Fellow teachers and staff at the high school rallied around Cunningham throughout that time. Last year, they collected money to provide a cleaning service for her. In June the teachers held a non-event fundraiser for Cunningham. A party invitation was sent to most of the faculty and staff in June which invited them to a "non-event." They responded by sending money for the privilege of not attending the non-event. The non-event brought in over $5500 from the faculty and staff by mid-August. Cass Streicher and Vivian Walsh headed up the fundraising event for the high school. They sent a message to the staff just before the start of school to report on the results.

"The response to the fundraiser was tremendous," said Streicher. "Linda was moved to tears by the generosity of the staff. In addition to the money that was donated, many messages of good will and hope were forwarded on to her. We are very lucky to be among such kind people," she added.

Walsh reported that Linda is doing well with her therapy and is anticipating a life-saving bone marrow transplant during the fall. "Three potential donors have been identified and one match looks very promising," she said. "She's a very special lady, and we're delighted that she's improving. We look forward to having her back at school when she's feeling better."

Donations to the Linda Cunningham fund are still being accepted at DuPage National Bank, 101 Main Street in West Chicago.