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| Goal: | $65,000.00 |  |
| Raised: | $2,936.35 |
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The bond between a loving, caring parent and a child is the greatest feeling in the world. If you don’t have children, try to imagine the warmest, most comforting sensation one could feel as that child is placed in your arms for the very first time. At that moment, nothing else matters. The world stops. You study your baby's face intently for long periods of time. Instantly you’ve fallen in love and the bond is never broken. For most families, the child grows and matures like most do. The normal trials and tribulations take place till the child leaves the nest and is on with his or her life. Not so for children with ataxia-telangiectasia.
Imagine now your baby at about age 2. One day you notice that your child seems to have an issue with balance. The child falls over when sitting up for example. For children with A-T (ataxia-telangiectasia) this is often one of the first of the symptoms that will change lives.
As the child grows, motor skills become an issue. Walking, talking and fine motor movements begin to falter. It’s frustrating for the child who’s usually in elementary school at this point. Reading and writing are increasingly difficult. Speech is impaired. Before long, the child is in a wheelchair. Soon after, another complication: immune function. Because of this, 25 percent of A-T patients develop leukemia. Eating is difficult. Often times, children need a feeding tube to get food to their systems. Ultimately, the child’s life expectancy takes them to their early to mid twenties. Physicians can do little as there is no known treatment or cure, yet.
In a nutshell, this is A-T. The disease is tough and strong. I hate this disease. It’s brash and cocky and it needs to be knocked out, fast.
I can't tell you all how happy we at The Free Beer and Hot Wings Show are to be able to serve the A-T Children's Project. The children and families of those living with A-T are truely an inspiration.
Please allow me to cut to the chase. These children and families need our help. This disease is beatable. A-T research is making great strides, and some exciting projects include clinical studies to minimize life-threatening lung complications, reduce eye movement abnormalities and tremors, discover abnormal levels of specific proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with A-T that may reveal new drug targets, conducted by the A-T Clinical Center at Johns Hopkins. And, the screening of chemical compounds is being done to find those with the greatest potential to help A-T. However, more cash is needed now to further that research.
Over the years, I've seen lots of remarkable stories about ordinary people who've done extraordinary things to help these children and families. Communities have pulled together to do everything they can to fund research and offer support. By witnessing these selfless acts, we on the show were moved.
Now, as you may have heard, I have an obsession: Triathlons. Of course I started this for selfish reasons. My training benefits nobody but myself. In fact, the time commitment is a strain on my home life. But I am hooked.
Then last year, Dave Veldink (two children with A-T: Kate and Olivia) suggested I "pull" one of his kids in an upcoming triathlon. I immediately agreed. You start out the race pulling the child in an inflateable raft as you swim the half mile. Then you carry the child to your bike and put him/her into a pull-behind stroller for the 17 or so miles of the bike portion. Then you transition to the running stroller and push the kid for the five mile run. Now THAT was a real reason to do a triathlon! I finished in 2:01:41, and we used the radio show to promote it and raised over $60,000 for A-T research.
And, we're doing it again this year on September 11th, but let me say that this charity does not see a lot of dollars. It's a rare disease, but its symptoms have characteristics of many well-known and well-funded diseases. In fact, A-T research is crtitical toward learning more about other diseases such as Parkinsons, Alzheimers, AIDS, and cancer.
Each year I attend a party in Orlando for the Disney Marathon. Many A-T patients and families attend. During this party a dollar amount is revealed that has been raised by people like you and me for the charity. This dollar figure is all there is. There isn't another account not mentioned. There are no corporate funds dropping out of the sky. It's simply a hand-drawn sign unfurled to reveal how much money was generated through grassroots fundraising to pay scientists to work on treatments for this child killer. From family walks & 5Ks near Albany and in Maine, golf tournament in Hudsonville, to children selling lemonaid to friends in Jenison, Michigan. These are all real examples of how the A-T Children's Project is funded.
Which leads me to this: I am asking you, the listeners of our show to sponsor me with a tax-deductible donation. I'm going to try to better my time this year, and I'm increasing my fundraising goal to $65,000 - $5000 more than we raised last year. I feel very good about this and know we can do it. I know that we can raise some serious funds with this event again this year. You all are very generous. You have helped us time and time again and we thank you very much.
So that’s it. I’m fired up beyond belief and motivated more than ever. I’m up for this challenge. Please click the green box at the top of the page that says “donate now.” Won’t you please sponsor me for this race? Together we can make a ridiculous amount of money to help children and families affected by this miserable disease. Please help these children.
Thank you and God bless you.
Eric
What is A-T?
Imagine a disease that combines the worst symptoms of muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, immune deficiencies, and cancer. Children with A-T are usually confined to wheelchairs by age 10 and often do not survive their teens. Because A-T is a multi-system disease, scientists believe that A-T research will help more prevalent diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, AIDS, and cancer.
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