Children with cancer should be able to go to Disneyland…

On February 1st, I made a promise to 20 children who have been diagnosed with cancer. I sent 20 promise cards to Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada. I included an extra card for a staff member named Kelly.

Childhood cancer...

CBS Channel 8 Las Vegas heard about the story and reported live from Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation Nevada and interviewed Delilah. Delilah lost her brother Jaxon to cancer in April of 2012…
8 News NOW

Candlelighters organized a speaking event because they wanted me to tell the kids in person that they were going to Disneyland. On March 21st, I flew from Cleveland to Las Vegas to deliver the tickets and get my promise cards back.

20 promises.

On February 28th, a post about my promise to these children made it to the front page of Reddit.com and received over 700,000 page views. So, I didn’t raise enough money for 20 Disneyland tickets…… I raised enough money for 100 tickets. Thank you to everyone who donated!

  • The Reddit.com user community donated over $4,500!
  • University of Nevada Las Vegas Greek Life raised over $1,000 in their “Change Wars” competition!
  • Two corporations made $1,000 donations in exchange for “because I said I would” speaking engagements!
  • Over 50 other donors contributed the rest!

Not enough for 20 tickets...

Most Redditors were very supportive of my efforts, but in the wonderful place we call “the internet” you can find a negative person or two. There was one comment that really got to me…

"NotSoGreatDane"

But he has a point…. I benefit from the love of the Reddit community and all my other supporters…but I WILL NOT have those children and their families believe for one second that my heart isn’t behind Candlelighters and all that they do…

NotSoGreatDane, do you like apples?

And that is why I made a personal cash donation of $2,500 from my own savings account. This final donation allowed us to meet and surpass the 100 ticket amount. I asked that the extra money beyond 100 tickets be used for ice cream, Mickey Mouse hats or whatever else the kids may want.

because I said I would.

Don’t confuse me for some do-gooder millionaire, because I am certainly not one. I was a just a manager at a software company. I say “was” because on March 1st I resigned from that position in order to dedicate more time to “because I said I would.” With that decision came significant financial loss, but there are things more important than money…

DSC00067

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this project. You have made a huge impact on these kids’ lives. I wish you could have seen their gratitude first hand. I am so grateful for all of my supporters and their generosity. It motivates me to keep pushing this movement forward. My heart is in this.

The video below was captured 1 hour before I gave my speech at Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada.