A Quad Cities woman battling cancer is getting a little help from her friends – in the form of an energy drink and many donations.
Bowlyou’s Ice Cream and Grill, Milan, is offering the drink to honor and help Summer Volk, who is battling late-stage ovarian cancer. The drink, called “Summer’s Fight,” is made of pomegranate, pineapple and strawberry.
Bowlyou’s, located at 503 W. 10th Ave., Milan, now is serving “Summer’s Fight” and for the rest of this month, it will donate $1 for every “Summer’s Fight” drink sold. The proceeds will go into a fund to help Ms. Volk’s two daughters continue dance lessons at a local dance studio.
Ms. Volk, of Moline, recently entered hospice care.
April Bowlyou, who co-owns the restaurant along with her husband Brent, said that Ms. Volk is a friend and frequent customer of the Milan business. Her favorite drink is the pomegranate-pineapple-strawberry combination.
So, in an effort to help Ms. Volk, the Bowlyous decided to permanently put “Summer’s Fight” on the menu, and make it a fundraiser for March.
When the fundraising efforts were announced online, the response was amazing, said Ms. Bowlyou. The online message for the drink got more than 54,000 views in a few days, and the community is rallying to help Ms. Volk.
“Sales are going crazy. … Within a half hour (of the posting), people were starting to pull in, buy drinks and help,” Ms. Bowlyou added.
As of Tuesday, March 15, about 300 “Summer’s Fight” drinks had been purchased. But the community response is going far beyond buying the energy drinks.
Ms. Bowlyou said that many people have been coming into their Milan restaurant and making big and small donations on top of ordering the drink. “We have people who have just stopped by to make donations,” she said.
Ms. Bowlyou, who is also a school nurse, said she met and became friends with Ms. Volk years ago when they both worked at an area hospital.
“She worked for a hospital for years and took care of people. Now, it’s time to take care of her,” she added.
