TYLER, TX (KLTV) -
Some East Texans took a shot at a world record, all to help a woman fighting cancer.
The group worked for hours to make lumpia, which is a Filipino egg roll.
The cooking was to raise money for Ross Sajo, who was diagnosed four years ago with pancreatic cancer. Ross has three children, including one with Down syndrome.
On Sunday, the group, which grew by hundreds in only weeks, worked to accomplish something bigger than they ever imagined.
Hundreds of people wore purple shirts at Sunday's event; it's the color chosen to bring awareness to pancreatic cancer.
More than 300 people turned out to support Sajo and her battle against cancer.
"It's not enough to say, 'thank you'. My deepest and my sincerest appreciation for everything," Sajo said.
Friends, family and even strangers have made, bought and sold thousands of lumpia to raise money for her children and for pancreatic cancer research.
"This is not about me anymore. This is about a friend helping a friend, about people fighting pancreatic cancer," Sajo explained.
Her fundraising team set another mission: to set the Guinness Book of World Records for "Most people making lumpia simultaneously."
Monina Mercado is Sajo's sister-in-law and one of the leaders of the project, which needed at least 250 people.
"We were like, 250 people? Can we make it? But we exceeded that number of people," Mercado said.
"Friends that I haven't seen for a long time, they drove from Tennessee to see me here," Sajo said.
Sajo led the countdown to begin the challenge, and when the clock started they had more than 300 people rolling lumpia.
The registration fee of ten dollars goes into the "Team Ross Fund".
"This is not for me anymore; it's for the kids. That's why I'm still breathing; I'm still fighting because of the kids," Sajo said.
Copyright 2012 KLTV. All rights reserved.
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