It’s Giving Tuesday, and we hope you will choose Team Summer to support this year! We are right in the middle of our Annual Matching Challenge, which means that every contribution will be matched dollar for dollar up to $20,000! So, this is a GREAT time for you to make a tax-deductible* donation to Team Summer! As of now, we are a little over 1/3 of the way to our goal. Can you help get us all the way there?
We raise money to help kids with cancer…kids like Colton.
Colton is 21 years old and has been fighting cancer since he was nine, if you can imagine that. That is a 12-year cancer battle…and counting.
It all started in 2012 with a swollen ankle after Colton played football. One test led to another until the cause was uncovered. It was bone cancer.
That turned into a month-long stay in the hospital because of very serious reactions Colton had to the chemotherapy. At one point, he even had to be put in a medically-induced coma for 10 days. When he woke up in the ICU, it was his 10th birthday.
After that, he was in remission for three and a half years, getting scans every few months to make sure the cancer had not returned. But it did. In the same ankle. At that point, doctors had no choice but to amputate below his knee. He was 13 years old.
Since then, his cancer has come back and spread, including into his spine…which led to a major spinal surgery. And still, he keeps fighting.
Colton met Team Summer kid Dre at a camp for kids with cancer. Remember Dre? He’s the one who recently got tickets to a Falcons game at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta!
Even though Colton is seven years older than Dre, they became the best of friends! Colton calls Dre his little brother. So it’s no wonder that Dre nominated Colton to become a Team Summer kid, too! Dre knew that Colton had become fascinated with the guitar and that he had out-grown his starter model. With the help of Colton’s mom and the fabulous Maple Street Guitars in Atlanta, Dre planned a big surprise for Colton!
When the day came, Colton’s mom drove him to the guitar shop without telling him why. Colton was so surprised to find Dre inside waiting for him!
Dre read Colton the Team Summer Welcome Letter….
…and then it was time for Dre to take Colton to his gift. There it was…sitting on a stand in the next room!
It was exactly the guitar Colton had dreamed about – a Martin with a cutaway (that’s the scooped indentation on the neck that lets you reach high notes) and a built-in pickup to connect an amplifier!
When he sat down to play, Colton surprised everyone by asking for a black sharpie. He wanted Dre to sign his new guitar. He said he wanted to be reminded it was a gift from Dre every time he picked it up!
And when Colton DID play his new guitar, he was so excited by how beautiful it sounded!
And part of Dre’s gift to Colton was a year’s worth of online guitar lessons. That should keep Colton busy! Way to go, Dre! Great job!
These gifts are made possible by your generosity. Remember, if you donate to Team Summer today, your gift will be matched 100%! Please help us help kids with cancer!
Much love,
Lynne Dale
President
Team Summer
This is the remarkable group of Team Summer supporters whose generosity created our Matching Challenge Fund. I am grateful beyond words!
Gold Level Donors
Cathi and Chad Morriss
Individual Donors
Jennifer Barnes
Holly and George Batchelor
Elizabeth and Frank Blake
Tracy Carusi
Jan and Avery DeLong
Melissa Demetrops
Robert and Janet Dobson
Scott Levere
John Loving
Liza and Derrick McSwain
Jeri Moran and Shaun Rawls
Nancy Neufer
Jeff and Betsy Sherry
Corporate Donors
HawkPartners
Specialty Center for Periodontics and Dental Implants
And thank you, David Murray, for the great photographs of this gift! Beautiful job!
*Team Summer, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All contributions are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.
