This week, one of our members asked me to remind him what it was that The Joseph Sams School did for children, and why Chapter 157 was sponsoring the school. His request also reminded me that we have a very large group of new members that were not even with us this time last year. So, let me explain what the school does and again, humbly beg you to donate and participate!
Four years ago, I challenged the chapter to do something with our chapter funds besides spend it on conventions in Vegas. After discussing the idea for a few months, we decided to support the
Race for Riley. For those of you that don’t know, the reason we selected this charity was due to our friendship with Rodney Peek. Rodney is a Traffic Management Coordinator in Atlanta ARTCC. When their daughter, Riley, was 2 years old, he and his wife discovered that she had Mitochondrial Disease. Simply put, these kids suffer from their muscles experiencing extreme atrophy, which includes all of their muscles; heart, lungs, brain. Unfortunately, these kids rarely live past 13 years old. Rather than curse their lives, Rodney, and his wife Waynette, started the very popular
Race for Riley, a 5K race in which all of the proceeds from the Race for Riley go to supporting the special needs of the children at the Joseph Sams School.
The Joseph Sams School is a local school for children with special needs. The School is located in Fayetteville and was founded in 1984 by a group of parents looking for a better option for their special needs children. They now provide care and education for almost 100 children between the ages of 2 and 22. In our first year of supporting the race, our chapter raised $500. Our second year we were able to earn $2100.
Last year, with the help of David Blumberg, we decided to take on a challenge all our own. Rather than just give the Race for Riley a donation. We decided to hold a concert. We held the first Riley and Friends Benefit Concert and raised almost $20,000. This year, on March 5th, at 6:00 pm, we are going to try again. There are also going to be several improvements to last year's event. After the concert, we asked for your feedback and we were thrilled to get some suggestions. So this year, we are going to use the Wyndham Hotel in Peachtree City again, but we are going to get out of the lecture amphitheater and move into a banquet room. We will have hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar in the room to allow the guest to mingle both before, and during the concert. The auction items will be in the room with the concert, and Dave has a list of new music, plus some excellent cover songs. If we yell loud enough, we might even get them to play FreeBird.
Aire Traffic has been together for 16 years and consists of a group of air traffic controllers from the Jacksonville Air Traffic Control Center. The band has earned over $500,000 for different charities over the years, including Dana Farber Cancer Research and the Children’s Miracle Network, and they are playing for us again this year. You can learn more about his band Aire Traffic, at http://www.airetraffic.com/.
The concert is going to cost us about $5000 to throw. . The hors d'oeuvres, and drinks for the kids, are about $12 a head, which will cost us in the area of $3600. We have already earned some money through local sponsors. The Concert Committee is going door to door in PTC asking for corporate sponsors, and I would like to ask for your support as well.
At a bare minimum, I would like you to consider joining us for an excellent night out. We will have the concert, a silent auction, a live auction, and the party before the concert. We had Delta and Air Tran tickets donated last year and are trying to get them again this year. Attendance IS required to win. Concert Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for children under 10.
If you can see it to do more, I would be grateful. I am donating my time, plus $250. I would be thrilled if each of you could just match that with a $100 donation. All sponsorships will be followed with a receipt and are tax deductible. We have $1000, $500, $250, and $100 categories. Support the cause. You can contact any of the following people for information:
Jack Allen
Jay Raymond
Stephanie Gadson
David Blumberg
Joey Medders
Chris Del Negro
Robbie McGrath
Phil Cannon
Rodney Peek
Thanks!
