Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Update on Rush make-a-wish recipient Samantha Dyar

UPDATE - 2/16@10:57PM: From Samm:

Dear Friends,

I wish that I could put into words what I am feeling. I never thought that my total would reach $3,000 in 4 days. I just am...shocked. Thank you so much. I wish that I could say more, but i can't put it into words. I was informed tonight that I am one of the top fundraisers in Miracle at the moment. I have a hard time taking credit because it is all you guys. Some of the best people in the world have given so much to something i care so much about. I just can't express my gratitude. I really can't. Just thank you. I never expected this. My co-chair for the committee I'm on in miracle says that I alone have raised almost half of our committee total. And it is all thanks to you. You guys are amazing. Truly amazing.
*A spirit with a vision is a dream
With a mission*

Love,
Samm

----- snip -----

UPDATE - 2/16@11:13AM: Samantha's new goal is now $2,000 and she's less than $500 away! So please give if you can. Here's a bootleg video of Rush's July 20, 2008 Charlotte performance (thanks Sean) of Mission - which Geddy dedicated to Samm. Samm can be seen backstage on Geddy's side at about the 1-minute mark. Note her reaction when Geddy dedicates the song to her! :)

UPDATE - 2/15@5:36PM: Thanks to everyone's generous donations, Samantha has surpassed her goal of raising $1,000!! You guys are awesome. :)

Nearly four years ago I posted an inspiring story about Samantha Dyar - a then 16-year-old Rush fan who had been diagnosed with cancer back in August of 2007. 3 months into her treatment she was approached by the Make-A-Wish Foundation and asked how they could help to make her wish come true. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a nonprofit organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions. They've granted wishes to 1000s of children since their inception in 1980 and are run entirely on donations. Samantha's wish was to meet her favorite band - Rush. This marked the first time Rush had ever been approached for a Make-A-Wish request, and the guys enthusiastically agreed. Samantha relayed to me her incredible story of meeting the band and hanging out backstage at Rush's Charlotte, NC stop on the Snakes & Arrows tour, which I shared with everyone in this post. Four years later, Samantha is a happy and healthy International Affairs and Political Science major at the University of Georgia. She is currently involved with UGA Miracle - a non-profit organization that raises money to donate to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta - a local Children's Miracle Network hospital. The hospitals they raise money for are completely run on donations and are also non-profit. One of them, Egleston, was the hospital where Samantha received her treatment and that helped save her life. It takes $1,000,000 a day to open the doors of each of the three Children's Healthcare of Atlanta hospitals and it takes $20,000 to save one child's life. Samantha is asking for donations to help her raise $1,000 for UGA Miracle. Please help out if you can. You can donate at Samantha's personal donation page here. And be sure to read Samantha's make-a-wish Rush story if you haven't already.