Coming out of the closet to ask for money

We applied for and received a grant for Gus to help pay for his ABM therapies several months ago now. A few people had approached us about helping out and they really wanted it to be tax deductible so we found Building Blocks for Kids. We thought the whole grant might get funded from the group of folks we'd already talked to but the financial picture for them changed by the time we got the grant in place. Having those monies funded and available to us this year is a real game changer for us so here we are asking for your help.

There are plenty of reasons not to give it - I (Christi) have a great job with a solid income, we live in a nice house in an amazing neighborhood, we drive a 1 year old van, we could have managed our money better over the years and be in a better position for this rainy day, we still spend some of our money today on family fun and outings because Gus loves to get out, be social, and do stuff, the list goes on. You, like so many, may be already scrimping and saving just to get by and are just one unexpected mechanic bill from financial disaster yourselves. No problem - we always appreciate the morale support, love, and prayers so please keep those coming! They are priceless to us and keep us going!

If I haven't convinced you otherwise already, please consider sponsoring our walk on September 22 with Building Blocks for Kids. Here is what I wrote on our Team Page there:

Gus was born 11 weeks early and suffered a form of brain damage called PVL, which has resulted in him having Cerebral Palsy. Basically, his brain is missing some of the parts that control his motor skills. At 5 months old we as parents were witnessing an unhappy child who fussed anytime he wasn't eating or sleeping and would really scream if we laid him down. Though we've been so fortunate to have wonderful health care provided for him, the medical communities' advice at that time was to, "Wait and see." We knew we were losing our son to his own private world so we couldn't take that advice. After much research we found the Anat Baniel Method, ABM, and it had immediate and seemingly miraculous results for Fergus. It was like he woke up to himself and suddenly he was smiling, happy, and bursting with personality. Plus, he's been making huge strides in overcoming his physical obstacles. He has voluntary movement in all 4 limbs, he started rolling over at 14 months of age, he just recently started being able to prop sit like in the picture of him above. ABM focuses on accessing the brain through movement in order to help his brain re-wire itself so it can still perform the functions of the brain matter that was lost. Our current ABM schedule has us spending about $2600 a month between ABM lessons and travel costs to Fort Wayne, IN, and Chicago, IL, from our home in Cincinnati. None of it is covered by insurance. We feel a tremendous sense of urgency during these critical, early, formative years, to maintain his schedule in the hopes he can one day walk and maybe even run. Will you please help Gus in his journey to live as full a life as possible by sponsoring our team?

Your sponsorship dollars go 100% towards Gus's ABM and are TAX DEDUCTIBLE! 

The link to sponsor us or to join us in walking or running on Sept 22 is here, https://bos.etapestry.com/fundraiser/BuildingBlocksforKids/5Kwalkofhope/team.do?participationRef=1809.0.431280212

Regardless of whether you can or will give to the sponsorship fund, thank you for being part of our lives and for caring about what's happening with our sweet gift, Gus.