Chicago Fundraiser: Cystic Dreams Fund Inc.

The Cystic Dreams Fund Inc is a 501c(3) organization whose mission is to provide financial assistance to Cystic Fibrosis patients struggling with the financial burden that comes with trying to fight against the currently incurable disease.


For folks that don’t know about the disease, from the National Institute of Health website:

“Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited disease of the mucus and sweat glands. It affects mostly your lungs, pancreas, liver, intestines, sinuses and sex organs. CF causes your mucus to be thick and sticky. The mucus clogs the lungs, causing breathing problems and making it easy for bacteria to grow. This can lead to problems such as repeated lung infections and lung damage. “

My longtime friend, Paul Mooney , suffered from CF his entire life. He constantly battled with doctors over his treatment while battling the disease. Another battle was the chronic one he fought with his finances. Insurance coverage for older CFers can be near impossible to come by and without the financial support of friends and family; Paul would have lost his battle long before he did. In typical Paul fashion, he thought of those that didn’t have a reservoir – even a limited one – of family and friends to enable them to receive the treatment they need. The Fund, established by his family in his memory after his death, intends to help fill this gap for people.

The Fund’s first major fundraiser is going to be held in Chicago, Paul’s adopted home town, on March 27 from 7:30PM to 11:30PM at the Lincoln Tap Room at 3010 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago, IL. In addition to being a gifted writer, Paul wrote and performed songs framed by his experiences (you can purchase his posthumously released album  here) and fabulous musicians, Dorian Taj and For Pilots will be performing the entire album during the benefit. There will be a silent auction as well so if anyone in Chicagoland wants to donate items for the auction, you can contact me or the Fund directly through their website. We’ll take just about anything – and we’d especially take a visit by you to the Lincoln Tap Room. Come enjoy some great music and musicians while supporting a great cause.  Of course you can always contribute directly to the Fund through the website as well.  Thank you for the support and I’ll see you there!

Names

In the midst of mourning the loss of second peer in less than two years - very close friends both - I started thinking about how best to honor their memory. With Paul Benson's passing I vowed to live my life as truly and honestly as I could. The best way to honor his memory was to live the life of an officer and gentleman, though I'm not an officer (and some may argue not a gentleman either). With Paul Mooney's passing this weekend, I was again in retrospective mode and felt that I could be better read in Classics as he was and show the grit and determination he faced while battling cystic fibrosis. Both individuals were very different, but both exhibited traits that are worthy of emulation.


With a young son with asthma and a best friend who just died from cystic fibrosis (and another college friend having passed from the disease many years ago), I have decided that my few charitable dollars going forward will go to - in addition to the horse rescue groups I already support - lung and breathing related charities. There are many worthy organizations that try and stop hunger, try to eradicate cancer and alleviate the suffering of people both here and abroad. These all resonate, but my life has been, and is still, deeply affected by these diseases of the lungs, so that is where my focus will go moving forward.


Looking ahead a bit to my horse future, I know that I would like to breed race horses or at least buy an unnamed yearling or two - or more! There are many interesting and inventive ways to name a racehorse. You can play off the sire and dam like Fizzy Pop (Slew Gin Fizz/Pop Pop B B Gun) or you can name a horse after a family friend (Colonel John) or you can go with a hobby related name (Azeri - an aviation checkpoint). You can even name them after one of your favorite albums like Zenyatta (The Police album Zenyatta Mondatta). The first two horses I get to name: Dr. Benson and Estastisticos. Enjoy, my brothers. May they be champions for you someday.