Dear Friends, I really need your help in the fight against Childhood cancer, this is your chance to help me make a real difference. For the past two years, you may have heard me speak about my son Matthew and his participation in the St. Baldrick’s Foundations fundraising shave. He has taken on the task, starting at the ripe age of 5, of shaving his head and fundraising for children’s cancer research. I am so very proud of him and his huge heart. This year I join him in this fight, I am also shaving my head in what a has become a very personal battle for all of us. It all began when we lived in Highland Park, IL and our friends the Sommers family found out their son, Sammy, had AML. After a very long and brave battle with AML Sammy died in December of 2013 at the age of 8. It was hard for our community to see this family have to be told there was nothing left that could be done for their Sammy. That year matthew proudly shaved his head in honor of Sammy. Last year, our family became close with the Gurevitz family, whose young daughter Mia has a brain tumor.  Although stable for the time being, we have watched her entire family go through the difficulty of childhood cancer. The constant struggles and the unfair daily battles are hard to watch and even harder for them to endure. Last year, Matthew shaved his head for St. Baldrick’s here in Austin. It was a proud moment for him, and now he had two friends to shave for, Mia and Sammy. When we moved down to Austin, we met a remarkable family, the Ettens. We love to spend time with them and their two boys and our kids quickly referred to them as their cousins. Last November, they received the devastating news that their 5 year old son, Ryan, had medulloblastoma. Ryan had emergency surgery to remove his brain tumor, and in the past five months, has had proton radiation therapy, several surgical procedures, and far too many hospital stays. We have watched the family go through the heartaches and pains of their family being stretched to the limit with choices they have to make, and limited options for their boy. It is heartbreaking to watch, and we wish we could do more. When Ryan went through his proton therapy and began to lose his hair, Matthew immediately decided that he wanted to shave his head again for a third time for Ryan, Mia, and Sammy. And I, too, decided that this year I am going to shave my head. For those three amazing children and their families. And for the countless others who also should not have to hear that there is nothing more that can be done for their child, that there isn’t enough research dedicated to children’s cancers. Please, if you can, donate now to my St. Baldrick’s shave. Or donate to Matthew’s shave. April 10th, Matthew and I will sit side by side and shave it all off.  And we will proudly stand next to Ryan and hug him and let him know that he is not alone. Mike’s page: https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/843366/2016 Matthew’s page: https://www.stbaldricks.org/donate/participant/810572/2016 Every dollar counts, so please give what you can and join me and my son to help wipe out Childhood cancer! Thank you so very much, Q