DARBOY, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS) -- Charlie Knuth was born with a rare and painful skin disease called Epidermolysis Bullosa, or EB. EB causes blistering of the skin from minor contact. Those blisters create pain on the inside and outside of his body.  Now at age thirteen, Charlie has been diagnosed with Lymphoma and he’s back in the hospital.

When Appleton race car driver Andy Monday heard the news, he wanted to do something. While he was cleaning his garage, he came across a damaged door from his race car.

“I thought, maybe I’ll autograph it and just throw it online and see if we can raise some money for the Knuth family,” said Monday.

He put the door on Facebook and challenged other drivers to do the same. Over two hundred race teams joined the cause. So far they’ve raised over $60,000.

“There were some things in there from NASCAR champions like Matt Kenseth, Alan Kulwiki as well as local guys,” said Monday.

Patti Rodencal owns the Darboy Corner Store and sponsors race teams in the area. She’s gotten to know Charlie and the Knuth family well.

“Everybody knows Charlie. The whole Darboy community knows who he is.  Just say Charlie and they know who he is,” said Rodencal.

For years, Patti has kept a donation bucket near her register for Charlie.

“He’s just the coolest little kid and he has a really neat personality. He’s very loving and he smiles a lot. He doesn’t think about pain the way you and I think about pain. It’s inside and outside. We can see it on the outside but he has pain on the inside as well,” said Rodencal.

Now Charlie is facing cancer on top of his painful skin condition but he’s not facing it alone. Support started locally and grew.

“We’ve had people drive from Green Bay and Chilton and Waupaca just to drop off a check,” said Rodencal.

Online, Charlie gained support from across the country.

“It started out as a Wisconsin thing. Pretty soon Eddie McDonald joined from Massachusetts, Bubba Pollard from Georgia, and Travis Braden from North Carolina and the thing just kind of blew up,” said Monday.Support keeps growing for Charlie, so Andy and Patti are planning another fundraiser for those who missed out on the auction.  Both are proud of their racing families for helping out.

“For us to be able to give back to that family meant a whole lot and I’m glad everybody in the racing community stepped up to make it as big as they did,” said Monday.

“We thought it was going to be three or four racers donating their doors and we had no idea. It is just amazing. Makes me really proud to sponsor drivers and be a part of it,” said Rodencal.

On Saturday, January 18^th there will be another fundraiser for Charlie at the Lake Park Pub in Menasha from Noon to 5pm.  Everyone is welcome to join the event. To follow Charlie’s story, there is a Prayers for Charlie page on Facebook.