Never tell me the odds.
It's been the "Troop for the Cure" mantra since I
started this blog, a little less than a year ago. It embodies a simple
philosophical perspective that I have held throughout my life. People who know
me understand that I am a realist, that I am logical at first nature and that I
can assess a situation pretty quickly to determine the probable outcome. But
people who are close to me understand that, despite and aside from that trait,
I am also a romantic- that I believe in the power of hope and the human spirit,
and that if I have faith in anything it is in the ability of people to overcome
their circumstances through the power of sheer will, effort, and a little
kindness.
Hope is the foundation of will. It nurtures our spirits. It
dares us to dream and it spurs us on to make impossible things happen. What I
fight for in this world is not victory over death, it is not the salvation of
every man woman and child affected by illness or hardship- it's the war to give
those people a fighting chance. The means to overcome relentless adversaries,
insurmountable obstacles, and impossible odds. This is a war on suffering. We
are the soldiers, and the weapon is hope.
Never tell me the odds.
A situation was brought to my attention through some mutual
friends of a young woman who has fought impossible odds for the last three
years. On the page her sister (a hero) set up for her I learned a lot about her: Nadine
Sfeir was diagnosed with an astrocytoma brain tumor in 2010, and has since
undergone numerous forms of chemotherapy and two brain surgeries to no avail. Nadine,
who had hoped to attend school to become an international human rights attorney,
instead faces one final option for treatment to her life-threatening illness:
an exploratory treatment called Novacure and a vaccine treatment only offered abroad.
Due to the experimental nature of these procedures Nadine's insurance company
has denied her appeal to cover the treatments and the family is left with a
staggering $150,000 in medical expenses standing between them and their
daughter's last chance.
Many factors have stood in Nadine's path to recovery, but it
seems cruel that in the end her limiting factor should be financial. I've never
met Nadine Sfeir. I've never heard her voice, or had a correspondence with her.
But I believe she deserves the chance to fight for her life.
Now is a time for action.
Operation: Force of Hope is an ambitious effort. With some
guidance and assistance from some legendary heroes from the 501st legion I have
formulated a multi-front campaign to help Nadine in her battle. The key element
to this battle is you, and I need your help.
In the 501st we celebrate and commemorate events with
patches. These patches are worn as a badge of honor showing where troopers are
from, their squad affiliations, events and charities they have supported, and
more.
I have designed a Troop for the Cure patch, to
be made available to anyone who would like to make a donation to Nadine's Cause
(not just legion members). The Troop for the Cure design means many things to me. The Helmet and Cog are representative of my ties to The 501st legion, and the red ribbon is the symbol for blood born diseases (including multiple myeloma, my fathers cancer). These patches will be sold for $26, and all proceeds
from the patch sales will go directly to Nadine to pay for the medical expenses
of her treatments. The patches will be advanced ordered and then put into
production once enough funds have been raised to cover the cost (Minus whatever
I can scrape together to front costs myself).
From there I need your help- not only in the form of
donation, but in the form of promotion. The "ambitious" part of this mission
of course is the incredible amount of money that is required for the treatment--
if we sold 2,000 patches we would only raise $50,000 for Nadine's cause (1/3 of
what she needs). What is encouraging is that Nadine's fund has already reached
over $17,000 dollars in the short time her page has been up, and is steadily
growing day by day.
In this magical age of the internet I am confident that we
can make Nadine's fight viral and we can sell 2,000 or more of these patches. By doing so, it is my hope that we can give Nadine the boost she needs to make her last stand against cancer.
So share. Spread the word and the link and Nadine's story- with your family,
friends, strangers- and make a difference.
This story is important to me for many reasons. Because I
have a family member who is fighting cancer. Because I know what it's like to
feel helpless. Because I have been Nadine's sister. Because every person
deserves to fight. I have been witness to the miracle of the human spirit, to
the giving nature of mankind, and the power of will. I have seen the power of
the 501st Legion, I have seen the strength in my friends and family, and I have
seen the impossible achieved.
In the war against suffering, we are the soldiers. The weapon
is hope.
No surrender.
No retreat.
Never tell me the odds.
-TK-66613
501st Legion
Makaze Squad
First Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment
501st members!! can see the legion order thread here:
http://www.501st.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=77726
http://www.501st.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=77726
Read Nadine's Story here:
Please Share her page!
Patches are currently IN STOCK and will ship weekly as orders arrive. At this time patches have raised over $1,000 to help Nadine. Please help us continue to spread the word!
***UPDATE***
By popular demand we are doing a run of Troop for the Cure t-shirts and bumper stickers that were available at Star Wars Weekends. You can visit the thread here to view and purchase them:
If you are not a Legion Member, you can order them at my webstore,
At this time Shirts are PRE-ORDER only, and will be printed once enough have been ordered to print the run (between 50 and 100). Please be patient as these take time to print!
We also posted our first donation to Nadine's fundraiser this week, in the amount of $1,000!
It is my sad duty to report that Nadine Sfeir passed away this past thanksgiving. To read more about Nadine please see my updated post http://troopforthecure.blogspot.com/2013/12/operation-force-of-hope-mission-complete.html. The patches are still available to purchase and the funds that have not already been attributed to Nadine's cause are being deferred to a cause of a similar nature I hope to announce soon. Thanks to anyone who has donated or supported this mission.
