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January’s follow-up scan showed that MacKenzie would need surgery to remove the fluid-filled cyst containing cancer cells. She also needs a more aggressive chemotherapy program than the one she completed the previous go around.

To coincide with MacKenzie’s surgery two weeks ago, students at Mount Airy Middle School organized Purple Day, wearing the color — MacKenzie’s favorite — and donating a dollar to help the family pay for her treatments.

The school’s PTSO is also holding a spaghetti dinner on March 14 to raise money for MacKenzie’s fund.

‘‘They’re doing this out of love and a sense of community,” said Sue Stuck, MacKenzie’s mom.

Sue Stuck said she is ‘‘absolutely overwhelmed” at what the students did for her family, especially because none of her children are enrolled at the school.

MacKenzie’s older sisters, Katie and Lauren, attend South Carroll High School, and her younger sister, Nikki, attends Parr’s Ridge Elementary.

But the middle school isn’t the only school wrapping its arms around the Stuck family.

Students at the elementary schools made Valentine’s Day cards for MacKenzie while she was in the hospital, and Sue said she was contacted by a girl who is planning a skate party birthday celebration and wanted to turn it into a community fundraiser.

‘‘I keep hearing new things every day,” Sue Stuck said. ‘‘It’s nice to know that we’ll be OK. Mount Airy is taking care of us.”

She mentioned creating purple shirts with the phrase ‘‘believe” for her family on her online journal site for MacKenzie, www.caringbridge.org⁄visit⁄mackenziestuck, and there was a huge response from others wanting to order them.

The Erik Lerch Foundation, an organization for children in the Mount Airy area who are battling chronic medical conditions, took over the ordering and has received about 100 requests for shirts.

The foundation was named for a Mount Airy boy who died of cancer, and who helped MacKenzie through her first bout. ‘‘We need to believe right now,” Sue Stuck said.

The foundation also made sure that purple balloons and streamers welcomed MacKenzie home on Feb. 17. She was able to return to school three days later.

Attending school helps keep MacKenzie maintain some of her regular routine, although she will likely miss more this week as she begins treatment.

‘‘We need her to have as much normalcy as possible,” her mom said.

Normal is also key for the rest of the family.

Katie’s cheerleading team at South Carroll High showed its support by collecting $660 during a recent basketball game, said Coach Tonyia Stewart.

‘‘[MacKenzie is] a huge fan and always there at our competitions,” Stewart said. ‘‘We love her.”

Stewart said even during her recovery, MacKenzie thought about the team and decorated megaphones for spectators at a regional competition.

The idea to collect donations at the game came from the cheerleaders, Stewart said, as a way to ‘‘be there for Katie and her family.”

‘‘She was just so touched,” Sue Stuck said, referring to Katie’s response to the team’s actions.

‘‘[She is a] dynamic young girl and wants her sister to have the same opportunity,” Stewart said of Katie, who has been team captain for the last two seasons.

The cheerleaders teamed up with the rest of the school last week and collected another $400, said Stewart. ‘‘There’s more to cheerleading than just winning and competing.”

The Winfield Recreation Council cheerleaders were also inspired by MacKenzie and will work with the South Carroll team to sell and wear purple hair extensions.

Sue Stuck said coping with the cancer has ‘‘been a wild ride,” but it’s nice to know that ‘‘all of the little things are taken care of,” which she said is often the case in the Mount Airy community.

She added that’s why the family has no intention of leaving, even with her husband, Steve, commuting to Manassas, Va., for work.

She cited the community’s response to a fire in December 2006 that displaced five families as well as its support of Stacey Shumaker, a local girl who was hospitalized after injuring her neck in a diving accident last summer, as further proof.

‘‘This community just does that,” Sue Stuck said, adding that the younger generation is often at the helm of organizing activities. ‘‘It’s led by the kids it seems. They’re just so generous. I can take care of MacKenzie and Mount Airy will take care of us.”