Thanks For a Successful Evening

I want to thank everyone who attended last night's benefit for a truly memorable evening. We raised $500 last night and over $2300 overall!

I received a call this morning from Scott who wanted to again convey his and Amy's heartfelt thanks for everyone's support. One of the things he mentioned was how he and Amy felt very comfortable given the circumstances. That's really a testament to all who attended that were there to simply celebrate life and fellowship with one another...which in the end was the best gift of all to this private, humble family.

Thank you all and Happy Holidays to each of you and your families.

Glasser Family Benefit: Tonight!

Just a reminder to everyone that tonight is the benefit at Pinhead Susan's in Schenectady. We will have great food, great entertainment, great prize giveaways and most important a great time with good people supporting a nice family.

See you all there!

Glasser Family Benefit: This coming Monday

I want to provide everyone with a couple of updates. Due to a great response from the business community we have decided to hold a raffle for all attendees for the items donated by the businesses instead of the silent auction.

Also, we really want a great turnout, help get the word out, please pass this along to anyone you feel would be interested and bring as many friends and relatives along you want!

You can RSVP right here or on Facebook, if all else fails just show up!

Please come...if only for awhile, it should be a great time and a great way to share in fellowship.

Thank You,
Wayne

Hello Everyone,

One last request for donations:

I want to first provide you with an update on the Fund drive. I realize this is a very difficult time of year to ask for donations...especially in this economy. So, I only ask that if you can provide any kind of small contribution by December 21 it will be so helpful to our goal of being able to assist the Glassers in keeping their home and managing the medical expenses for David that are not covered by any insurance.

Glasser Family Benefit:

We have finally been able to secure a location to present Scott & Amy with the collected donations and to have one final fundraiser. Here are the details:


When: Monday, December, 21 5:00pm to 9:00pm

Location: Pinhead Susan's Restaurant
38 Broadway (corner of Liberty st. & Broadway)
Schenectady, NY 12305

Buffet: Hot & Cold Buffet partially donated by Pinhead Susan's

Entertainment: By Gordon St., (Dan Noonan & Ritch Harrigan) provided on a
donated basis. http://www.myspace.com/gordonstmusic

Cost: $12.00 per person

Other: A 50/50 raffle and a raffle of may great gifts donated by local businesses.

RSVP: Right here in the event box to the right or on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/events.php?ref=sb#/event.php?eid=214923543904&index=1


We really need a big turnout for this to work and we're hoping for 30-50 people. Please come and join in on this really nice cause.

If you have any questions please contact: Wayne Colwell at: wcolwell@nycap.rr.com

Fund Drive Update

Hello everyone: First an update on the fund drive. The response has simply been amazing. There have been so many of you that have helped so much in getting the word out by taking the fund site and linking to your own social networks...Facebook, blog sites and just forwarding on the site link through good old fashioned email. Your efforts are working, we have had people from all over the country visit the site.

The donations are coming in, but we need them to keep coming. I know this is a tough time for everyone. It does not matter how much you can give... whatever you can do to help will be very, very, very much appreciated. As I've mentioned before this is in many ways very difficult for Scott and Amy. They are an unassuming, private family that does not like to be in the spotlight in any way. However, the needs they have far outweigh any possibility that we could just sit back and not help.

I also want to mention that we plan to present the Glassers with the collected donations on Monday, Dec.21 at a local area venue, i.e. small restaurant, hall,etc. I am working on getting an establishment to donate their place to us. The plan is to have this be one last fundraising event as well. I would like to ask anyone interested in helping put this together to please email me at: wcolwell@nycap.rr.com or call me at 518-221-3511, the idea is to have it run from 5PM to 9PM. I already have someone that can provide entertainment on a donated basis. As soon as we have the venue known and the details in place we will provide this as well as a request on a headcount of those wishing to attend.

Thanks for all of your support and please email me if you can help plan the event.

Wayne Colwell

Welcome

Thank you for coming here to learn more about this special fundraising event.

Some of you know Scott, Amy or both. What you may not know is that they have many challenges that they are facing, some hopefully short term and some that will last a lifetime. The Glassers are not unique, there are many families that are struggling financially at this time. There are also many families that have children born with special needs. What should never be unique is a commitment to help one another in times of need.

It took a lot to convince Scott and Amy to allow us to help as there was a sense of wanting to keep these challenges to themselves and quietly face them alone. But as we all have endured the single biggest collapse of the economy since the depression and perhaps other trials and tribulations in our own lives, I am hopeful that we have a deeper understanding of what really is important and that we all find many ways to express this. I ask you today to please consider a small donation to the Glasser family, to help them get back on their feet financially, as one expression of caring.

Please don't hesitate to pass this site along to anyone you feel may be interested in donating. Also, please add comments here and/or other ideas or fundraising efforts you may want to do to assist the Glassers. Please feel free to add anything here you wish, this is a site for all to help a really nice family in time of need.

The following is more detail on the Glasser family and the challenges they are facing.

Introduction to the Glasser Family

I’d like to take a little of your time to talk to you about Scott and Amy Glasser and their two children Madelin (Maddie), 8 and David, 6, who reside in Scotia NY. I have known Scott for more than 8 years. Scott worked for me at Colwell & Salmon Communications ( a Marketing Communications company, in Albany NY) in the IS, (Information Services) department.

