One of the very imporatant items that I failed to mention in my update regarding last weekend’s activities was that we registered 112 people for the bone marrow registry.  It’s really kind of neat when you think that this little effort may either end up saving someone’s life or extending their life.  Thank you to everyone who so generously joined the registry.

~~~~~~~~

When we were at the Touch-A-Truck event on Saturday, Chris and I had the privilege of meeting Andy Kohn, father of Brady Kohn.  Brady is an angel who went to Heaven a few years ago.  Brady’s family started The Brady Kohn Foundation which works to make umbilical cord blood collection easy and free for Delaware families.  The Foundation pays for the costs to transport the blood to a facility in North Jersey and then it is distributed to children all over the country.  Without efforts like theirs, cord blood is just being disposed of.  Thanks to them, lives are being saved.  As The Brady Kohn Foundation says - “Give Life. Twice!”   More information can be found at:  www.thebradykohnfoundation.org.

~~~~~~~~~

Good luck to Drew Koenig who is out of A.I. duPont now and getting ready to go to Boston for additional treatment.  Drew, we’ll be continuing to pray for you.

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Remember - now is the time to start a team for our 3rd Annual B+ 5k Fighting Pediatric Cancer.  It’s so easy.  Just go to the link below and you can start a team, join a team, join as an individual, or support Ali’s team.  If you don’t live around here, please consider starting a “virtual team”.  Raise money just like the local teams and be with us in spirit.  The money can really add up quickly.  Just think — if you start a team and recruit 19 other people and you each solicit 10 people to donate $25 each, you’ll raise $5,000 for your team.  It’s that easy.  And now, more than ever, ‘our’ families need your help and we need to turn up the heat on pediatric cancer research.  Please consider starting a team for your office, your school, sports team, in honor of a Hero, your neighborhood, your family…

https://www.signup82north.com/BPos2009/EventLandingPage.aspx

Thank you very much for your continued support of The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation - “YOUR” foundation.  Your generosity is making a HUGE difference in the lives of many.  And, especially to the young people out there, you really keep us going.  This Foundation is all about “kids helping kids fight cancer”.

God bless you all!

Live Like Andrew — look at the glass as ‘nearly full’.  There’s a lot to be thankful for.

B+

Proud to be,

Ali’s & Andrew’s Dad

www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough

WOW…it’s been a busy week!  Sorry I haven’t updated in a little while.

Last Friday, we had a very successful “B+ FUN Raiser” at Barclay’s Bank.  Thank you to Barclays, all of our sponsors, and everyone who joined us.  A special thank you to Catherine and Andrew Koenig, Drew’s parents, who were our guest speakers.  I think everyone had a good time, a decent amount of money was raised, and most importantly, I think we touched a lot of people.

As you know from a few months ago, we announced that we had selected a recipient for our inaugural research grant.  On Friday, we went public with who that recipient is.  After a national search, we selected the Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research (NCCCR) to receive a $250,000 grant.  NCCCR is a new cancer research facility staffed by very experienced researchers from around the country.  It is housed in a facility across the street from A.I. duPont Hospital where Andrew was treated.  It’s proximity to us is merely coincidence as we conducted a national search as I mentioned above.  We will be helping to fund a ‘High Throughput Screening” (HTS) apparatus, a robot actually, which will be critical to accelerating the timetable of drug discovery in our quest to eradicate pediatric cancers or, at the very least, improve chemotherapeutic treatments so that kids have a better chance.

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On Sunday, we were honored to be a beneficiary of two exciting events.  The Hockessin Mom’s Club sponsored “Touch A Truck”.  What a beautiful day and what a crowd.  It was tremendously successful and we are very appreciative of being included in this great activity.

The second event was the 12 hour “UDance” dance marathon at the University of Delaware.  1,400 people participated and $23,000 was raised for The B+ Foundation and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.  It was very heartwarming seeing our young “B+ Heroes” go on stage and receive the applause from the students.  Thank you to Marc, Alicia, Matt, and all of the students involved in UDance.  We look forward to even bigger and better next year. 

