Step Up & Show Some Boxing Love!

We don't get the privilege to help other letterboxers in need that often here on this blog. Please take a moment from our recreation to help Sherry & Lee from PA. This email came to us this morning from Jan of Team Little Dog.

Last summer, a new boxing couple joined the southeastern Pennsylvania boxing community. Their trail name is Dogs with Wings and, Sherry, the carving half of the team, and I got to know each other through emails after they found several of my boxes near their home. We have been corresponding for many months and I was fortunate enough to actually meet the team in person on one of my ventures to Hibernia Park in Chester County, PA. She loves letterboxing and has proven to be a really good carver.

Well, Sherry and Lee are having some difficulties right now and I would like to try to help her out. Lee was on his way to work about a month ago when he was struck with a great deal of pain and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. From the Paoli Hospital, where he was diagnosed with an extremely rare and severe case of pancreatitis, he was placed on a ventilator and airlifted to Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia. He sank into a coma and the disease began to attack some of his other organs. He was given a 20% chance of survival at that time.

As if this wasn't enough, there is more to their story. Lee had just started a new job within the last year so his short term disability benefits are very limited. Sherry had worked up until a few months ago, but since she is studying to be a nurse, she quit her job so that she could focus full time on finishing her degree. Sherry has obtained a job at a local hospital but won't begin working till July after graduation. So this means that they now have very limited income. Sherry is spending as much time at Jefferson as she can as well as finishing up her classes and is totally exhausted; both physically and emotionally. The hospital and the school are about two hours drive away from each other which places another burden on her. She talks longingly of being able to walk in the woods with her husband again and of being able to enjoy the simple pleasures of letterboxing. She is totally in love with her husband and is very broken by this terrible illness.

When I spoke to her Sunday night, she gave me some good news. After a month in a coma, Lee has finally regained consciousness and was removed temporarily from the ventilator that has been keeping him alive. The prognosis is much more encouraging now than it was a month ago. The doctors believe that the damage to his lungs could heal itself but his pancreas is severely damaged. They are not sure what to expect from any of the other internal damage. The only thing that they ARE sure of is that recovery is going to take some time.

So this brings me to my plea for help. We are asking for the letterboxing community to give something to this couple in the form of a flat donation or a pledge to any participant in the Road Rally. The pledge would be for each box found during the Rally, either those planted by the Rallymaster or the "distractions" planted by various participating teams. You can obtain information about the Rally at roadrally.blogspot.com which also gives the details of last year's Rally. So far there are seven teams signed up for the race with more expected shortly. The teams are:

Team: Crayola Posse
Driver: RGBisMe (Jim)
Navigator: true indigo (Terri)

Team Eevil Dawg
Driver: Jan of Team Little Dog
Navigator: Lightnin' Bug and Cyclonic07

Team: RedHatBox'rs
Driver: sewsowbizzy
Navigator: Front Seat: Hikers-n-Hounds
Back Seat Passenger Side: MizScarlet
Back Seat Driver's Side: Sheba (maybe)

Team: Team PP & BS
Name of Driver: Pink Panther (Mary)
Name of Navigator: Black Swan (Stan)

Team: Warcat 76
Driver: Cat (Cathy)
Navigator: War (Warren)

Team: Knights of Columbo
Driver: Shelly Shearer
Navigator: Steve

Team: Compressed Air Junkies
Driver: Mike
Navigator: Kara

Team Name: ??
Driver: JuleBee (Julie)
Navigator: ScrappyFrog (Jen)

If you are interested in helping Dogs with Wings, please contact me at janila at dejazzd.com. If you are a participant and would like to collect pledges of your own either inside or outside of the letterboxing community, please do. Our goal is to raise $500 for this couple. I know that we are a generous community and I would like it very much if Dogs with Wings would also find out. Thank you.

How can you read this story without reaching for your wallet to help? We asked the letterboxing community to help Katrina victims by purchasing Atlas Quest premium memberships last year when Ryan was donating 100% of those proceeds for the Katrina Fund. You came out in droves and joined AQ premium.

Now we plead that you help both Sherry & Lee as they struggle along this bump in the trail. We have every confidence that this community will come forward and help. We challenge the letterboxing community to double or triple the $500 goal that Jan has set. Sue & I know that as a community we can do it. We've been involved before where boxers have just amazed us with their generosity and love! Please give.

If not us; then who?

Update: Jan has emailed us her mail address. We can forward it to you if you'd like to mail a check directly to her. Also - don't forget to include an image of your signature stamp for Sherry & Lee!