Fundraiser for injured football player Aug. 7

Two stylists at Beachcomber salon in Gardnerville are hosting a cut-a-thon and car wash fundraiser for Douglas High sophomore and football player Dillon McKenzie, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Aug. 7 at 1507 Highway 395, Suite E.

All proceeds will go into a trust fund set up at Greater Nevada Credit Union for Dillon, according to stylists Esther Feddish and Rebecca Adams. Donations are appreciated as well.

"The family needs help with means," said Feddish, whose daughter is friends with Dillon's adoptive mother, Megan McKenzie.

Adams said her son, a junior at Douglas High, is friends with Dillon.

"It's heartbreaking," she said. "It's a hardship on the family."

Dillon, 15, is currently at Shriners Hospital in Sacramento where he's recovering from broken vertebrae and a spinal cord injury sustained in a July 7 diving accident.

"It's about community involvement," Feddish said. "The community is so small that even if the family says they don't need it, we still need to help and show we care."

As of Tuesday, more than 3,000 people had visited Dillon's CaringBridge Web site, and more than 175 had signed his guestbook.

"Hey Dillon, I'm so glad you're at Shriners," Gardnerville resident Sherry Allred wrote in a message. "They're the best. I think about you and your parents every day, and you're all in my prayers every night. I pray, no, I know, you'll be on the recovery road real soon. Take care buddy."

Monetary donations can be made to Dillon's trust fund under his parents' names, Mike and Megan McKenzie, at Greater Nevada Credit Union in Minden.

Dillon's progress can be followed at www.caringbridge.org/visit/dillonmckenzie.

For more information about the fundraiser, call 782-9444.