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For those of you in the Delaware Valley, enjoy the heat wave.  It’s hard to believe that it’s 90 degrees in April.

Live Like Andrew - go out of your way to do something nice for someone today.

B+

Ali’s & Andrew’s Dad

www.caringbridge.org/visit

P.S.  Please visit https://www.signup82north.com/BPos2009/EventLandingPage.aspx to create a team for our June 18th B+ 5k Fighting Pediatric Cancer Run/Walk.

The last few days have been eventful.  As you know, one of the things we do is the “B+ Heroes Program” which gives some of our Heroes neat opportunities.  Basically, we put them up on a pedestal and, secondarily, ‘regular’ people get to benefit from having the pleasure of meeting these special kids.

As part of our involvement in the upcoming (4/26) “UDance” dance marathon at the University of Delaware, we’ve paired 8 kids with UD ”Greeks” (fraternities and sororities).  On Thursday, Savannah met Kelly from ASA.  On Friday Ali brought two ADPi sisters (Heather & Annie) to AI DuPont to meet Drew.  Yesterday, Joey B. became the youngest Sig Ep ‘brother’ in the country!  :)  And, today, Molly was welcomed by her ‘adopted’ sorority, AZD.  We’ve got four more meetings to go; hopefully before next Sunday’s UDance.  It was really neat seeing the looks on the kids’ faces.  Thank you very much to the UD Greek Community!

Another group that I would like to recognize are the “unsung heroes”, the brothers and sisters of these kids fighting cancer.  Sometimes they get overlooked in the attention, but they are truly heroes as well because this cancer is affecting them in a very permanent way as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday morning, we had the pleasure of being involved in Pearce’s inaugural 4 Mile Run.  It was a beautiful day, a huge crowd, and just a wonderfully successful event.  Great job, Pearce. 

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And, last night, we got a chance to meet some of the Healing Bridge Foundation supporters at their “Oldies Dance”.  Thank you, Joe & Danielle, for including us in your big night.  For more information about their foundation, please visit http://www.healingbridge.us/

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I also want to send a big ‘thank you’ out to Michael Volk.  Mike is Sallies alum and soccer player at the University of Virginia.  Mike sent us a UVA autographed soccer jersey, a special UVA version B+ wristband, and a really nice note.  It means so much to us that Andrew is not forgotten and thanks to people like Mike, the B+ message is spreading.  Thanks, Mike!

~~~~~~~~~~

We’ve got a very busy week coming up.  Our B+ 5k Fighting Pediatric Cancer website should go live tomorrow or Tues.  We hope you’ll form a team and join us on June 18th.  This Friday, we have our B+ FUN Raiser and on Sunday, we are the beneficiaries of both the Hockessin Moms’ “Touch A Truck” event as well as “UDance”.

I hope you all make it a great week.

Live Like Andrew — appreciate your blessings.

B+

Ali’s & Andrew’s Dad

www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough

The family of Kaylyn Warren has launched “Kay’s Kamp”, to fulfill Kaylyn’s wishes and honor her memory.  It was Kaylyn’s desire to run a camp for kids with cancer here in Delaware.  The Kaylyn Elaine Warren Foundation will be kicking off their inaugural “kamp” on Aug 9-15.  This is a  free sleepaway camp for kids who are surviving cancer.  There will be medical supervision and more information can be found at www.kayskamp.org.  I’m sure Kaylyn is smiling down on her family and friends.  The Warrens are very special people and this kamp is going to be tremendously successful.  If you know of any children that would like to attend, please contact Kamp Director Lisa Schmalbach at the website listed above.

~~~~~~~~

I want to share another story of generosity with you.  As you know, so many kind and generous children (and families) have asked for donations to the B+ Foundation in lieu of birthday presents.  The latest example of this really blew me away.  I don’t want to embarrass her, but Savannah Pauley just sent us over $1,000 that she collected from her friends at her 10th birthday party.  As you know, Savannah is one of our super brave Heroes and she continues to inspire us all.  No one would blame her for thinking of herself, but she’s thinking of others!  Thank you, Savannah, for your kindness.  www.caringbridge.org/visit/savannahpauley1.

