By ERIN MATHEWS

Salina Journal

The people who came out Sunday night to enjoy the talents of several area musicians also knew that 100 percent of their admission money was going to a good cause.

Heidi Feyerherm, who founded the Love, Chloe Foundation in honor of her daughter, Chloe Watson, a 7-year-old Salina girl who died in October 2007 of a brain tumor, said she was hoping for a sell-out crowd at The Blue Goat, where Ben Romans and Ryan McCall performed a duo piano concert.

McCall, a graduate of Salina South High School, is a musician living and working in Kansas City, Mo. Romans, a graduate of Salina Central High School, is the keyboardist for the popular rock band Click Five. They were joined by Joe's Pet Project, a pop-rock band, for the third Love, Chloe fund-raising concert.

Feyerherm said since the foundation was formed in November 2007, about $3,500 has been raised, and she was hoping for about $2,000 more from Sunday's concert. She said she is hoping to establish four regular fund-raising events a year so people can make plans to participate.

In addition to the concert, a kickball tournament was held in September, and on Feb. 7, a scrapbooking event is planned.

The foundation's mission is to assist families of pediatric cancer patients by helping with expenses and helping to fund research.

The foundation is working with Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., to distribute kits to school-aged cancer patients. Money currently being raised will be used to launch the "There's a Monkey in My Chair" kit program, which ultimately Feyerherm anticipates will become self-sustaining. The first 50 kits have been made, which Feyerherm said is the number Children's Mercy anticipates distributing in a year.

The kits contain a stuffed version of Chloe's favorite animal, which will sit at a child's desk when he or she has to miss school. Classmates can write notes, which are placed in the monkey's backpack, and the child can respond, so that she or he still feels a part of the class.

The kits also contain a book explaining why the child is missing school and how he or she may look different upon return. Feyerherm wrote the book, which was illustrated by children from Chloe's second-grade class.

For an elementary student, school is "their whole social network," Feyerherm said.

"Chloe loved school and all aspects of it," she said. "It was hard for her to miss it, but this way she could still be involved."

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