how Eddie's Fund began

April 2007. Orilus was nearing the end of his nearly year-long post-bone marrow transplant recovery. We were "doing school" (as he liked to say) at the dining room table again. And he got talking about Eddie, and about how maybe he could sell cookies (he'd taken up cookie baking as a hobby that year, isolated as he was at home for so many months) to give money to Eddie. Orilus knew I had been out of work all that year, and was putting it all together...that the longer Eddie stayed sick, the longer his mom, Kori, wouldn't be able to work, either, given the frequent trips in and out of Boston for Eddie and the isolation requirements of his immuno-suppressed state. Orilus knew I was going back to work the next month and that Kori wasn't. He also knew that the non-profit that had helped both of our families with bills that year was unable to help Eddie's family any longer. "Mum," he said, "what's Eddie's family going to DO?" I didn't really have an answer for him. "Well, Mum," he said, "we have to do something. If all the people we know gave a little bit of money, maybe Eddie would be okay."

And that's how it started. Orilus decided then and there he wanted to write a letter (some of you may remember it, color-copied and in his own handwriting and mailed to your home) and I was suddenly scrambling to figure out how do you DO this thing, start a bank fund for someone else? I figured it out, gave Orilus some address labels and some envelopes, and he folded, sealed and labeled over 100 requests for donations to the newly-created "Eddie's Fund."

The Fund began by paying the family's monthly car payment, a payment for which the Fund is still entirely responsible each month, and pays directly to the lender. Over the years, the Fund has also helped with other bills on an as-needed basis. Each year, we hope that the Fund will be in its last year--probably no one hopes this as much as Eddie's mom, Kori, who longs to get back to a typical life with a good-paying job--and each year, Eddie continues to struggle in his recovery. Sometimes, the Fund has struggled, too, but always, it's kept on, and kept up with the family's needs. Through fundraisers--a yard sale, an Eat for Eddie night out, an auction, a birthday drive--and through donations (some monthly, others one-time), Eddie's Fund continues to love on Eddie and his family, and to share the hope that this season of their life will pass, and healing will come.