Rockwell City’s McAlexander dies after battle with cancer

The day before Jacy McAlexander died, he did an interview with Des Moines broadcast journalist Eric Hanson about the pop tabs the Rockwell City teen had been collecting for years to benefit the Ronald McDonald House.
“His last good hour, he had a television camera in his face,” Jacy’s mom, Kerri McAlexander, said. “That’s typical Jacy style. He spent that last hour talking about why you should give back.”
Giving back was a personal mission for the South Central Calhoun High School junior. Diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma first while in elementary school, Jacy and his family spent close to 300 nights at the Ronald McDonald House in Des Moines during nearly 10 years of treatment at Blank Children’s Hospital. In between illnesses, Jacy didn’t just collect pop tabs – he helped with projects at the house, encouraged his friends when they organized meals for other families staying there and used his experience to build a platform of promoting community service through his involvement in 4-H. 
Read more in the May 23 edition.