Burlington — Ryan Grant was leaving Lambeau Field late last December when he got the message that Ryan Luxem, the 11-year-old Green Bay Packers fan with leukemia, had died.

The news was not unexpected, but somehow that did nothing to lessen the sorrow upon learning it.

Grant thought of how hard Luxem fought to stay alive as long as he did and asked the questions that have no satisfactory answers.

Why him?

How is this right?

How is this fair?

Then, he started thinking.

"He touched me, he brought something to me," said Grant. "And I'm in a position to bring something to others. I needed to do something and I wanted to get others involved, too."

The Packers running back was in Burlington on Tuesday to do just that.

He is creating a scholarship fund in memory of Luxem and he is getting started in two ways.

First, he surprised the students at Burlington Catholic Central High School with an offer to pay for their junior prom. In exchange, he asked if they would continue their fundraising efforts. Instead of paying for DJs and a banquet hall, the students could raise money for the Luxem scholarship.

Grant then headed to Greenfield, where he rented out the Cool Waters Family Aquatic Park on July 10 for his "Ryan 4 Ryan Celebration." The event will be open to the public. The entrance fees from the day will be donated to the Luxem scholarship.

Besides his time, Grant will be donating $25,000 to $30,000 between these two events; the Luxem scholarship will benefit students at Wilmot High School, where Ryan's mother, Amy, is a teacher.

Grant is expected to bring several teammates and their families to the Cool Waters event. He's also taking his girlfriend to. . . the prom. "I never got to go to prom," he explained.

"Ask him if he'll bring the Lombardi Trophy," said Catholic Central senior Zach Guilliams.

Students at Catholic Central were delighted. This is a small but strong student body, always collecting for community food pantries and clothes drives. The juniors are required to do community service work, so granting Grant's wish is right up their alley.

"He was really inspiring. I think it's going to be a big turnout," said Chirissa Zirbel, one of the juniors, who has lost a cousin to leukemia.

"They're going to show a lot of respect to him by helping out," said Collin Foote, another junior. "We all know how fortunate we are."

Grant told the students he chose Burlington Catholic Central for three reasons: It is close to the Luxem home in Union Grove; his marketing agent, Stacy Jenson, has a niece and nephew, Foote, attending the school; and because Grant went to Catholic schools Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey and the University of Notre Dame and felt comfortable asking another Catholic school for help.

Grant has been busy with promotional events and maintaining his workouts. The ankle he injured in the opener last season has been healthy since before the Super Bowl. And even though the players are locked out in a labor dispute with NFL owners, he's following his usual off-season regimen.

He's even headed to Florida soon, with teammates such as James Jones, Nick Collins and maybe Brandon Chillar, as well as other NFL players, for seven-on-seven work and drills.

Grant is not worried about the labor issue that could affect his comeback.

"I put things in perspective. Japan is trying to keep from literally melting down," he said. "You've got the labor stuff going on in Madison with the budget. By no means am I trying to downplay this. But it will be OK. This needed to happen. Maybe this is necessary for the future of the league.

"The reason why I am so confident that both sides will get something done is because I know both sides want football."

Grant is counting on it. He missed out on the whole Super Bowl XLV run. While on crutches and unable to live in the gym as much, he lost weight and bulk, getting down to as low as 204 pounds. He's eager to get back on the field, with his teammates, and fight for a second straight championship.

But he hardly talked about football to the students. His speech was all about doing for others. The running back, who had been through a rough year of his own on injured reserve, had met Luxem, one of Green Bay's most loyal fans, in November. And it's hard to say now if that meeting meant more to the child or to the player.

Luxem was the kind of boy who loved his Packers, win or lose. Even when he wasn't feeling well from treatments and hospital visits, he wore his green and gold faithfully. When a family friend reached out and simply asked for an autograph, or maybe a word of encouragement, Grant got on his crutches and in to a car, making the drive from Green Bay to meet Luxem in person.

Grant was one of Luxem's favorite players and he beamed in his presence. Less than three months later, Grant made it his personal mission that "little Ryan" not be forgotten and that, in fact, would have his name on something helpful for someone else.