A fundraiser will be held Saturday for a Lehighton family going through hard times.

A spaghetti dinner, basket raffle and bake sale will be held at the Bethany Wesleyan Church in Palmerton from 3-7 p.m. to help offset the costs of funerals, adoption, medical bills and loss of work.

Tionne Smith Aguila’s family recently experienced the death of both in-laws in December, leaving a 6-year-old child, their half-sister, an orphan.

Julie Rodak, who works as a nurse at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Carbon Campus, noted that a group of friends/colleagues who work with Tionne’s mom, who lives in the same household with Tionne and the family, have banded together to support the young family.

“As they continue to grieve, Tionne and her husband are working to adopt the little girl into their family (with their own 4-year-old, 2-year-old and 5-month-old children),” Rodak said. “While this is already an overwhelming scenario, in January, Tionne was diagnosed with cancer and is now undergoing chemotherapy five days a week and had to take a leave from her job.”

Rodak said that she and her co-workers felt compelled to help Tionne and her family during their incredibly tough times.

“We just felt encouraged to try and help and support the family,” Rodak said. “Friends and colleagues, we’re just trying to show that we support them and they’re not alone.”

Rodak noted that one of their colleagues runs a women’s group through Bethany Wesleyan Church in Palmerton and helped get them connected to hold the fundraiser there.

“They are providing so much help for us, the space, as well as promoting it, the ladies from the women’s group are baking cakes,” she said. “It’s really grown.”

Rodak added they’ve had a ton of support from local businesses.

“It really is a community coming together,” she said. “It’s amazing to see.”