord blood has been found. She said they’re still hoping to find a bone marrow match, as doctors tell her that is usually more effective in fighting this disease.

A fundraiser to help defray Alleman’s medical costs in July at the Effingham YMCA raised more than $10,000. A bone marrow drive was conducted that same weekend in hope of finding a match .

The SEHS FFA raised the funds by selling T-shirts and hosting jeans days at South Effingham High School. Winters issued a challenge to Effingham County High School to raise more than SEHS had.

Alleman was in a rare, playful mood on Thursday and said that he wanted to thank everyone who was helping his family.  

He has just finished two rounds of chemotherapy and his mother said they should see the results sometime next week.