Sat. Feb. 4th

Featured Families of the Week

Please accept this beautiful drawing from 7 year old, Abby.  Abby is battling leukemia and, according to her Mom, is a “tough little cookie who has been resilient”…and a pretty talented artist as well.  I think it’s important for you to see some of the faces of childhood cancer…the faces of the families that YOU help with YOUR Foundation.  We can talk about funding levels and statistical incidence rates all day.  But, these are real kids who are battling these terrible diseases…and real families.  I’ll say it a million times — when a child gets cancer, the whole family gets cancer.  Thank you for taking one worry away from these families.

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The second family that I’d like to feature is 11 year old Brandon and his family.  Unfortunately, Brandon is battling Rhabdomyosarcoma and is currently receiving hospice services.

Warning:  the following description may be too much for some to read, so please feel free to jump over this section.

“Brandon’s tumor is growing under his face, pushing out both nostrils.  He has had both of his eyes sewn shut to prevent the tumor from protruding out his eyes.” (from the application for assistance).

Harsh?  Absolutely.  Reality?  Absolutely.  When we were in the hospital 5 years ago, we provided our supporters with a greatly ‘cleansed’ version of what was going on with and to Andrew.  If you only knew the extent of what these kids go through, you’d really be horrified and even more motivated to be an agent of change for these precious kids.  My prayers go out to Abby, Brandon, and their families and friends.  May God bless them.

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Finally, a big ‘thank you’ to St. George’s Technical HS in Middletown, DE for inviting me and B+ Hero, Nathan Silpath (and his Mom), to speak at an assembly last Thursday.  St. George’s HS has ‘adopted’ Nathan as part of our UDance activities at the Univ. of Delaware.  For the first time ever, we have 4-5 high schools involved in UDance and St. George’s is our pilot program of having B+ Heroes paired with a high school.  They have embraced Nathan and UDance so much.  I was just overwhelmed.

On the flip side, I must say that I have been underwhelmed by the support from the University of Delaware as it relates to alumni involvement in UDance.  Neither the New Castle Co. chapter or the University has stepped up to get involved.  Personally, I think it’s very short-sighted as well.  At Penn State, the alumni is very involved in THON.  They interact with the students, it builds loyalty for the school, and makes the students feel much more connected to the alumni.  And, that’s all besides helping a great cause.  I frequently hear UD seniors complain that only now (senior year) is the University (through UD Alumni Relations) or the local alumni chapter reaching out to them.  Why?  Because they want a donation.  A more forward-thinking strategy might be to build a sense of community for along-term connection.  But, what do I know?  🙂

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Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

God bless you.

B+

Ali & Andrew’s Dad

www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough

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