From The Hammonton News — Devin Waddell was flashing a big smile Sunday afternoon, but even she admitted she was a bit taken back.

It’s not every day that a 17-year-old has a huge event staged on their behalf.

In Waddell’s case, family and friends turned out in droves for Devin’s Day, which raised money to help cover the Oakcrest High School student’s treatments for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the blood.

“It’s kind weird. You really don’t know how many people you know,” said Waddell, a Mullica Township resident who is entering her senior year.

Diagnosed with the disease in March, Waddell since has lost her dirty blonde hair due to her ongoing treatments.

On Sunday, she wore a bandana and T-shirt in her favorite color — lime green. Dozens of volunteers and supporters wore the same shirts as a show of support.

Asked how she was feeling, she replied:, “Just as good as any other cancer patient, I guess. I wasn’t that good yesterday.”

She said she is looking forward to the end of her treatments and going into a maintenance program. She hopes to return to school by the end of October.

“I can’t wait,” Devin said.

Devin’s Day was held in conjunction with the Timmy’s Regatta Foundation.

Linda Stanton, one of the chairpersons for the event, said the support for the event has been overwhelming.

“It’s really amazing,” Stanton said. “The donations we’ve had for our live auction are just out of this world.”

Among the items auctioned off included a weeklong vacation at a North Carolina summer home, Six Flags Great Adventure tickets and a professional frozen drink-making machine.

Devin’s Day was held at Kerri-Brooke Caterers in Hammonton.

The Timmy’s Regatta Foundation previously held its annual fundraiser at Sweetwater Casino in Mullica Township, but it was destroyed by fire on June 30.

Cathy Egan, the former banquet manager at Sweetwater, said despite the tragedy there was no way the event would not be held.

“We needed to get some stuff done. It didn’t take too long for it to come together,” Egan said. “Our first meeting on this was 90 percent employees, many of them who didn’t have jobs (because of the fire).”

Stanton said the turnout on Sunday far exceeded their expectations.

“This is a very passionate, supportive group of people,” Stanton said of Waddell’s friends and family.

Earlier Sunday, dozens of motorcyclists participated in a fundraising “Ride for Life” from Hammonton to the former Sweetwater Casino site and then onto Kerri-Brooke.