"I wanted

the people who were coming out to remember Alex to be the ones to benefit

from the proceeds," she said. "We really had no idea how much

money we would raise, if any, so I wasn't really looking at this from

the standpoint of it being a huge fundraiser. The PTO was willing to put

on the event whether it made them any money or not which made me feel

really good and cared about."

Although Suddeth

requested that the money stay at the school, she says she feels that raising

funds for leukemia research is important so she does it through other

events such as Team In Training and Light the Night, both of which are

very active in Peachtree City.

As teachers,

students and the community at large come together to honor Alex, Suddeth

wants them to know how important Huddleston Elementary was to her son

and how much they touched his life and the lives of her family.

"All Alex

ever wanted to do was be a regular kid. Coming to school as much as he

could made him feel that way. Even when he couldn't walk and had to come

to school in a wheelchair, he still wanted to come to school," she

said. "Teachers in the school would always bring him games and movies

or toys for the hospital and organized themselves so that we had dinner

cooked for our family every night for almost four months. I appreciate

so much everything that everyone did for us. Now, I just want to do something

for them."

One of the

featured entertainers for the run will be Mickle the Pickle, a character

created by Atlanta actor Michael Goldstein. Goldstein is a motivational

children's entertainer and humorist who works with medically or otherwise

fragile children. He used to entertain Alex at Egleston when he was a

patient there and he also came to Alex's funeral and sang.

"Alex

was the craziest, silliest kid in the whole world," said Goldstein,

who thinks a fun run is the perfect way to remember Alex. "You just

had to chase after him; even when he was sick, he just had so much energy.

Alex reminds me of myself because he was so nutty."

Other entertainment

will feature a DJ, a big slide donated by the Fun Company and a moonwalk

donated by Shenanigan's. In addition, the Girl Scouts will do face painting.

The run will

take place at Huddleston. The fun run begins at 8 a.m. and the 5K at 8:30

a.m. Registration and check in (for those pre-registered) will begin at

7:30 a.m. People will be able to register on the day of the race. The

late registration fee will be $18 for the 5K and $10 for the fun run.

Anyone needing

additional information about the run can contact Huddleston at 770-631-3255.