Community Corner

Lemont Football Families Rally to Support Child of Varsity Coach

Volunteers will be taking donations at Friday's football games to support varsity assistant coach Greg Banner, whose daughter Stefanie is battling cancer.

Early last month, life was turned upside down for Greg Banner, who serves as an assistant coach for the Lemont High School football and girls’ track and field programs.

In early August, Banner and his wife, Mary—who reside in New Lenox— learned their now 23-month-old daughter Stefanie was suffering from nephroblastoma, a cancer of the kidneys that typically occurs in children.


Stefanie immediately underwent surgery to have her left kidney removed, and is currently going through radiation and chemotherapy treatments  at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. 

Though Stefanie still is fairly early in her treatment, her family is hopeful that she will make a full recovery

To show their support of the Banners, the families of Lemont's football coaches will host "Make a Difference Day" on Friday night in conjunction with the sophomore and varsity football games against Richards High School.

Volunteers will be collecting donations during both games to help offset some of the family's medical costs. 

"Anyone who works with Greg will tell you that he's the kindest man they know, so of course we were all heartbroken to hear about his little girl, "said Kim Michaelsen, wife of Lemont varsity football coach Eric Michaelsen.

Immediately after Stefanie was diagnosed—right around the time football season was kicking into high gear—the Michaelsens knew they wanted to do something to help.

"We just want the Banners to know they are cared about and that we're here for them," Kim Michaelsen said. 

Lemont Mathematics Chair Kathy Young, wife of Athletic Director John Young, helped the Michaelsens organize "Make a Difference Day," which she hopes will provide both monetary and emotional support. 

"I think there's a personal connection for the families of all our coaches," Kathy Young said. "Here's an assistant coach who is getting ready to donate a large portion of his time to Lemont High School, and then he finds out his daughter is sick. We all just want to do whatever we can to help his family."

Young said she is already blown away by the outpouring of support from Lemont teachers and students.

"One of our goals with this fundraiser is to show students what we can accomplish as a school and a community, so to see them talking about it and really rallying around this coach is pretty great," Young said. 

The sophomore game on is slated to start at 5 p.m. Friday, with the varsity contest to follow at approximately 7 p.m. The varsity game not only will feature the South Suburban Conference’s two defending division champions (Richards won the SSC Red in 2012, while Lemont finished in a three-way tie for the SSC Blue crown), but also is a rematch of last fall’s second-round IHSA Class 6A [layoff game, which Lemont won by a 23-19 score on the road.

Those who would like to contribute to “Make a Difference Day” but cannot attend the games can still help. Donations may be dropped off in the Pupil Personnel Services Office at Lemont High School, 800 Porter St., from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. through Friday, Sept. 13.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here