Recently, a friend of mine from high school, Deb Shoman Young, contacted me about a fundraising idea. After having two beautiful, healthy baby girls, she is ready to get back in shape…and she’d like to get sponsors for her weight loss effort to motivate her along the way. She plans to donate all of the money she raises to Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy, in memory of Andy.
What’s amazing about this is that Deb and I haven’t seen each other since we graduated from high school almost 20 years ago. We reconnected in 2009 through Facebook. At that time, I was posting daily updates about Andy, chronicling the good days at home, the scary days in the hospital, and, ultimately, his passing. Deb would e-mail me, telling me how strong I was when I felt so weak and how I had inspired her. She told me how Andy had touched her heart and how she still cries for his loss and for all of the families dealing with this disease. More than that, she has turned her words into action.
Now, it’s my turn to be inspired. Please help me support my friend Deb by donating at this link:
http://www.fsma.org/GiftReg/dsp_DonationPage.cfm?AppealCode=REGOTHE11&idUser=8626
Thank you, Deb, for being such an amazing friend and member of Andy’s Army!!
Audra Butler
It is my absolute honor to do what I am doing! I look forward to raising money and awareness in sweet Baby Andy’s name.