Family Life and Friendship Network

This was an article about our family featured in both the Magna Times and the West Valley City News:

Cyprus High classmates rally with others to lend a hand to Julie Johnson Stout and her family

Classmates and others pitch in to give Julie the beautiful yard she always wanted.

By Troy Miller
Staff Writer

(West Valley City, Ut.)—Former Cyprus High students showed their school spirit on May 1, 2009, when they helped a former classmate who is dying of a brain tumor.

These students donated their time, money, and supplies in a service project to help beautify the yard of Julie Johnson Stout, of West Valley City.

Julie attended Cyprus High in the 1990s. Over the years she has served an LDS mission and graduated from BYU. She married her long-time friend Brandon Mark Stout, of Cyprus High Class of 1991, and they have four children: Hiram (12), Avalon (10), Benjamin (6), and James (2).

It was two years ago that the Stout family received the news that Julie had developed a brain tumor. Her doctors tried everything they could in order to prolong her life. Brandon said of this ordeal, “We were given a miracle these past two years by having Julie with us so long.”

The tumor has been very difficult to treat because its growth pattern is interwoven with many important brain cells. An operation removed some of it. Most recently the doctors have been trying to stop the tumor from growing.

A couple of weeks ago the Stout family learned that the tumor was growing and that Julie had only a few days or weeks left.

Brandon has spent much of the last two years at Julie’s side. Their struggles have included large s,medical bills. Julie lost much of her ability to communicate in long sentences, she has had many seizures, she lost her long blond hair, she has had brain swelling, and Brandon lost his job.

At about the same time the family learned the bad news, Brandon got on the Internet and wrote a letter in which he said:

“I've written a letter to ask for help. It's intended for sources that can provide longer-term assistance, local business that hopefully will help me fund a nonprofit organization that can provide the same help later on for others after helping us out. It's not intended as much for individuals and families that this blog mostly reaches, but you can help by circulating this letter to its intended audience.”

The full letter is found at http://flfn.org/blog/brasto/help-request-letter.

The letter, which was intended for businesses, ended up as a link on Facebook and travelled all around the United States, and many students from the Cyprus High Class of 1991 responded to the call for help.

Julie had always wanted a beautiful yard, and on May , students from the Class of 1991 arrived at the Stout’s home in West Valley City armed with shovels and rakes. A few minutes later construction equipment from Aposhian Gardens came and cleared the dirt and weeds out of the way. The Aposhians also brought top soil, new sod, and other items to make the front yard look spectacular.

And then the rain came; but the troops rallied and put in the items as fast as they could. Brandon and his children helped to secure a victory for the home team.

Collected money was given to Brandon. Their friends are also funding a family trip to Disneyland. He had really hoped he could take Julie and the kids to California for a visit before she dies. This trip has been delayed, however, because on Friday night Julie had another seizure and now she cannot walk.

Some of the money that was collected came from a young family member. Krystel Anderson (11) is a niece of Brandon and Julie. She is the daughter of AngeLena Stout Anderson. She made cookies with her friends and sold them around their neighborhood. In a week of work she reached her goal of $100. “We sold them to raise money to help Aunt Julie,” Krystel said. “We went door-to-door, had stands in front of houses, and we raised $105.”

More help is needed. On May 23, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., there will be a bake sale in the parking lot at Reams Food Stores, located at 7235 W. 3500 S., Magna. If there is anything you can do to help the Stouts, please visit Facebook and go to the Fund Raiser/Bake Sale for Stout Family page at: facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=82359611687&ref=mf.

A donation account has been set up at Deseret First Credit Union in the name of Brandon or Julie Stout Special Donation Account.

The original article is also available online.