Operation: Popsies, Meet Noah

WE DID IT! With the help of people both donating money and other gifts we will easily be able to get Popsies here to meet Noah! Operation: Popsies, Meet Noah is a success!

Thank you all for your help - sorry if some of you wanted to help and couldn't - there are some very generous people that reacted very quickly.

This is very touching. Thank you very much. And I am sure my Dad will be very, very excited at what you have done for him.



Click the button below to donate.

(Don't know what this is about? Read below to find out why this is here!)

Hello!

Zach here,

Let me tell you a story about my father.

The Story

My dad, Scott Hammer (aka Popsies), was diagnosed with cancer about 8 and 1/2 years ago.

Here he is at the Walk of Life Relay in June of this Year in Grover Beach.

At that time the oncologist he and my mom went to see told him that, with some surgeries and procedures, my dad might be able to get another 5 years of life.

At that point, one of the first things my dad said was this - "At least I'll get to see grand children."

So, now we are 8 and 1/2 years later (take that oncologist!) and my wife Heidi has given birth to my parents' first grand child (you may have heard of him - he's awesome - his name is Noah).

My dad is still kicking (I wish he'd stop kicking me! It hurts!), but we have a bit of a problem.

The Problem

The problem has two parts.

The first part is distance: my parents live in California which is about 1,700 miles away from where we are in Columbia, MO. Quite a bit of a distance to drive.

The second part is finances: The distance problem isn't nearly as big a deal today with modern advances in air travel. However, those fancy schamncy aeroplanes cost a pretty penny to sit aboard - a pretty penny that neither us (Heidi and Zach) nor my parents have right now.

Due to some recent job problems, my parents aren't doing as well as they used to financially (don't worry, they'll be fine - they just can't do some of the extra things that they'd want to).

With some bonus miles that my dad earned from past business trip stuff - he was able to send my mom here on a free ticket. But that one ticket is all that they had and all they could afford.

So, to the crux of the matter, I am wanting to enlist the help of anyone who reads this to help accomplish what I am calling  - Operation: "Popsies, Meet Noah."


The Solution -  Operation:  "Popsies, Meet Noah."

Here's how you can help (hint, you don't have to have money - read it all to find out why):

1. Donate Some Cash

Either right below this little blurb or at the top of this page that you are reading - you can donate some cash that will go directly toward getting a plane ticket that will fly from Ontario, California to St. Louis, Missouri.

We have researched prices and figured out that the cost will be about $320.

The donation thing will turn off whenever we reach the amount that we need. We aren't just looking to take in a bunch of cash - we have a specific amount that we need and will stop after that amount is reached.

We also are in a bit of a hurry - we'd like to get him out here as fast as possible while still keeping the costs cheap. The best balance I've found is having him fly out October the 5th - that isn't very far away. If we could get him on that flight while it is still cheap - that would be wonderful. If not - then we'd have to push it back another week... so if you can help quickly, we can get him out here quickly as well.

So, you can help by donating any amount of cash to go toward this ticket fund. $1, $5, $20, or more - any amount will help.

You will be donating using a safe, secure, and trustable method - Paypal. You can be sure that this is a safe way to gift money to someone - PayPal is a very trusted payment handling service.

So, if you can spare any amount of cash and would like to make my dad's day (month, year, life, etc... ad nauseum) - this is an easy way to do so.

Just to explain how readily we should be able to do this if everyone helps a little, here's some simple math:

If everyone skipped one meal at McDonalds and ate PB&J instead - you could give about $5 to this cause. If only 64 people do that, we'd have more than enough to cover the costs. And my guess is that a few people would be able to do even better than that.

I also understand that sometimes, even that much is hard to come by for some people. So there is another way that you can help.

2. Spread the message.

Spreading information and communications has never been easier than it is today. We have tons of methods of passing on information to tons of people.

So, if you would take a sec, and link to this post on Facebook, or Tweet it out on Twitter, or even email it to people you think would care - we can spread this to tons of people in no time. There are little buttons below the body of this page that will let you easily spread this page - just click the icon that fits with what service you want to use.

We aren't trying to change the world - we're just trying to spread some joy. Pass this on or contribute financially if you feel that is a worthwhile cause.

Thanks for your time!

-Zach Hammer

P.S. - My dad was not involved in this by any means - he made no requests and no complaints - and he will probably actually be somewhat upset that I did this. I'm willing to deal with that - I think he'll enjoy meeting his Grandson more than he'll be upset about this ;)