A fabulous evening

Last evening, I attended, and had helped to plan, a fundraiser for a man in our town.  He's a man in his late 50's, and even after his own kids had grown he continued to coach boys in the youth soccer program.  JR is the same age as his nephew, and had the privilege of being coached by this man on more than on occasion.  He is such a super sweet man who teaches Sunday school at his church, and would be the first in line to help anyone who needed it.  Now he is the man in need.  About two months ago he was diagnosed with stage four colon and liver cancer.  Even with treatments, his prognosis is not good.  The doctors are hoping they can get him to the end of the summer.  He's ready to fight though, and really wants to make it long enough to coach another season of soccer.  To make matters even worse, he has a job where health insurance is not offered, and his wife is self employed.  Because his current job comes after months of being laid off, they could not afford individual coverage, and so there is no health insurance.  A couple of friends and I got together and planned a simple fundraiser for last evening.  There was a dinner followed by a raffle.  We had nearly 200 people in attendance, and we were able to help the family greatly.  We know that it's hardly a drop in the bucket compared to their overall mounting medical expenses, but there was more to it than that.  Coach and his wife were there, and they saw all of these people who were handing money to me left and right to help this family.  They were so gracious and thankful beyond words.  There were definitely some tearful moments, but I know that the feeling of community, and the feelings of hope and faith, that I felt last night, will stay with me for a very long time.