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On Monday of this week, baseball lost two very prominent figures, Phillies announcer Harry Kalas and the colorful Mark “The Bird” Fidrych.  When I heard about Fidrych’s passing, it brought back a funny “Andrew Story”.  Andrew pitched a complete game in an all-star game and really kept his team in the game.  Unfortunately, his team lost and was eliminated from the tournament.  At the conclusion of the game, I saw something that I had never seen before in all my years of baseball.  The umpire came into Andrew’s dug-out and interrupted the manager’s post-game talk.  He said that he was so impressed with one of the players that he wanted to present him with a game ball.  Everyone was kind of shocked.  He then said “To Mark “The Bird” Fidrych, you kept your team in the game.  You pitched a great game!”  None of the kids had any idea who “The Bird” was and Andrew didn’t really know what was going on either until the umpire walked over and presented him with a game ball.  Andrew didn’t talk to the ball like Fidrych, but there was a resemblance to all that curly hair sneaking out from under the cap.  (See picture on www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough  for comparison.)  It was a funny moment.  Andrew, show “The Bird” around and have a catch with him.  Maybe you can hit a home run off of him and Harry K. can call it “outta here”.

Happy Tax Day.

Live Like Andrew - Have FUN!!!

B+

Ali’s & Andrew’s Dad

DATE CHANGE FOR THE 3rd ANNUAL B+ FOUNDATION GOLF OUTING, DINNER & AUCTION!!!

Please note that the new date for this year’s Golf Outing, Dinner & Auction is Monday, October 12, 2009 (Columbus Day).  The event will, once again, be held at the Brandywine Country Club in Wilmington, DE.  Please mark your calendars.

Registration for this event will be live on www.BePositive.org in the near future.

We hope you can join us.

B+

In case I don’t get a chance to post tomorrow, I’d like to wish everyone a Happy Easter.

I have another “Andrew Story” to share with you.

Several years ago, Andrew’s soccer team at the time (Concord Clash) participated in an Easter Weekend soccert tournament (Elkton, MD, I think…not sure).  Our plans were to spend Easter and Spring Break with Chris’ sister and family in CA, so Ali and Chris headed out on Holy Thursday and Andrew and I stayed behind in DE for his soccer tournament.  Our plans were to fly out to San Diego on Easter morning.  The Saturday before Easter was a very busy (and fun) day for Andrew and I.  He played in several games in the tournament, we packed our bags, had dinner, and then went to the Easter Vigil Mass at church.  I can’t speak for anyone else, but the Easter Vigil in the Catholic Church runs a little long.  Andrew and I were exhausted so we used the strategy of sitting in the first row because, of course, we couldn’t fall asleep if we were sitting 10 feet from the priest.  (Yeah, you know where this is going.)  Not long after we got there, as we were sitting in the pew, I felt this thud on my side.  Andrew had fallen sound asleep and his curly mop was resting on me.  I knew God would cut us a little slack so I made Andrew a little more comfortable and let him sleep on my lap.  I couldn’t help but smile at my little angel.  It was hard to stay awake, though, as he looked so comfortable and peaceful.  I wanted to join him in slumber.  The next day we flew to CA and had a great holiday.  I always enjoy traveling with my family.

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FYI - our registration website for our “B+ 5k Fighting Pediatric Cancer” (Thursday, June 18, 2009) will be live in a few days.  I’ll keep you posted.  Please start assembling your teams and join us in the walk or run…your choice.

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If you follow our site regularly, you have read many postings about one of our Heroes, Pearce Quesenberry.  If you’re free on April 18th, Pearce’s new foundation is holding a “4 Miles of Hope Walk/Run”.  For more information, please visit:

http://www.pearceqfoundation.org/

~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Easter, Andrew.  I hope you find a lot of eggs in Heaven! 

