In all the years that we have represented clients who have mesothelioma – and that’s more than 30!- I have never seen such a creative fundraiser to help someone who has been diagnosed with this fatal form of cancer. Jesse Valdez, owner of Dream Rooms Furniture Store in Houston, Texas, put out a challenge to help raise funds to cover medical costs for Alexis Kidd, a young beautiful woman who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma.
Valdez and Dream Rooms put out a challenge on Facebook that if 5000 people visited their page before midnight and clicked on the “Like” button, they would donate $1,500 towards a fund to help cover costs for Alexis’ mesothelioma treatment. At last count, the 5000 mark had not been met, but the Dream Rooms family was so touched by the more than 2000 responses and group effort that the $1500 is already donated to help Alexis.
Mesothelioma is an incurable form of cancer that is caused by exposure to asbestos. Because it can have a latency period of 10 to 50 years, often patients are not diagnosed until they are in their late fifties or older. It is also more common among men than women, due to occupational exposure in such jobs as construction, ship building, brake repair, factory work, etc.
This is not the first charitable act by Dream Rooms Furniture, who does this on a weekly basis. Dream Rooms picks a different person each week that has clicked their “Like” button, and then asks them to pick a charity of their choice to donate to. Dream Rooms buys surplus furniture from leading manufacturers across the nation and then sells it at affordable rates. They are based in Houston, and have been in business for more than 13 years.
In addition to Dream Rooms donation, Alexis Kidd and husband-to-be were also chosen by Wish Upon a Wedding to receive financial aid and planning for their upcoming wedding. Wish Upon a Wedding is a non-profit started in 2010 to help provide weddings and vow renewals to couples facing terminal illnesses and serious life-altering circumstances.
Alexis Kidd most likely only has months to live. Most of our clients do not survive past a year. To read about Dream Rooms and Wish Upon a Wedding inspires hope and strength for those of us working with clients who are diagnosed with mesothelioma. It also shows the great capacity in what a community can do for those who are facing such challenging circumstances.
This entry was posted on Friday, July 15th, 2011 at 11:29 am and is filed under Mesothelioma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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