Mon. Jan. 16th
It’s been a little while since I last updated, so please bear with me….lots to share.
The first, and most important, item to share with you is very sad news. As you may recall, I previously told you about a young man named Ted Schwartz and asked you to pray for him. It is with great sadness that I report to you that Ted passed away last Friday at the age of 16. Ted, of Seaford, DE, was being treated at A.I. duPont Hospital and had battled leukemia since he was 8 years old. I had the true honor of visiting with Ted and his Dad one day at A.I. and you could quickly tell that he was a real fighter, a really great kid. Please keep the Schwartz family in your prayers and, if you are so inclined, please leave a kind message on Ted’s website. I’m sure it would be much appreciated.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tedschwartz
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I want to give you an update on another brave teenager that I introduced you to – Eric (Ebo) Eberling. Ebo is a young man from New Jersey being treated at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Last Friday, he had surgery to remove the lower third of his femur to remove the tumor. The doctors inserted a titanium rod. He is giving the updates on his website and you can tell that this ice hockey player is one tough kid. Please pay him a visit and leave him words of encouragement from the B+ Nation.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ebo
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Last Thursday, I had the privilege of speaking to 900 fifth/sixth graders at Eisenhower Intermediate School in northern New Jersey (Bridgewater). These kids were amazing. Can you imagine being that age and having to sit on a hard gym floor for 30-40 minutes to listen to me??? They were quiet, respectful, and they asked incredibly insightful questions. One boy asked me “How can you do presentations about Andrew without crying?” (Answer – I DO cry…a lot. Giving talks about Andrew, childhood cancer, and “Living Like Andrew” is like turning a knife in my heart. But, it’s what I meant to do.) Another boy came up to me after my talk and said “Andrew is not really gone. He’s still with us.” How kind? I hope and pray that Andrew (and all of the children who have left this world early) are always “with us” as we live in this earthly world. The school is also going to do a fundraiser for The B+ Foundation and help us fight childhood cancer and help families of kids with cancer. Thanks, Eisenhower!
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On Friday, I was invited to speak with the University of Delaware Women’s Lacrosse team. The UD Women’s Lax team, of which my niece is a member, has ‘adopted’ B+ Hero, Abby Supplee. Abby has her own locker in the locker room! The team is also participating in UDance, the largest student-run philanthropy at Delaware and helping raise money for our mission. I was so impressed by this great group of ladies and, obviously, they’ve got great role models in their coaches. Thanks, Coaches Kateri, Kristin, Kristin, and Corinne.
If anyone wants to help the UD students reach their fundraising goals, please visit http://udancedelaware.info/ and pick a team or individual to support. All proceeds from this event goes to The B+ Foundation. Also, the student leaders are looking for companies – small or large – to join them as sponsors. PLEASE contact me if you’re interested at joe@LiveLikeAndrew.org. Thanks.
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Finally, I want to share a really cool story with you from Muscatine, Iowa. First, I want to thank my brother-in-law, Joe Gasz, who keeps us up-to-date on what people are saying about us around the country via Google Alerts. Muscatine HS has this cool “Survivor” game for their seniors. As you’ll see in the article, students pair up in teams of two and ‘adopt’ a charity. They then go out and raise money for ‘their’ charity. The top 6 money-raising teams then move on to the next phase where they re-create the “Survivor” tv show at their school. You’ve got to read this article. The best part is that two of the students featured in this article have ‘adopted’ US — The B+ Foundation. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Alex Coca and Rockie Fuller (“our” students) make it to the finals…and win, of course! Please check out this article. This is great. I wish EVERY school in the country did something like this as a way to teach important life lessons to their students (whether we benefit from it or not).
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Well, that will do it for today. I know that I said that I would address what it means to “Live Like Andrew”, but I wanted to focus today on Ted Schwartz.
Make it a great day.
Ali & Andrew’s Dad