Live Like Andrew — B+

Ali’s & Andrew’s Dad

P.S.  The new picture posted on the Caringbridge homepage is from Easter, 2003.  Hope you enjoy.

www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough

I am told that there is a need for AB blood and platelets at A.I. duPont Hospital.  If you are local, have AB blood, and so inclined, please contact the Blood Bank of Delmarva to schedule an appointment to donate.  Thank you so much; it means a lot to the families in the hospital to know that they can count on a clean, reliable source of blood.  One less thing to worry about!

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Blessings to our Jewish friends as they begin Pesach (Passover) this evening with the traditional seder.  Whether you observe Passover, Easter, or are of other faiths, I hope we can all use this time to ground ourselves in what is truly important.

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I was blown away when I went to the post office the other day to pick up a certified letter.  Inside was a beautiful card from Summer O’Donnell, a 16 year old girl from Swarthmore that knew Andrew.  Summer and her four friends (Julia Reitenbach, Alex Duckenfield, Molly DiEnno, Valerie Keller) recently celebrated their “Sweet 16″ party and asked for donations to The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation.  They raised nearly $2,500!!!   Thank you, girls, for your kindness, generosity, and compassion.  Andrew is smiling down on you; I just know it.

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In just the last month, through your generosity, we have been able to provide financial assistance to the famililes of the following critically ill children.  Thank you for your kindness and generosity.

Zackarey (10 yr old; leukemia)

Alex (14 yr old; osteosarcoma)

Jessica (20 yr old; critical immune deficiency)

Drew (5 yr old; medulloblastoma)

Trinity (5 yr old; heart transplant)

Kelis (1 1/2 yr old; critical immune deficiency)

Ashlyn (17 yr old; AML leukemia)

Kaylee (10 yr old; AML leukemia)

Aiden (5 yr old; medulloblastoma)

Samuel (7 yr old; end stage renal disease)

Mariel (17 yr old; leukemia)

Jessica (7 yr old; HLH)

Ardy (12 yr old; AML leukemia)

Here is a quote from a Mom of one of the families that you have helped:

“I can’t even tell you how much it means.  I’m shocked.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Thank you for caring, thank you for helping us, thank you for doing what you do. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  It means so much to us.  God bless you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to have some fun dancing to “oldies” music?

The “Healing Bridge Fund”, run by the Rykaczewski family, is holding an “Oldies Dance”.

• “Bridge It With The Oldies” in honor of Bridgett Rykaczewski.  Money raised helps adults and kids with cancer.
• Sat. April 18th 7pm-midnight
• Moose Lodge - DuPont Highway in New Castle, DE
• $25 ($30 at door) - 50’s/60’s music, food, draft beer, and soda
• For more information: Healingbridge78@aol.com
• Also, the Healing Bridge Fund is organizing country line dancing classes ($5/class).  Email Danielle for more information

~~~~~~~~~

That’s enough to bore you for one day! 

Seriously, thank you so much for your continued support of our mission to eradicate pediatric cancers and to help the families (in any way) who are currently in the battle.

Live Like Andrew - SMILE!

B+

Ali’s & Andrew’s Dad

www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough

Happy Birthday Savannah Pauley!!!!  www.caringbridge.org/visit/

savannahpauley1

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A week or two ago, I asked for good wishes for a friend, Jimmy Albanese, who is recovering from major surgery.  I am so proud and appreciative to report that Jimmy was bombarded by your good wishes.  They had a stack of e-cards delivered every day for a couple of days.  It really picked up Jimmy’s and the family’s spirit.  You guys are the best!

~~~~~~~

As many of you know, we dedicated a tree last year (”Andrew’s Tree”) at Andrew’s grade school, St. Mary Magdalen.  I got very emotional yesterday when I walked by the tree and saw all of the decorations.  My sister has dressed it up each month and now other anonymous friends are getting in the act as well.  Yesterday, there was a beautiful handmade palm cross with a ribbon that said “Buddy” on it.  There were also Easter eggs tied to the branches as well as a beautiful butterfly ornament for Ali.  It really means a lot to us that this memorial to my son, Andrew’s Tree, means something to so many people.  Thank you SO much!!!

~~~~~~~~

I was honored to speak at the University of Delaware again tonight.  I keep boring these guys and they keep inviting me back!!!

