A Wilkes University student's desire to help a boy with cancer raised a whopping $3,357.68 when she was assisted in the cause by her volleyball coach.

Brianna Edgar, a 2008 graduate of Lehighton Area High School, and a student at Wilkes University, heard about Arthur Terembula's battle with anaplastic large cell lymphoma."I learned that when your heart is in the right place to helping someone else, others are willing to pitch in too," said Edgar.Although she had never met the teenager from her hometown until she presented the check to him after the fundraising event, she wanted to raise funds to help with his medical bills because his story touched her heart."I came up with the idea of selling bracelets," she said. "I took the idea to my volleyball coach, Lisa Rizzo, and she had all kinds of ideas to help. All I wanted to do was sell 700 bracelets at $2 a piece and donate $1,400, instead we raised well over $3,000 and we had a lot of fun doing so."Edgar said that her volleyball team held two tri-murals on Oct. 23 and Oct. 30, 2010, plus her coach asked for donations from various businesses, which added to the proceeds."The volleyball team connected in a way that we had never connected before," said Edgar. "We reached out to other teams and the donation became even bigger because of my coach. She had all kinds of contacts that she used to help with the cause."Edgar said that she designed and ordered 700 teal ribbon bracelets which were sold, plus there were food and bake sales at the events that raised more money.The volleyball events were staged in the Wilkes University gymnasium."It turned out a lot bigger than I pictured it," she said. "I learned a lot through this event. I learned that you can reach your goals and that you can do more than you envisioned with some help. My coach made me realize that I need to be open to others and that you can do more than you realized."Edgar is the residence assistant for the first floor University Towers, which is student housing for upperclassmen at Wilkes University.Terembula, son of Tammy Habre of Lehighton, was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma in April 2010 and is doing well following chemotherapy. While the young man looks healthy now, he had a long hard road fighting for his life the past several months.Anaplastic large cell lymphoma is a rare form of cancer, and is found most often in young males.