The Big Lame Cancer Giveaway! (We’re not all poops and giggles around here….)

Most of my posts are amusing. Sometimes a little more than that. I like the light hearted self deprecating humor that I’ve developed from my blogging.  It’s my blogging personality, and people either like it or hate it, but in the end it’s me.  Another part of me is fairly serious too.  I want to contribute to the world, make a difference, feel a sense of worth by giving something.  All of that said, along with the disclaimer of a serious note, I’ve got the following post.

Last year, my wife’s uncle Tony died. He had cancer. He was a favorite in the family. He was laid back, funny, and loved him some ice cream. He was from Ukraine, had a fantastic accent, and sounded like and old time Russian gangster. We called him Tony the Tuna. As long as I’ve known him, he would often sit and long for an ice cream truck that he could bring happiness to others. We all knew he just wanted a truck that he could transport his own ice cream from place to place without compromising the cool treat in the heat.  Tony was proud to be an American, loved this country, loved his family and was all in all a pretty fantastic person.  I married into this family, and Megan’s entire family, including the extended family like Uncle Tony, have shown me the kind of love that I cherish. I am a fan of Uncle Tony.

June 26, 2008 Uncle Tony, a good man, died of cancer. Tony had Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer, a rare, aggressive and untreatable cancer. He fought hard, but ultimately the cancer took over his body. Tony He left his wife and four kids and a number of grandkids. To make matters worse, one of Uncle Tony’s daughter-in-law had cancer as well as their daughter, who still fights Leukemia.  This family is being hit hard on all sides.

What more can you say? Cancer sucks. I mean, that’s a lame statement for what it truly is. Cancer affects 1 in 3 people. 1 in 3? That is insane! Megan’s father died when she was 14 as a result of Melanoma Skin Cancer. This happened way before we met, but I can honestly say that it has affected her life, and by extension, has affected mine as well. There was about a year that my daughter would cry daily saying ‘I miss grandpa’.  That statement truly tore my wife apart.  He wasn’t there when Megan and I got married to give her the Daddy/Daughter dance and there have been some pretty upsetting moments in our marriage without her father here.  It’s upsetting to me as well, even standing in a position where I wasn’t privileged to meet Megan’s father.

I digress.

I’ve always been a supporter of cancer research. It’s one of those things that affects everyone in one way or another. It’s affected my family. It’s affected many of my friends. I’ve done a mini-event or two, and raised a small amount of money for organizations associated with cancer research. This has tapered off with the amount of money our household is currently rolling with. We are in no position to drop any amount of cash on one of these things. I hate that.

So it dawned on me that I may have a resource. On August 21-22 the LIVESTRONG Challenge takes place in the Philadelphia suburb of Blue Bell on the Montgomery County Community College Campus.  LIVESTRONG has a couple of these ‘challenges’ that are meant to raise money, be a healing like process and ultimately a culture surrounding the raising of money to Cancer research. For 3 years I’ve wanted to do this event. I want this year to be the year. My wife and much of her family have committed to come up for this Cancer Culture event and support me doing a 100 mile bike ride. The cost is $50 to enter, and then $250 to donate. I’d like to donate more. I’d like to rely on my friends, followers and readers to help me raise more than the $250.  The link to the challenge is http://www.livestrong.org/Take-Action/Team-LIVESTRONG-Events/LIVESTRONG-Challenge-Series/LIVESTRONG-Challenge-Philly

I’m not one to ask for money without some kind of return, so here’s the deal. For each $5* donated, that will equal an entry to win a 12”x24” original painting. The painting will be multiple colors (as opposed to a single color) of your choosing. If your familiar with Modern Bird Studios, than you know that a multicolored piece is unique. I’ve created some for my personal work, and have one for a client in the works right now. Other than that, I’ve not done many of these (actually, only 1) commercially. It’s unique. That said, you can submit a photo if you’re the winner, or I can create something original. It’s your choice. If there are an enormous number of contributions, I will add another painting to the pot. My art is all I have to give for this, and I want to contribute to this great cause and make a difference.  The ‘donate’ button is below. Also, the thumbnails below are the multicolored pieces I’ve done thus far.  I guess this ‘giveaway’ isn’t that LAME. This Donation/Giveaway ends on August 18, 2010.

It is my goal to ride 100 miles. If I ride at 20 miles per hour, it will take me 5 hours to complete.  The suffering that ultimately happens on the bike will only make up a small fraction of the pain and suffering that happens to the millions affected by cancer.  I’m more than willing to do it.  I will be riding 100 miles in behalf of Tony Lutarewych and Rostislaw Prymak, both are beloved, and lost to Cancer.

This Donation/Giveaway ends on August 18, 2010.

*Please note: any increments lower than $5 will not count as an entry!
**Please excuse the GIANT button. We’re just larger than life…and apparently so are our buttons.
***Please put your name in the notes section of Paypal with your donation!