LUCAN — Friends and family of Terry and Laurie Ourada say the couple have been there to support a lot of people in their lives. Now, area residents are coming together to support the Ouradas, as they deal with expenses for ongoing medical treatment.

A benefit for the couple, called Bridging the Gap, is being held from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Lucan Community Center.

The Ouradas farm near Lucan, and they have been active in the area community in lots of ways, family members and friends said. However, for a number of years, Laurie Ourada has also been dealing with scleroderma, a rare autoimmune disease, said the Ouradas’ daughter Andrea Bond.

“It causes a lot of complications,” Bond said. Treating the illness has meant traveling to undergo multiple medical procedures and surgeries. Scleroderma has also affected Laurie’s healing time.

“Things are more difficult for her with her disease,” Bond said. Laurie was no longer able to work at her former job, she said.

At the same time, Terry Ourada has also been fighting prostate cancer. The couple’s medical costs have added up, Bond said.

“I know Mom would love the opportunity to raise awareness for other people with rare diseases,” Bond said. She hoped that Sunday’s benefit could also help do that.

Being there for the Ouradas was also important to organizers of the benefit. Kandy Noles Stevens said Terry and Laurie have loved and supported many people over the years, and now those people wanted to give back.

“They have been incredible mentors and encouragers,” Noles Stevens said. Noles Stevens became friends with Laurie and Terry after the death of her son Reed Stevens in a bus crash in 2008. The Ouradas’s son Daniel also died in an auto accident in 2001, at the age of 21.

Noles Stevens said Laurie was able to provide support and understanding as the family grieved. “That, to me, is a selfless gift,” she said.

“They are hard-working, good-hearted people,” said Denny Bernardy, a friend of the Ouradas. Although he now lives in Washington state, Bernardy said he was close friends with Terry, and had even worked for him on the farm in Lucan. “He’s by far the hardest worker I’ve ever known in my life,” Bernardy said.

“Laurie had quite an impact for everyone who lives here,” said Bernie Dulas, a resident of Heritage Pointe Senior Living in Marshall. As director of community life at Heritage Pointe, he said, “She was involved in just about everything.”

“She was always kind of a happy-go-lucky person,” and always made sure residents were included in events at the senior living center, Dulas said.

The Bridging the Gap benefit will be from 4 – 7:30 p.m. Sunday, at the Lucan Community Center. The event will include a picnic meal and ice cream from the Lingen Dairy, a silent auction, Squeeze the Stuffins, face painting and free-will chair massages. Proceeds from the event will help defray the cost of medical and travel costs for Terry and Laurie Ourada.