• Wildomar Rallies Around Councilman Dustin Nigg's Family Raising Over $19,000

If you were part of the fundraising dinner last Saturday evening at the Wildomar VFW (March 11, 2023) then you saw it firsthand —the display of love and concern for Desiree Nigg, wife of Councilman Dustin Nigg, and her family. 

Desiree Nigg at the fundraising dinner.

As a preface, only a few days into the new year, the Nigg family was hit with devestating news. 

Desiree, the mother of three daughters, veteran of the Marine Corps, was diagnosed with Stage IV Colorectal Cancer. The cancer has unfortunately spread to her right lung and to the lining of her intestines.

The food and the volunteers that were serving it. 

To me, this story deserved much more than a local blog covering it. The Press Enterprise, Valley News and even that thing called The Patch dropped the ball on an obvious winner human interest story to share with their readers. 

This was an awesome demonstration of people wanting to help in any way they could... and they did!

Dustin and Desiree Nigg, in the middle, flanked by friends.

Not wanting much more time to go by I asked Mayor Pro-Tem Bridgette Moore, who was the key person behind organizing it (though she had many helpers that made it possible), if she would write a few paragraphs about the fundraiser and I'd put together a Wildomar Rap blog. 

The little flyer that could. With this, the wildfire grew from an event that the organizers were hoping would bring in a couple of thousand dollars, to one that the community jumped on and pushed the totals to well over $19,000.

From Bridgette Moore...

On Saturday March 11th 2023 our community came together in a grand fashion to support councilman Dustin and his wife Desiree Nigg. 

The room was nearly as full as the food was good. 

Desiree has been diagnosed with stage 4 correctal cancer and it has spread to distant organs. On Saturday March 11th over 130 people attended a dinner at the VFW in Wildomar and over $19000 was raised.  

I would like to thank our dinner sponsors: 

• Angelo's brick oven pizzeria 

• The Hive  

• Bone Cleaner barbecue and catering Chef Kat

For the dessert table our sponsors were Albertsons, Ann White, Deb Robinet, planning commissioner Arrin Banks, Go Nutz Donuts and Robin Adkins.

Had to love Arrin Banks's Bread Pudding with hot rum buttered sauce. 😋

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The community really supported the raffle prize and silent auction, not to mention the live auction and the 50-50. In total the event raised over the $19,000 for our local family.

Murrieta City Councilwoman Lori Stone did an outstanding job as the auctioneer.

The biggest live auction event of the night was for passes to the Magic Castle for six people. It was amazing to watch the bidding go up from a few hundred dollares to $3500. 

In a remarkably generous gesture, a second set of Magic Castle passes was awarded to the runner up bidder. In total, that brought in $6000 for the Nigg family.

The list of items grew and grew all the way up to the moment that the dinner started. Members of the Wildomar community wanted to help out any way they could. 

Some of the other items for the live auction included a suite of four tickets to the Anaheim Duck's hockey game, Teen Road to Safety donated 8 hours of driving instruction by Temecula driving school, Season Tickets to the Santa Rosa Plateau Concert Series, Colour Parlor, 100 Women Who Care, a limo ride, and Murrieta City Councilwoman Lori Stone donated a lunch with her for 2 people anywhere in Murietta. 

Some of the many donors included Montague Brothers Coffee, a comprehensive facial from Dr. Gloria, IT work from Chris Twining, Apex Plumbing, La Masters of Fine Jewelry, CR&R, and Sandie Fuenty.

There were many volunteers: The VFW, Councilwomen Ashlee DePhillippo (actually her entire family volunteered), Robert Rankin Walker played his guitar and sang songs, Robin Adkins was a volunteer that I relied heavily on, Erin and Ken Hartley from Vitality Zone Fitness were invaluable, I can't forget the Wildomar Beautification Volunteers and their tireless efforts... so many more that I don't mean to leave out also volunteered their time. 

We had so many volunteers and we want to thank them all for helping make this such a memorable and successful event. We love you Desiree, and our thoughts and prayers are with you and your entire family. 

It was a special evening and I was glad to be there. Despite the joyous atmosphere, it wasn't lost on anyone what we were there for. 

Desiree and Dustin know that they were dealt an unwinnable hand. They're trying to keep things in perspective and were obviously touched by the deluge of camaraderie directed toward them.

Desiree and her three daughters.
Sorry Dustin, but they're just cuter than you are. 😁
Or, I couldn't find a pic with all of you in it.

Dustin's mother spoke for a few minutes. She had a difficult time keeping her composure as she spoke about how important Desiree is to her. Her tears were contagious.

There are no magic words here, just that we are hurting from a distance as the Nigg family is doing its best to push through this, up close, in real time, one day after the next. Godspeed.