Since my injury in July of 2004, my family and I have received tremendous support from neighbors, friends, relatives, and a ton of people that we had never even met. We were stunned by people's generosity and donation of their time, money, or both.

This page is designed to both show or give suggestions to families going through a similar situation as well as thank everyone who has supported us since my injury

Fundraisers

Concert

Andy Wubbenhorst and his son Kurt's band Roots of Rebellion put together an amazing fundraising concert in the Kinnelon High School Auditorium in early January of 2005. All three bands that played, The Flying Mueller Brothers, GW Toye, and Roots of Rebellion were great. The show was sold out and then some. Andy and others that helped organize the event were able to raise a ton of money. We later received a generous check from Lou Lamierello contributing to the funds raised by the concert. Needless to say it was a great night for everyone.

Golf Outing- Newton CC

Once the weather got nicer, our good friends Ralph and Lucille Rathyen organized Newton Country Club's 1st Annual Golf Outing fundraiser. It turned out to be a beautiful day that ended with a dinner and an auction of donated items. The money that was raised was split between us and another family in need. The Newton CC plans on continuing the annual fundraiser to raise money for other local families.

HVARA Dinner, Casino Night

The Hidden Valley Alpine Racing Association (HVARA) put together a dinner and casino night as well as a silent auction in what seemed to be an incredibly short period of time. Many of the families at Hidden Valley came to the dinner, played some casino games, and bid on tons of donated items. Everyone as usual had a great time and showed strong support for us. Thank you Dave & Heather Kahl, Greg Pier, and everyone else that pulled this together.

Do it for Darren

We were suddenly surprised when hearing about a group of women from town were putting together, with support from the Kinnelon-Butler Optimist Club, a fundraiser for us by running in the More Marathon in Central Park, NY. Liz Schecter got about 20 women together to collect pledges and run a half-marathon (13.1 miles) each. They all had jerseys made up for them to wear and they did it all by themselves; I think we found out about it through someone else! Each participant agreed to collect 20 pledges of at least $26. If you do the math that comes out to quite a nice amount of money. Every single participant completed the half-marathon. They were Liz Schecter, Denise Hatch, Kelly Bornmann, Terry Lummer, Sarah Papke Kuken, Lisa Wrede, Laura Bergson, Cyndy Fuhro, Maryann Hanley, Linda Graupe, Lynette Viviani, Teresa Harrison, Erica Harrison, Tara McClain, Pam Mahoney, and Tammy Hopler. Sorry if I missed your name or mispelled it, I'm going by the newspaper article.

Casino Night- Making Headway

In March of 2005, our friends Chris and Cheryl Coutts included us in a fundraiser at the Wayne Manor they had been putting on for a few years with the proceeds going to the Making Headway Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping children with brain tumors and other neurological disorders. Their daughter Morgan was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of two, and was given an unlikely chance to survive. After years of treatment and surgeries, Morgan beat the odds and made a full recovery. Her and her family put on this fundraiser each year to help children that are in her position recover as well.

The Coutts decided to donate a portion of the funds raised to us that year. Since our families have many mutual friends, I knew a lot of people there. I had no idea however the size of the event. It was attended by hundreds of people with over 100 items being auctioned off. There were poker, blackjack, roulette, and craps tables. The food was great and I think everyone had a great time. Thank you Chris, Cheryl, Morgan, Sydney, and Taylor for letting us be a part of this event.