Buyers Keep Returning Pig so Teen Can Keep Auctioning It off To Raise Money for Cancer
Meet Waylon Klitzman, a 15-year-old Wisconsin teen who is pouring his efforts into making his community a better place.
Waylon is most comfortable in the world of agriculture, where relationships with animals and farming come naturally to his reserved, crowd-shy personality.
At school, Waylon was uncomfortable. Aside from playing football and keeping a few close friends, Waylon found himself riddled with social anxiety every school day.
But when Waylon started his freshman year of high school in 2017, he found a safe harbor in his algebra teacher’s classroom.
“He is a gentle giant. A big teddy bear,” Kim Katzenmeyer told CNN of her former student. “I wish there were a million more Waylons.”
Waylon said he felt at ease in Katzenmeyer’s classroom.
“I’m not really a ‘people person’ and she just made me feel comfortable,” Waylon said. “She saw the best in me and we just connected that way.”
That’s why, when Waylon learned that Katzenmeyer was quitting her teaching job to volunteer full time for a cancer research organization, he was heartsick.
Katzenmeyer loved teaching.
But she loved her family more, and when her four-year-old niece, Harlow, was diagnosed with cancer in 2017, she felt compelled to support Harlow however she could.
As his favorite teacher departed, an idea began to form in Waylon’s mind. His 4-H club livestock auction was coming up, and Waylon thought he would donate all the money he earned to Beat NB, the cancer research organization where Katzenmeyer now spent her days.
Waylon’s goal was around $600. But when community business owners learned that Waylon’s pig, Roo, was representing a larger cause, they responded with incredible generosity and unity.
In the end, Roo was auctioned off four times. Each time a local business owner won the auction, he gave the pig back so that another company could place a bid of its own.
Waylon ended up earning over $10,000 that day and donated the entire amount to Beat NB.
“This is Middle America doing what we do,” said local business owner Dan Drozdowicz, who was Roo’s first highest bidder. “We give back to the community wherever we can. We are blessed to be able to be doing what we do.”
As for agriculture champ Waylon, his eyes are already set on his next fundraising endeavor: pumpkins. Now that the teen has tasted the delicious feeling of generosity, he’s hooked.
“I want to do something where I can help people,” Waylon said. “This has really stuck with me.”
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