Benefit in Bakersfield raises nearly $23,000 for well-known Caulfield man diagnosed with cancer

There are few other places where the heart and soul of the Ozarks can be felt more than at a benefit held in honor of a friend and neighbor who has landed in a difficult place. It’s a time when the very best parts of small-town communities are able to shine.

That neighborly support was on full display Saturday when community members gathered at Bakersfield’s Pride Park pavilion for a benefit auction in honor of Caulfield resident Morgan Collins, who has been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic bone cancer. Collins' friends and neighbors kept raising their bidding cards until $22,785 was accumulated for the Collins family.

“It did very well, especially with covid the way it is now,” said Bakersfield resident Joe Summers, who helped organize the benefit with his wife Monica and several other community members. The event was held outdoors, and masks and hand sanitizer were available for those who wanted them.

Summers said the success of the benefit is a true testament  to the impact Collins has made on the community, his neighbors and his friends. Collins and his wife Terry have three grown children who are also well known, Summers said. They are Doug Collins, Crisi Hadley and Leigh Collins. 

“You can’t ask for a better guy,” Summers said. “He’s been around here his whole life, and I’ve known him a long time and have worked [boilermaker] jobs with him back in the day. I’ve never heard anyone say one bad word about that guy. It’s just incredibly sad that something like this would happen to such a great guy, but that’s the way it seems like it goes sometimes.”

Joe and Monica Summers extended a special thank you to Bakersfield Schools superintendent Dr. Amy Britt for allowing them to use the pavilion for the event (the school manages Pride Park); to the Collins family for helping with all the food and other aspects of the benefit; to Gene Summers and Dustin Perryman, who served as auctioneers; to Missy McGoldrick and Lynn Pearson, who worked the cashier stations and to Farrah Summers and Victoria Hadley, who worked as clerks for the event; to Gary Minge, Mike Bond, Bowdy and Colt Perryman and Jake Summers “for catching bids and helping our auctioneers”; and to Sherry Pemberton, Michael Pemberton, Baxton Harper and others who helped Joe behind the scenes. 

“There were so many [people who helped], we can’t thank you all enough,” Monica wrote in a post on the Morgan Collins Benefit Faceook page. 

In addition to the many people who helped by bidding, Summers also extended a thank you to all the businesses and individuals who donated items to be auctioned at the event. 

The top-selling item was a 2007 Buick Lucerne car, which sold for $1,700. 

Summers said a lineup of guns and ammo also sold well. Firearms sold included a Savage Arms 6.5 Creedmoor, a .50-caliber muzzleloader Blazer, a Savage .270, a Mossberg International .22-caliber 715T and a 20-gauge youth shotgun.

The rest of the lineup of donated items was extensive and eclectic, including homemade fried pies, cakes and other baked goods; locally raised beef and pork; homemade salsa and pickles; a handmade quilt; clothing and home decor items; a solid oak china hutch; handmade fishing lures; a vacation rental at a home; gym memberships, a 16-ton load of base rock; 500 pounds of cattle-plus feed; an ice cream maker and popcorn machine; custom-painted artwork; and gift certificates for restaurants, salons, feed stores, taxidermy services and other businesses. Several monetary donations were also given.

“When we went over the next day to take them the money, his wife was pretty emotional about it [and] so thankful for everything everyone did. It’s pretty emotional for my wife and I too, as we put a lot of hours into it,” Joe Summers said. “And you know, he didn’t ask for it. His wife or family didn’t either. It’s just something we all wanted to do to help out a great guy… just to show them that this community cares about them.”