Mon. Feb. 14th
Last Saturday, B+ Racing Team drivers Al Carter & Hugh Plumb, and I visited with a brave young man and his family. B+ Hero, Brian Coyle, is an 18yr old young man/son/brother who attends St. Mark’s High School, is the goaltender on the ice hockey team, and yes, is battling cancer – Hodgkin’s, specifically. But, Hodgkin’s doesn’t define Brian…it’s the obstacle that he is currently facing. It was a really special visit for me as I watched Brian meet Al, a fellow St. Mark’s Spartan and Hodgkin’s survivor. There’s nothing like seeing a success story sitting in front of you. I also shared with the family another success story, that of B+ Hero, Sydney Lysinger, who spent her Freshman year at St. Mark’s as she was battling Hodgkin’s. There was so much love and positive energy in the room. It was a real honor to meet the Coyle family. Please keep Brian and his family in your prayers.
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Kudos to Michael Goldberg for organizing a fantastically successful bone marrow drive yesterday. Michael and his assorted helpers (most especially his family – Alison, Lexi, and Jared) registered 87 new registrants to the database. As I always say, it only takes one! How COOL would that be if we saved a life yesterday. Michael, thank you for what you do and for allowing The B+ Foundation to be a part of something so special. Remember – our bone marrow drives to date have discovered 4 MATCHES!!!
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I raced from the bone marrow drive at the JCC over to the American Spirituals Concert yesterday at St. Helena’s Church in Bellefonte. Wow, it was impressive. Five different choirs performed, first individually, and then as a group. The church was packed! It was quite moving. Also moving was the kindness bestowed by the assembled guests as a collection was taken up for this year’s beneficiary, The B+ Foundation. Preliminarily, it looks like over $2,500 was collected!!! Not only is the money important, but Dick Kirk, the main organizer, gave me the opportunity to address the assembly. These events are so important because they give us a platform to educated people about the battle against childhood cancer. Thank you, Dick, and everyone involved with the concert.
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Featured Family of the Week (sorry…3 days late…AGAIN! 🙂
At the age of 5, Oscar was diagnosed with ALL (leukemia) in 1996. After going through chemo and radiation, he went into remission until 2009, when he relapsed. Sadly, his relapse caused him to lose his vision. Over the past 10 years, Oscar has battled numerous side effects from the ‘treatment’. He is at high-risk for relapse and is seen in the oncology clinic at least twice a month. As if this isn’t bad enough, Oscar’s mother was frequently violent with him and he was forced to move out. Oscar, now 19, is too old for a foster home and he was recently homeless and sick. Two weeks ago, Oscar was admitted to the hospital for severe dehydration and for being malnourished. Fortunately, his social worker has recently succeeded in placing Oscar in a group home for young men 19-21.
In spite of all of these challenges, Oscar graduated from high school and would like to attend college some day.
As he continues to battle the side effects of his cancer treatment – and pray that there isn’t another relapse – Oscar soldiers on. The B+ Foundation is assisting Oscar with a check to help him pay for some food and cover transportation costs to his oncology appointments. Needless to say, please keep Oscar in your prayers.
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Hope everyone enjoys their Valentine’s Day!!!
Live Like Andrew – let those closest to you know how much they mean to you!
B+
Always proud to be,
Ali’s & Andrew’s Dad