Weiman Family Fundraiser

I'm writing this post with such a heavy heart. For those of you who don't know, my friend, and fellow DT member, Alicia Weiman, lost her precious 4-year old son, Ethan, on Friday. Ethan has been battling neuroblastoma cancer for 2 years now. If you follow their Caringbridge Journal, you know the trials they have been through and the extraordinary actions Alicia and Dave took to try and beat this horrible disease. Sadly, after a long, painful battle, the good Lord called Ethan home.

Alicia is the first to say that "Heaven gained the greatest little boy ever". Without a doubt. I'm sure Ethan is happily riding his beloved horse, Sonador (who passed away last year right around Christmas time), looking down on his family with loving eyes and a happy heart. Their forever guardian angel ♥

The family is holding a private service for Ethan tomorrow from 4-7 in Illinois. As a DT, we all want to contribute to the family in some way and have discussed several ideas. They requested that in lieu of flowers, plants or concrete statues, they would like to fill the place with balloons or a memorial in Ethan's name. Lauren is all over the balloons order, and we discussed sending a gift card for Schwann's also. After brainstorming the best way to collect donations from the DT who so lovingly wants to contribute, we thought it might be best to use PayPal. I set up a donation button in honor of the Weiman family and have loaded it in my right side bar --->

I'm not sure how to set up a widget like the one they used for the SOA event (to keep track of the total amount contributed to date) without creating the widget myself (html). I could do that, but it would take me a few days to figure out all of the details. Since the service is tomorrow, I would like to start accepting donations as soon as possible so as not to delay our contribution to the family. Therefore, I went with a simple "Donate" button.

The plan is to use the DT contributions to pay for the balloons and the Schwann's gift card, and give the remaining balance (from DT and any other followers who would like to donate) to the family. We figure they can use the money to help pay final expenses, any medical bills they are still paying on, or donate to a charity, etc.

So, if you would like to help in a small or big way, please use the PayPal Donation button in my right sidebar --> I will keep my blog updated with the total amount collected to date...and if I figure out how to create a widget that keeps track for me, I'll add it right away! We will send a list of everyone who donates as well as any comments you would like to pass along, with the money we collect. Please feel free to use the comment box below the PayPal button to share your well-wishes or email me (email address is listed in my "About" page).

Please pray for the Weimans. I can only imagine what they are going through and what they will face in the coming days and weeks. They are an amazing family who have done so much! I hope we can help ease their burden.

If I can steal Alicia's words one more time, I think this is an appropriate closing to this post, "Here's to you COWBOY ETHAN! Hope you're having fun riding your Sonador! GOD BLESS!"