In July, 2008, in an effort to give his family a better life, Scott decided to chase his dream of owning his own business and started a Web Design & Services company. Although Scott is a very talented, skilled and hard working Web Designer and Web Applications Developer, ( I’m one of his clients) the economic climate quickly deteriorated to a point were it had become very difficult for him to stay afloat…further compounding the issue is Amy’s inability to work due to David being a special needs child. As a result, days away from having their home foreclosed on, they were forced to file bankruptcy. Now, even though they have filed for bankruptcy they still have all the debt and must pay it through a court arranged monthly payment. They can not miss any payments as their bank has made it clear that they will take the house…even though they owe more on it than it’s worth.

Scott, has now taken a job with another Web Design firm but it is part time (the best he can do right now given the economy) and at a reduced hourly rate. He is also continuing to keep his business (and dream) going and works on his clients projects (when he has client work) during the hours he’s not working at the other firm. Scott works a tremendous amount of hours, cobbling together whatever opportunities he can to make money…including helping park cars at a funeral home for extra cash.

Scott and Amy are wonderful people and great parents. In all the years I have known Scott, I have known him to be kind, caring and willing to help anyone at any time with anything. He is a gentle, family man. This is a proud loving family that has endured financial and emotional struggles for several years…this economy has just made them worse. Seeing this and wanting to help in some way I asked Scott and Amy to please consider telling their story to friends and strangers alike in an effort to hopefully provide some financial help during this difficult time. It took a little convincing but Scott and Amy have agreed to share with you more about them, their family and their situation.

-Wayne Colwell

The Glassers

Hi. We are the Glasser Family. Scott, Amy, Madelin, and David. Dad, Mom, sister and brother...sounds like your average American family. Scott owns his own business. Amy is a homemaker. Maddie, age 8, enjoys school, music, playing and reading. David, age 6, loves school, playing with his toys and drums and finding new ways to get into trouble around the house. Thats what people who don't know us see. The real story is that we are not typical.

While we have been blessed with two beautiful children, we have suffered financially and emotionally after the birth of our son. Our little David was born with a rare chromosomal abnormality. It is named an unbalanced translocation of the 8th and 10th chromosome. After he was born David was sent to Albany Medical Center's NICU. While he was there the doctors determined that david has a heart murmur, low oxygen levels, undescended testicles, and other minor annomilies. David was sent home after only 8 days leaving us with many, many questions. Questions like "Why is this happening to us?" and "How does this happen after a normal pregnancy?" Within his first year of life David was diagnosed with his condition. We have learned that he will be physically and mentally disabled for life. In 6 years he has had 7 surgeries. He is non-verbal, and is slowly learing to communicate with simple sign language and picture symbols. David also needs glasses to correct strabismus (lazy eye). He has 8 specialists that he sees regularly. As parents we provide everything we can for our children. David's medical needs are extensive, leaving Amy unable to work outside of our home. In more recent years, David was diagnosed with a seizure disorder, similar to epilesy. He is currently taking 2 prescriptions to control his seizures. Thankfully, David has not had a seizure since the spring. He is also on medication for acid reflux. David has many oral motor issues, and can't tolerate all types of solid foods. When he is healthy, David attends school where he receives physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy and music therapy on a weekly basis. He has a wonderful team of teachers, aids and therapists. While most 6 years old boys have bikes and footballs and cleats, our son has a posterior walker, adaptive stroller, a pediatric helmet and foot/ankle orthotics. David has a high pain threshold and doesn't know when he is doing something that can hurt him. He wears his helmet and orthotics everyday. The braces support his feet and legs while he is standing. We don't imagine that they are comfortable but is just one more thing that David deals with. There is no sign that David will be toilet trained. Changing diapers at this point in our lives in not something we imagined. David requires constant care. His highchair is bolted to the floor because he rocks it to the point that it almost flipped over. We use several safety gates to keep David out of certain areas at home. At the end of the day we thought he was safe in his crib. That was until he starting climbing and falling out of it. We were able to modify his crib temporarily.We pay our health insurance out of pocket and David has Medicaid which is supposed to help with the building medical debt. We have been denied a safe bed, and communication system, and a second walker for our child. Family and friends helped out in building a twin size bed with high walls and a door that latches. It looks like a pirate ship with port holes! As far as communication, we are doing our best to interpret his differents cries and facial expressions. We had arranged our furniture in a way that allows David to walk through the house while holding onto things.

Our saving grace is that David doesn't know that his life is different. Maddie on the other hand is starting to ask questions about David that are difficult to answer. She has witnessed seizures where ambulances were needed. She has been back and forth to grandparents houses when David needed hospitalization. She has missed out on children's parties and after school activities because her brother had doctor appointments. Financially it is very difficult to take part in fun things. We are always trying to plan for the next doctor bill and prescription co-pay. Maddie is starting to notice how her peers treat children with disabilities. Our daughter is a loving caring 8 year old who wants the best for her little brother. While David was receiving home-based therapy and services, she was right there "helping the therapists" and learning sign language. Today she treats David like a typical little brother. He is NOT allowed in her room without permission. They wrestle, fight, and compete for attention.

It's not a typical life, but it's our life.

-Scott and Amy Glasser