Community invited to ‘Circles of Love’ walk honoring local boy battling leukemia

BLACKFOOT — A local organization is inviting the community to rally around a three-year-old boy from Shelley who was diagnosed with leukemia. 

It’s called Circles of Love and it’s a fundraiser happening on Saturday, Sept. 6, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. It’s made possible through the Idaho Falls Trail Runners, which is a nonprofit.

Anyone can stop by throughout the day. It’s free to attend and will be at Jensen Grove Park in Blackfoot at the big pavilion by the basketball court. Participants walk or run “circles of love” around a 1.8-mile route.

“Cohen Leckington is a 3-year-old. He was diagnosed with leukemia last August. It’s just to help raise funds for the family. This is to help them with what they need,” said John Thornley, event director. 

He said donations can be made online by clicking here. There will additionally be two items raffled. There’s a rifle and a picture painted of Jesus Christ by a local artist. Raffle tickets for both items can be purchased for $5 per ticket here. 

“I just want to let everybody know how grateful we are and how we are grateful to live around here and all the people that support and pick each other up,” said Cohen’s father, Chad Leckington. 

Chad said Cohen has been going through chemotherapy. He’s been at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, for quite a while. Now, he is back here locally and has started getting treatment in Idaho Falls at the Teton Cancer Institute.  

“Cohen has been a frickin’ trooper. Everywhere he goes, he is the best patient. He doesn’t scream, fight, or anything,” Leckington said. 

As a parent, it’s been hard for him and his wife, Kaylee, to watch what their son has had to go through at such a young age. 

“Your worst nightmare happens. It is what it is. You try to stay strong for him. You wish you could take it away from him, especially me, the dad. I wish I could just say, ‘Give it to me and let him be a kid,’” he said. 

The outlook looks promising for Cohen and he will be going through treatments for the next two years. 

This is the second Circles of Love event. Last year, it actually benefited Thornley’s family. 

“We lost our daughter in an accident and so they (the Idaho Falls Trail Runners) put on this event to help kind of raise money to help out my family,” Thornley said. 

Abigail Thornley, 20, was killed in a two-vehicle crash in July 2024. She was headed to work at La Beau’s in Garden City, Utah, when the tragedy happened. Click here to read the previous story. 

She had a love for music and theater. She was in a number of plays while she was in school, according to her obituary.

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The Circles of Love event raised $5,000 for the Thornley family. They donated the money to the Blackfoot High School Drama Department due to Abigail’s involvement with the school. 

“It was pretty special to see my family, community and my trail running family to get together and support us like that. It was pretty awesome,” Thornley said. 

Thornley reached out to Leckington a few months ago and expressed that he wanted to do the fundraiser for his son. 

“It kind of touched me because of what happened with his daughter and everything. It feels good. It makes us feel really loved and supported for sure,” Leckington said. “Hopefully, after it all, we can do something similar to this for other people, after Cohen’s better.”