AFTER MILES FOR MIKEY

Help This is Michael’s dad. Time is at a premium these days, but I wanted to speak (in an internet sort of way) to all of you who are following Michael’s journey.

Saturday, December 6, 2008, was Miles for Mikey, a walkathon to raise money and show support for Michael as he takes on his new challenges. The event was a huge success, thanks to the blessings and support of our friends, family, neighbors and even strangers. Hundreds of people attended the walk. In addition to the Weston community, family, former co-workers, life long friends from Texas, former teachers and those who saw Michael on the news were just some of the people who came to show support for Michael. At http://cbs4.com/video/?cid=70  , you can see CBS 4 News coverage of the walk-a-thon. Once at the site, in the Search box, type in “Stolzenberg” and you’ll get the December 8th coverage of the event.

If I may digress, Miles for Mikey is not my doing. In fact, the event was not a family brainchild. Our good friend, Sharon Truske, asked to host an event for Michael (well, really told us). The event would help us with Michael’s medical costs and give him a chance for the very best prosthetics, whether now existing or in development (more on the possibilities for Michael in later postings). This website was also her doing. It was, and is difficult, to admit that you cannot give your child everything he needs so I swallowed my pride (zero calories, the added midsection is probably due to something else) and acquiesced to Sharon’s request.

Sharon was not the only one “asking” to help, after the fact, I was informed that my business partner and friend since I was 5, Jared Gelles, set up the Michael Stolzenberg Rehab Trust and arranged for the website to take PayPal donations (which is why you see his name on the site, but rest assured all donations are swept into the Trust bank account). While we were busy with doctors and hospitals, Sharon worked with Renee Rheingold and Starr Adams to organize and host the event. Many, many others worked extremely hard to make Miles for Mikey happen and I hope by mentioning a few names that I have not offended our other friends who spent hours and hours working to make the event the success it was. Thank you all.

To go further down the tangent road, special mention has to be made about the American Youth Football League (AYFL, go to www.ayfl.com and check it out). The AYFL is a fourteen team tackle football and cheerleading league. The football and cheerleading is serious and competitive. The kids work hard, practicing four nights a week and playing or cheering in a game on Saturday. My kids play for the Weston Warriors, one of the AYFL teams. The speeches the coaches give about football preparing you for life, working hard and being part of an extended family are not just cheesy scripts stolen from bad tv movies, they are true. We attribute part of Michael’s will and strength to survive in the hospital to his football conditioning and knowledge that playing hard in the 4th quarter matters. The extended family was not just Michael’s team, but the entire AYFL. The AYFL rallied for Michael, sponsoring fund raisers at every level and at every park. I have met kids, coaches and parents from all over the league, each wishing Michael the best and offering to help. We and Michael thank all of those in the AYFL who helped support Michael, but Michael wants to let the players know that once he gets back on the field he won’t take it any easier on them.

I’ll save further ramblings for another day. Back to Miles for Mikey. Did I mention that the event was a huge success? Michael’s Trust collected over $95,000 at the walkathon! This was in addition to the $100,000 plus collected through the mail and PayPal prior to the event. Wow! The donations came in all forms. Danny, a creative teenager raised money for Michael through Facebook. Some neighbors from our development held a bake sale at the event. Businesses and school and church groups collected for Michael. All of this support for Michael, even in these uncertain economic times, is overwhelming. Success was not limited to finances. Michael walked a good 20 to 30 yards with a walker and prosthetic legs he has had for just one week. He was a little overwhelmed by all of the attention, but it did not stop him from hamming it up for the news cameras (good thing for me, since everyone overlooks that I am in the shot as well). The support was so overwhelming that it was as if you could almost feel, in a tangible way, the loving and caring.

Thank you and bless you all.

An unbelievable start, but I always have that nagging awareness that Michael will need tools to help himself for his entire life. He is 8 now. He has many, many years ahead. These tools (prosthetics) are getting better and better, but more sophisticated and expensive. I refuse not to give Michael the best chance he has to realize his potential, so I will keep this website and add content with the hope that you will visit us from time to time. If you want to contact me or my family, email mikeytrust@gmail.com , but be patient about the response. I will try the best I can.

If there were words more heartfelt and powerful than Thank You, I would use them here.