Fundraiser to honor Brunswick boy who died of cancer

BRUNSWICK — An outpouring of community support continues to flow toward the family of Collin Nemet, an 11-year-old Brunswick resident who died last year after a third fight with brain cancer. This year's Brunswick Souper Chili Cookoff will be carried out in honor of Collin on Saturday, Feb. 26, at St. Ambrose Catholic Parish, 929 Pearl Road, Brunswick. Roughly 900 visitors will be welcomed across two sessions starting at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., said organizer and St. Ambrose parishioner Del Ruiz. Cookoff proceeds will go toward pediatric cancer research at Cleveland Clinic. "We know pediatric cancer is very important to Brunswick, fighting it," said Ruiz. "We lost Collin. It was just natural we go to the family and ask if we can name this year in honor of Collin. We were honored when his mother said yes. The (Nemet) family has always been so involved with our parish. You could describe them as parish leaders." Tickets and other packages for the event can be found at bit.ly/3JKyd1E. While the Brunswick Community Recreation Center has traditionally served as the cookoff venue, Ruiz said that St. Ambrose was happy to step up this year to provide an alternative with more space. "The city has run (the cookoff) for years so this will be a first time thing for us," Ruiz said. "They were at the point where they wanted to grow, as an event, but they didn't have the room. We decided to kind of join forces. We're going to have so much more room. When St. Ambrose does something it wants to do it big. They want to do it big for Collin." St. Ambrose and the Rev. Bob Stec remained close to the Nemet family throughout Collin's illness. His mother, Kim Nemet, works for the parish's family life ministry services department. "We've learned a lot about grief and about life and there's been a lot of ups and downs and backs and forth," she said about time since Collin's death on April 22. "Honestly, we feel very blessed and very lucky. For every single thing we've learned about grief, we've talked to other families and folks who've said the support for them fell off eventually. For us it has not. It's just gotten stronger. "We almost feel like we're cheating the system because we have so much support from everyone. We know Collin is still number one in so many people's hearts even though he's not here. As much as we physically miss him being here, we feel like he's here all the time, because of this love and support." Friends and neighbors organized a parade on one of Collin's last days at home with passing vehicles filling up a wide area of surrounding neighborhood streets. Collin's grandmother, Patricia Kaszar, and Nemet spearheaded efforts to bring a VeloSano Trike and Bike event to Brunswick in 2020. Though it was held virtually, it still managed to raise $26,000 for the Cleveland Clinic's Pediatric Cancer Center. Support from St. Ambrose and the Brunswick community dates back to Collin's initial cancer diagnosis in 2018, including another car parade upon the boy's first return from the hospital. Across multiple events, attendees have packed into and around the Nemet family's home to sing, hold up signs and pray, with Collin sometimes able to watch from an upstairs window. "Right after Collin first got sick, we all had to learn to accept help," Nemet said. "So many people wanted to help us, everyone. You should graciously accept that help not only for yourself. It doesn't just help you out. It helps people out who are experiencing it from the outside. Then you can pay it forward as well. That's what we teach our kids and what we hope they do in the years to come." Contact reporter Jonathan Delozier at (330) 721-4050 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.