On Nov. 2, around 200 guests gathered to participate in the annual trivia night hosted by Buckit! JLC. The nonprofit has hosted this event at Hope Lutheran Church since they have been an official organization because of its ability to accommodate their continuous growth. 

“This is our third one and it’s been our biggest and best year that we’ve ever really had, as far as number turnout,” volunteer Alexis Tainter said. “Previously, we hosted one for my aunt when she was with us to achieve her bucket list dreams before we founded Buckit! together. So that was our first one, and then we’ve had three under the name Buckit! to donate to other terminally ill cancer patients.”

Trivia night guests were able to participate at tables that seat up to eight people. Trivia categories included pictures from tv shows and acronyms. Winners received $200, but there were also attendance prizes along with giveaways and raffle baskets to raise money for the cause. 

“It’s a fun time and I wish more people would become involved,” a guest at the trivia night, Kathy Kimmel said. “I can’t wait until it gets bigger so that more people can benefit from it.”

There were many opportunities to donate at the event, starting with purchasing a table. A table of eight costs $200 for the night. There were five tables of raffle baskets that included 50/50 raffles. If someone were to win a 50/50 raffle, half of the prize would go to them and the other half would go towards the nonprofit. Additionally, the winner of the trivia night has the opportunity to donate their earnings back to the nonprofit if they wish. 

“Some may think money isn’t an issue, but especially having to pay for cancer care like that, that gets expensive,” volunteer Jaina Poettker said. “And then wanting to do stuff and have fun while you’re in the midst can get even more expensive. So this is just something that we can help with, the care, along with just providing them an experience.”

The $10,000 earned from the trivia night all goes to making those bucket list items happen for patients with terminal cancer. Buckit! has been fortunate enough to be able to help two people already in 2024, and are planning to help two more by the end of January 2025. 

“It gives people the assurance, the confidence,” President of Buckit!, Jason Poettker said. “They let people know that they can do these things. They can achieve. We are hoping that maybe there’s no wish that’s too big for us. We’ll figure out a way to do it, because the other thing is we try to make it an experience. An over the top, VIP kind of situation. We make phone calls and get in touch with the local people for them to get the accepting experience.”

The JLC in Buckit!’s name stands for “Just Live Courageously”. This is a play-on-words with the initials of a beloved family member of the creators of Buckit!, Jennifer Lynn Crum, who passed away due to cancer. The family had a difficult time finding an organization that would aid in fulfilling her bucket list items, so they decided to become exactly what they were looking for.

“The thing about cancer is, everybody’s touched by it,” Tainter said. “Everybodys gotten the scary MRI, or they know someone who’s been affected by it. So it’s something that’s near and dear to everyone. For us, it was all about our aunt, Jennifer, and what she experienced. Everybody has a Jennifer. Everybody has that person in their life. She was able to experience a lot because of what we raised from our very first trivia night, and that’s kind of what inspired this whole thing, [to] provide the other Jennifers of the world, their beloved aunts, daughters, sisters and brothers to be able to experience those things and turn those dreams into memories before their illness takes over.”

The organization has been able to grant wishes for multiple people. One benefactor was able to experience a celebration of life complete with professional photographers, food and dancing. Another was sent on a trip to see the total eclipse in totality, along with a fishing trip with their family. 

“I’m always turning dreams into memories and that comes from this phrase: die with memories, not dreams,” Jason said. “But we don’t like the negative kind of thing with “dies”, so we take that and put a little spin on it. So I think the main thing is that I think people, in general, need to just live their lives and not get too caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. Make memories. Another phrase, the best phrase, is people say: you only live once. That’s not true, you only die once, you live everyday. So live every day, make memories. The best day, every day.”