~~~~~~~~~~

If anyone would like to volunteer to help us at UDance, the Univ. of DE 12 hour dance marathon to benefit our Foundation and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, please let me know.  We will be selling B+ gear as well as registering college students for the bone marrow registry.  We would appreciate as few or as many hours as you can give us.  The event runs from 11am-11pm on Sunday April 26th at the UD Field House in Newark.

~~~~~~~~~

Live Like Andrew and all of our “Heroes” — look on the bright side.  If these young children fighting cancer can have such an incredibly positive attitude, why can’t we all?

B+

Ali’s & Andrew’s Dad

www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough

P.S.  Thank you very much for all the nice comments about Ali’s kind gesture for Locks of Love.

Hi!

It’s Ali! If you can’t tell from the picture (see www.caringbridge.org/

visit/andrewmcdonough), I donated my hair today for Locks of Love!! They cut 8 inches off! I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, but finally got the chance to do it.  For me, donating my hair was extremely special.  When we were in the hospital with Andrew, all the boys in our family shaved their heads in solidarity with Andrew.  Since I couldn’t do that, I promised Andrew that I’d grow my hair out and donate it, for him. It wasn’t long enough while we were in the hospital for me to do that (my hair grows slower than anything in the world), but it finally got to the point where I could cut that amount off!  I kept my promise to Andrew, and donated my hair! I’m so excited!!

Yeah, it’s short. It’s a big change for me, and I’m not good with changes, but guess what?! Luckily, for me, it’ll grow back.  Some people are less fortunate and as soon as they get little bristles of hair, the chemo makes them lose it again.  So really, is it a big deal that my hair isn’t even down to my shoulders? In the grand scheme of things, it’s really not a big deal at all.  I’m lucky to be able to have my hair grow long enough for me to donate.  It felt good being a part of something so much bigger than myself! My 8 inches of hair will help someone I’ll never meet feel more comfortable with themselves while going through something no kid should ever have to go through — chemo.  If I can help someone be happier, feel better about themselves, or just keep their head warmer while they bravely fight cancer, by simply getting my hair cut, that’s perfect!

Great day to B+

- Ali/ “Andrew’s Sister”

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I’m so proud of my little girl…and I think she looks amazing with her new cut, too!!!

I’d like to publicly wish my Mom a “Happy Birthday”.  My Mom turned 84 yesterday and she is just an incredible role model to all of us.  We love you very much, Mom!

~~~~~~~~~~

Congratulations to my fellow Green Knights of Mt. Pleasant HS for their very successful ACS “Relay for Life” last night (and into this morning).  Nearly 25% of the student body participated in the 12 hour walk.  That’s really impressive.  And, Ali and I got to meet a Hero, Zoe LeShock, who I’ve been hoping to meet for a while.  Zoe is a brave little girl winning her battle against cancer!!!  Zoe, it was an honor to meet you finally.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’d like to thank Central Delaware Soccer Association (CDSA) for including The B+ Foundation in their “CDSA Day” today.  As you know, soccer was a big part of Andrew’s life and the soccer community has not forgotten our boy and our mission.  Thank you CDSA and thank you, Ryan Barros, for staffing the table today.

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I’d like to introduce you to an amazing young man named Ryan Meyers.  Ryan is a inspirational Hero who you’ve just got to meet.  Please visit his website and post a nice message for him!  I know it will mean a lot to Ryan and his family.  Thanks, B+ Nation! 

http://www.caringbridge.com/visit/ryanmeyers

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On a personal note, we got away for a few days this week and just relaxed.  It was a nice break, but it’s always sad without Andrew physically with us.

Andrew, I know you’re so proud of Ali.  You’ve got an amazing big sister.

Live Like Andrew & Ali — put others before yourself.

B+ and enjoy the rest of the weekend.  God bless you.

Proud Dad of Ali & Andrew

www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough