Scott's donation drive

So over the past couple of years, Jamie and I have become more involved with giving to a certain charity - the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Over the next couple of months I'm going to be reaching out to friends and family to help me raise some funds, and I want to give a little bit of background of why we've gotten involved.

Up until a couple of years ago, my only knowledge of Cystic Fibrosis was that it's some sort of childhood disease, and that when I was a kid I remember my Dad working on some charity events for the Foundation - an old Olympics-style event that pitted different companies against each other in Hec-Ed Pavilion at the UW. Of course to me the event consisted of my brother Mike and I jumping on the high jump pit, and one year that I played catch with Mariner's catcher Scott Bradley.

Anyway, I was reintroduced to the charity a couple of years ago through Mike and Nicci Brewer. Mike and Nicci are fellow Hazen grads who graduated a year ahead of me. I knew who both of them were in high school, but didn't really know them per se at the time. A few years ago though, I met Mike again at a friend's bachelor party, and as a fellow poker player Mike and some of the other guys became regulars at the tournaments I host with my friends.

A couple of years ago, Mike asked if I wanted to play in a charity poker event for Cystic Fibrosis. I knew that Mike and Nicci had a young son, Cole, and soon learned that Cole has Cystic Fibrosis and they're active participants in the charity event.

Cystic Fibrosis is a disease that has a couple of debilitating effects resulting in a shorter than normal lifespan. CF affects the respiratory system at an early age, creating a sticky mucus that lines the lungs. While we all have mucus to help trap colds and viruses, people with CF are unable to cough up or get rid of the mucus. As a result, they become more susceptable to colds and flus, which turn into infections in their lungs. Lung damage, and failure, is what makes CF fatal. For many years, children with CF were lucky to live past their teens. More on that in a second.

So although Jamie and I don't have kids yet, the only thing I think we wish for is good health of our eventual children, and I couldn't imagine the devastating blow it must certainly be to find out your child has a disease like CF. But that's the funny thing. While I think I would gravitate toward the "woe is me" glass-half-empty point of view if this happened to me, I was impressed and inspired by Mike and Nicci's attitude.

When I heard Mike tell their story at one of the events, he explained how they saw some signs that something was wrong early on, as Cole wasn't gaining weight at the right rate, if I remember correctly. Shortly after he was diagnosed with CF. Mike says that he and Nicci knew nothing more about CF than what they had seen in an after-school special as kids. So instead of wallowing in sadness for years on end, they threw themselves into getting educated about the disease and figuring out what they could do. If Cole had this disease, then how could they beat it. That led them to getting involved with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.


Cole Brewer

So for the past few years, they've been great advocates for the CFF and participate in the fund-raising events. As I've gotten to know Mike a little bit over the past couple of years, I've become more involved as well, donating at many of the events. And yeah, the events have included fun things like playing poker, but having been blessed with good health so far in my life, I've been glad to donate to the cause since I can afford to do so.

So, why am I posting about this? A couple of reasons. First, I'm hoping I can collect some donations from my friends and family over the next few months for a couple of large upcoming events. And second, I wanted to share this story that actually has hope, compared to many of the sad stories we read about today.

Cole is a happy and healthy kid, and his future is looking brighter because of the donations made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. I mentioned earlier that for many years kids with CF had a life expectency of 18 or 19 years old. Today, through the work of the Foundation and research world wide, that life expectency has about doubled to where many CF patients are living into their mid-30s and even longer. It's part of why I feel strongly that the money we donate will actually make a difference in the lives of the families dealing with CF.

One final reason to give - all of the donations I make are matched 100% by Microsoft. The company matches $12000 per yer, per employee, which doubles the impact Jamie and I can make. The money I raise will go toward two of CF's biggest yearly fundraisers in the Seattle area, the Great Strides Walk, and their annual golf tournament with the Seattle Mariners, which I hope to play in for the first time.

So, thanks for reading if you've made it this far, and if you'd like to donate to my fundraising efforts for these CF events, please let me know.

Scott