BOYLE HEIGHTS : Boy’s Cancer Leads to Lesson in Giving

Two days after basketball Coach Daniel Galvan asked Salesian High School students to give $1 each to help 5-year-old Alec Paez in his battle against cancer, they raised about $600.

By the time the school presented the money to the Paez family at a basketball game, the amount had swelled to $1,000.

“Everybody helped,” said Adrian Mendoza, 17, a senior. “People were giving $20, some would get change and give it, and some would give up their lunch and give that money.”

Some students dug into their pockets. Others collected from family members or gathered up all their pennies to help pay for Alec’s medicine, which costs $500 a week, and help send him and his parents to Lourdes, France, and Fatima, Portugal, which are considered holy places by devout Roman Catholics.

Alec’s cancer was diagnosed in January, 1992. He has undergone surgery, chemotherapy and a bone-marrow transplant.

Students said the effort has brought the school of 300 boys closer and touched the hearts of the Paez family, who returned from France Thursday night.

The money was presented to the family Feb. 11 at a halftime ceremony. Alec, who doctors give just a 4% chance of surviving his neuroblastoma cancer, was dubbed “The Mightiest Mustang” after the school mascot, and received a plaque and sweat shirt with that inscription. Cheerleaders gathered a box of toys and the football team gave him an autographed football.

“His mother said, ‘Thank you,’ but I said, ‘No, thank you. You’ve given our kids the opportunity to do this,’ ” said Principal Manuel Villareal. “It’s so hard to educate on values and service.”

Galvan had heard about Alec’s plight through his wife, Irma, a secretary at Montebello’s St. Benedict School, where Alex attended classes.

Since January, he has only attended his favorite class, computers, and an occasional Friday cooking class, said Olivia Kelly, the boy’s kindergarten teacher. Alec is a practical joker when he is feeling well, she said, but mostly these days the medicine’s side effects wear him out and give him nausea.

“It’s hard to see him, but he’s very lovable. You can tell when you hug him a certain way, you can tell it hurts,” Kelly said, adding that the 45 students in her class know their friend is ill. They call him frequently from the phone in the classroom and some end their conversations crying.

This morning’s pancake breakfast is the latest fund-raiser that St. Benedict has held for the Paez family. The school’s annual fund-raising St. Patrick’s Day dance will be another, said Irma Galvan.

Alec’s father, David, was recently laid off from his Vons supermarket job, and his insurance will run out in March, said Gloria Uribe, Alec’s maternal grandmother. Uribe is the mother of Alec’s mother, Jean Marie Paez.

The students at Salesian plan to keep in touch with Alec and help the family in any way they can.

“The kids have been very giving,” Galvan said. “They ask me all the time how he’s doing. They understand what they have and they’re more than willing to be there. These kids have tremendous heart.”

Information: (213) 721-3348.