Prairie Village Police are putting the razors away in support of a young Shawnee Mission East student who is fighting for her life.
The police department is going a full month this November without shaving their facial hair — which is normally against policy — as part of its third annual No Shave November fundraising effort.
This year, the beneficiary is SM East junior Carlie Foutch, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia three years ago.
‘It’s been a long rollercoaster of health for her’
Carlie Foutch and her mom, Misty Kramer, moved to Prairie Village about two years ago, from Belleville, Kansas. The two would drive back and forth from Belleville to Children’s Mercy Hospital for Foutch’s treatments.
Foutch was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia — cancer of the blood and bone marrow — in January 2020. Since then, she’s relapsed three times.
This final relapse, which occurred in late August, early September, is incurable, Kramer said. Foutch’s treatment status has been changed from “cure” to “comfort.”
For the past two months or so, Kramer has taken a leave of absence from her two jobs to care for Carlie full time.
Between three relapses, chemotherapy and radiation, and two bone marrow transplants, Kramer said the past three years — from when Foutch was 13 to now, as a 16-year-old — have been a flurry of “ups and downs.”
“I would compare it to a rollercoaster,” Kramer said. “It’s just a lot of ups and downs and lately it’s just been downs, with a little bit of halfway ups or quarter-of-the-way ups.”
Foutch is talented — and stubborn — mom says
While she’s dealt with cancer during the height of her adolescence, Kramer said, Foutch is both talented and stubborn.
Foutch is stubborn in the sense that she knows what she wants, and asks the doctors for it. That includes getting out of the hospital a day early to make it to the 2023 Lancer basketball tryouts.
Kramer said Foutch’s dream is to play in the Women’s National Basketball Association. Foutch loves basketball, and her favorite team is the Los Angeles Sparks.
But Foutch has many talents, Kramer said. She can sing, dance, play instruments, paint and write. Foutch wrote a book during her first remission about her journey, entitled “Finding Myself.”
When Foutch is out of the hospital and her energy levels are up, Kramer said the one place she wants to be is at school.
While most teenagers dread getting up for school, Kramer said, Foutch yearns to be in class.
“She loves life,” Kramer said. “So many kids take all the little things for granted, and Carlie, she mainly wants the little things like to play basketball, to go to school.”
Prairie Village Police wanted a hyper-local tie this year
In previous years, the police department has raised money for cancer research through St. Jude and Leawood-based Prostate Network.
Sgt. Luke Roth, who led those two No Shave November efforts, reached out to Det. Seth Meyer to find a Prairie Villager who was battling cancer and could use some support. Meyer served as the school resource officer at SM East for four years, made some calls to the school and connected with Foutch’s family.
Meyer said that while the beneficiaries of the previous years are important, the funds going to a Prairie Villager provide an additional community connection for the department and donors alike.
“It not only raises awareness of cancer in general for No Shave November, but it raises awareness that there are a lot of things going on in the world but we have something right here that we can help out with that can do a lot of good,” Meyer said.
Roth said more than 20 male police officers are actively participating in No Shave November this year. Officers are required to pay at least $20 to participate in the effort, which goes toward Foutch this year.
The community involvement and donations this year surpassed previous years within a day or two, Roth said. In previous years, police officers were the primary donors, he said.
“I monitor and I go in and see who has donated, and I see a lot of names that don’t belong to our police department,” Roth said.
Proceeds go toward medical bills and lost wages
- Brett Kramer, Carlie’s uncle and a psychology teacher at SM East, created a GoFundMe for donations.
- The fundraiser reached $2,500 as of Nov. 16, but the stated goal is $20,000.
- “We know it’s going to help them with whatever they need help with,” Roth said. “It’s got a more personal connection for us.”
Go deeper: Read more about Foutch and her time at SM East online here.
