Last week I'd put something together to help the family of a member that has recently passed away. Rod Anderson was diagnosed with cancer last August, after he wasn't feeling well and went to see a doctor. Immediately after getting the result, he and his family traveled to a contest they already had scheduled. Rod wasn't up to doing as much as he'd like, so his wife and son carried the load. They won their first GC that weekend. Fate, they were due, who knows? For family reasons I canceled my planned trip to the Royal in October. At the last minute things changed and I made the trip to see friends, and contacted Rod to see where he'd be so that I could say hello.
Rod canceled the trip, at the last minute after becoming very tired while trimming his chicken before they left. He had treatment scheduled for the following Monday, and decided that cooking back to back contests probably wasn't a good idea. The thing that amazed me was that he WAS going, had purchased his meat, WAS trimming it up.... That's dedication to BBQ. In the end he made the right call, and he was looking forward to this year.
Rod had a form of cancer that was very aggressive, and so was his treatment. He didn't just spend a morning or afternoon getting chemo. He spent days in the hospital. He'd gripe about the lack of sleep, etc... based on having labs drawn all the time, different drugs administered etc., but that was the end of it.
When I last saw Rod in Kansas City, in mid January, he said he was feeling good and was looking forward to cooking the Royal in October. He sounded good and was very optimistic. It sounded like he'd turned the corner.
As things turned out, he had not. They never were able to get Rod's #'s to where they needed to be to try a different method of treatment. He endured a lot of pain, while they tried and when it became clear that it wasn't going to happen he opted to endure more pain and take radiation to buy time to put things in order for his family.
I shared that, in the hopes that some of you that were never fortunate enough to know Rod might understand what kind of man he was. I think we'd all like to believe that we would have that sort of courage. I hope I do.
While I've been buried at work I've been working on a way to help Rod's family out. He's survived by his wife Dawn, and 14 yr. old son David. I can't tell you in terms of money how great their need is. I know, that no matter what kind of insurance he had, that based on his treatment they will be extensive! I'm 45, and when Rod passed he was 40. I know I'd have left my wife with a mountain of debt, had I passed at that age, after the long fight that Rod put up.
Originally I'd worked out a plan for members to purchase product from other members that have a forum in the Ventures section of this site. To their credit, the members that have those forums were ALL more than willing to contribute and help and some were willing to be more than generous. I came to realize, after talking to several people, that sending a large quantity of product to the fundraiser planned for next weekend would only raise pennies on the dollar. After exploring some options, and communicating with some of the folks handling the fundraiser in Des Moines, I've come up with an option where I believe the contributions will do the most good.
Sara Anderson, is willing to make her Paypal account available to members who would like to contribute to helping Dawn and David Anderson. Instead of a $6 bottle of rub generating $2, the entire $6 will go to the family. Sara has access to the account set up for them, and is handling the silent auction. All funds contributed will be going to someone directly tied to the family and the event to raise funds in Des Moines.
For the PayPal account please contact a moderator. They will have that info available. I will try to work with Sara, and Phil (BBQChef33) to set up a page in the next day or so that will make the process easier. Besides being buried with work, I will be leaving DFW shortly to spend some time with my Mom in San Antonio who is also having some health issues. If anyone has any questions for me personally please feel free to shoot me some email via the forum, if you don't have my personal email already.
Rod canceled the trip, at the last minute after becoming very tired while trimming his chicken before they left. He had treatment scheduled for the following Monday, and decided that cooking back to back contests probably wasn't a good idea. The thing that amazed me was that he WAS going, had purchased his meat, WAS trimming it up.... That's dedication to BBQ. In the end he made the right call, and he was looking forward to this year.
Rod had a form of cancer that was very aggressive, and so was his treatment. He didn't just spend a morning or afternoon getting chemo. He spent days in the hospital. He'd gripe about the lack of sleep, etc... based on having labs drawn all the time, different drugs administered etc., but that was the end of it.
When I last saw Rod in Kansas City, in mid January, he said he was feeling good and was looking forward to cooking the Royal in October. He sounded good and was very optimistic. It sounded like he'd turned the corner.
As things turned out, he had not. They never were able to get Rod's #'s to where they needed to be to try a different method of treatment. He endured a lot of pain, while they tried and when it became clear that it wasn't going to happen he opted to endure more pain and take radiation to buy time to put things in order for his family.
I shared that, in the hopes that some of you that were never fortunate enough to know Rod might understand what kind of man he was. I think we'd all like to believe that we would have that sort of courage. I hope I do.
While I've been buried at work I've been working on a way to help Rod's family out. He's survived by his wife Dawn, and 14 yr. old son David. I can't tell you in terms of money how great their need is. I know, that no matter what kind of insurance he had, that based on his treatment they will be extensive! I'm 45, and when Rod passed he was 40. I know I'd have left my wife with a mountain of debt, had I passed at that age, after the long fight that Rod put up.
Originally I'd worked out a plan for members to purchase product from other members that have a forum in the Ventures section of this site. To their credit, the members that have those forums were ALL more than willing to contribute and help and some were willing to be more than generous. I came to realize, after talking to several people, that sending a large quantity of product to the fundraiser planned for next weekend would only raise pennies on the dollar. After exploring some options, and communicating with some of the folks handling the fundraiser in Des Moines, I've come up with an option where I believe the contributions will do the most good.
Sara Anderson, is willing to make her Paypal account available to members who would like to contribute to helping Dawn and David Anderson. Instead of a $6 bottle of rub generating $2, the entire $6 will go to the family. Sara has access to the account set up for them, and is handling the silent auction. All funds contributed will be going to someone directly tied to the family and the event to raise funds in Des Moines.
For the PayPal account please contact a moderator. They will have that info available. I will try to work with Sara, and Phil (BBQChef33) to set up a page in the next day or so that will make the process easier. Besides being buried with work, I will be leaving DFW shortly to spend some time with my Mom in San Antonio who is also having some health issues. If anyone has any questions for me personally please feel free to shoot me some email via the forum, if you don't have my personal email already.
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