Short version: The administrator of our local car board at http://www.bcsstreet.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; had a son recently diagnosed with Duchenes Muscular Distrophy. His muscles will slowly break down and survival beyond early 30s is not likely. This is a man who has been a fixture in our local car scene, always willing to loan tools, garage space, or knowledge to us poorer college kids. If you can contribute in any way, please do. Come down for our car show at Texas World Speedway by College Station on July 5th, or just contribute on the website.
Long version:
It's just now to the point where we have something solid going on, we wanted to keep this a secret as long as possible because the chances of us pulling it off were slim, but now it's a go! All hands on deck, man the pumps this is going to be HUGE and I for one have never done anything remotely like this, so I need help from all of you. YES, all of you - even the ones of you standing around lurking at the back looking at your shoes, you need to roll up your sleeves and muck in as well!
One of our founder members, technical guru and drifting genious, James (z28evans) and Veronica (Mrs. z28evans) had a son last year... Max. Max Evans was born April 29, 2008. He was a healthy 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 20.5 in. long. Shortly after being born it was discovered that Max has Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The family is handling it well since they have been able to prepare for the possibility; although you can only prepare for news such as this so much. The only positive side to such a diagnosis is that Max will be delayed walking and crawling, but should not show too many symptoms until he is 3 or 4 years old.
Just so you get an idea of how very serious this condition is, I scooted over to Web MD and copied this:
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Definition - One of nine types of muscular dystrophy, a group of genetic, degenerative diseases primarily affecting voluntary muscles.
Cause - An absence of dystrophin, a protein that helps keep muscle cells intact.
Onset - Early childhood - about 2 to 6 years.
Symptoms - Generalized weakness and muscle wasting first affecting the musclesof the hips, pelvic area, thighs and shoulders. Calves are often enlarged.
Progression - DMD eventually affects all voluntary muscles, and the heart and breathing muscles. Survival is rare beyond the early 30s
So here's the plan:
We're going to try to raise money for medical expenses, toys and anything under the sun that these guys might need by doing the following:
1)Darcie (Foxxxy) and I have arranged with TWS to have a car show and event out there JULY 5th. We will need major help with this, you will see a thread about it here in the next day or so. We will be recruiting volunteers for all aspects of the show. I EXPECT EVERYONE TO BE THERE! I will be out of state July 4th, but I'm ditching the family and driving back for this, YOU CAN TOO!
2) We set up a basic (don't laugh) website at http://www.maxevans.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; It's just a template right now. I NEED SOMEONE WHO IS GOOD A WEBSITES to run it. It's hosted and all paid for, I just need someone to do the content. If we can get 3-4 people to contribute, all the better. As soon as it's finished, we have a non-profit paypal account that will be linked to the site. We need to make a concerted effort in the next few weeks to put it on every forum we visit. $5 here and there from members on 40-50 forums may add up fast.
3)OPEN FOR IDEAS!!! Speak up if you have a way to raise money. Ask the people you work for for donations, ask your friends, ask your family... I know we can go round business owners we know and get stuff, then maybe hold a silent auction for the goodies at the show???
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE try to make it your personal goal to raise $100 for this cause. If each and every one of the club regulars can do this we should be able to hit an awesome amount when coupled with the proceeds from the car show. Dig into your pockets, open your wallets and most importantly give us your help, input and time. JAMES IS ONE OF US! and he has bailed a few of us out of a bind on more than one occasion. Wouldn't you want your buddies to step up and take care of business if something happened to you?
MAX EVANS FUNDRAISER, BALANCE 5/21/09 $1,000
Thank you for your time.
