Beef, Beer, and More Updated 2/18/10

From now on, any information regarding the Beef, Beer, and More Fundraiser for Dustin, please check this link. Rather than post new pages with more and more updates, it'll be easier just to edit this one.

So as information comes along, it will be posted here. We'll keep you updated on raffle items, menu, and any other happenings as they come along.

TICKETS

*** FOR NOW TICKETS ARE ALL SOLD OUT****

We may have more opened up later on. If not, don't worry, this is the first of many events. There are still other ways to support Dustin, without coming to this event. No one will be able to make every event, so don't stress of feel bad you missed out on this one.

PAYMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY MARCH 15th. IF PAYMENT HAS NOT BEEN RECEIVED, WE WILL RESELL YOUR TICKET.

PLEASE CONTACT THE FOLLOWING ABOUT PAYMENTS

Aaron Thompson - rage1684@netzero.com. 484 459 5022.

Steve Justin - xstevejustinx@gmail.com 484 889 6020



We would prefer people that are mailing in there payments send in a check versus cash.

These payments can be mailed to:

Steve Justin
820 Cottonwood Drive
Malvern, Pa.
19355

Checks can be made out to Friends of Dustin J Myers

*Please attach a note with the check just stating how many tickets, for who, etc.*

***DO NOT ASSUME YOU WILL GET IN. We can't stress enough that we don't want to be shut down because we violated a fire code. If you haven't bought a ticket, you will not be able to attend.***


Check back often, for more information.

RAFFLE ITEMS!!!!

This list will keep growing as everything is confirmed, and actually in our possession. For everyone that I have spoken to about the Raffle/Silent Auction, if you haven't sent your items, please do so asap! We would like to have a nice description sheet for each one written up before the event.


- Autographed copy of Merrill Reese's book
- Autographed picture of Merrill Reese
- A copy of Merrill's greatest play calls
- $100 spa gift certificate
- Autographed picture of Brad Lidge
- much more...

Update on fundraising, and Dustin

If you are new to the blog, and would like to know more about Dustin's situation, please click.

Things are moving along, slowly, but surely for the Beef, Beer, and More Fundraiser.

We have a bunch of request letters out to different organizations. Getting food, drinks, supplies, raffle items, etc.

Tickets are going on sale February 1st. We will have a Paypal account set up if you wish to purchase them online. Or you can buy them in person from people yet to be determined.
Once again, $30 advanced, and $40 at the door.

For everyone that has been kind enough to offer items for the raffle/silent auction. As soon as you have these gifts confirmed, please contact me at xstevejustinx@gmail.com to arrange delivery. We can't advertise that we will be auctioning off items, until we know for sure we have them.

... And for everyone that has been kind enough to e-mail me asking for any job whatsoever, well soon enough, I will have something for you. I know we will need a crew of about 10 people to help clean up after the Beef, Beer, and More. This will include, mopping the floors, cleaning the bathroom, picking up trash, etc. Not the most glamorous job, but is still needed, and will still be a help. So if you are looking for any way to contribute, here is one.

Finally, the easiest way to help. Simply copy and paste the link to the blog, and send it out to friends, or people that you may think can help in any way, or that would like to follow an amazing dude's story. Everyone on Facebook, especially people that frequently update their statuses. In the time it takes to write about the Eagles, Phillies, or what you are doing over the weekend, you could post this link.

The more people that read this blog and repost it, the better chance that we can all find a way to help the Myers, and most importantly, keep up with Dustin.


...That being said, sooner than later, Dustin will be fitted with a snazzy new wheelchair, and a mobile bypap. Meaning he will be out and about, living the good life. We have some really cool stuff in the works, that I'm sure everyone will want to stay up on.


If you haven't read the letter from the Myers', please check it out by clicking here.

Adding onto that letter, here are two items that the money we raise will go towards.

- A rolling, highback, tilting shower chair

- a Stair Platform Lift



That's it for now. Keep checking back.

Steve

Other ALS patients

I was sent these by a friend that works with the ALS Hope Foundation. They are two different trailers for movies that were made by patients with ALS. Some of the images may scare you at first, but both videos offer a lot of inspiration.

Dustin has long since had a passion for film. He often would edit smaller videos, and was pretty good at it too. Projects like these always interested him. I can't provide much more information on where to find the movies. But nonetheless here are the trailers.

...And, if you recognize the band in the first one, my hat goes off to you.

Terminally Chillin' / Movie trailer 01 from dustin hostetler on Vimeo.

Indestructible Trailer

Indestructible | MySpace Video

A Letter From the Myer's Family

Mandy Myers wanted to share this with the blog. It's truly amazing how many people are coming together for this. I get e-mails everyday from people that Dustin went to school with, church with, or people that are friends with friends of Dustin. Even people that don't know Dustin, but have heard his story and want to help.

It's great how many resources we have. Please read the below letter, and see how you may be able to help. Even if you can't, you may know someone who knows someone who can. We've all been blessed in different ways. One way or another, we should all be able to help give Dustin the quality of life that he desires, and more importantly deserves.

We want to express our gratitude to everyone who has shown support for Dustin and our family during this difficult time. Looking at all the cards, gifts, visitors, phone calls, emails, and facebook messages have made the simple words of thank you seem to fall short of how we truly feel. We will never be able to repay the amount of kindness and help that we have received in the last few weeks.

Many people have asked what our needs are. As a family we thought about it and have some more specific ways people could help. We in no way expect people to supply us with all of these things, but with so many offers, this is what we came up with.

Paper towels

Hand Sanitizer

Hand Soap

Non Toxic Cleaning Supplies

Sun & Earth or Green Works

Toilet Paper

Cottonelle wipes

Tissues

Straws

Latex Gloves

Ensure (Dustin has a few preferred flavors)

Milk Chocolate

Vanilla

Strawberry

Wawa Iced Tea or Juice

Gift Cards

CVS, Giant, Wawa

Cleaning Volunteers for general household cleaning

Also, there will be a list of some personal needs of Dustin’s at the house (manicure, shaving, etc)

We are not asking anyone to do anything that they are not comfortable with. However, any and all help is greatly appreciated. Also, if people have ideas of other ways they would like to help just let us know.

Thank you again.

Sincerely,

The Myers Family

P.S. Dustin will not refuse any offers for Swedish Massages

Mandy Myers - AMyers1179@aim.com

Contact Info

If you would like to know about Dustin's situation, please click here


For everyone that has e-mailed me, and I haven't responded, it most likely went to my spam folder. So, if you e-mail me and I don't respond here is my cell phone number (484) 889-6020.

Mark Your Calendars

Saturday, April 10th. West Chester Helicopter Museum*

We have officially set a date, and have a venue for Dustin's Beef and Beer.

Consider this plenty of notice, so no excuses for not making it out to this!

Tickets will be on sale February 1st. They will be available online, or through a few different people.

The cost will be $30 advanced, and $40 at the door. This event will be All Ages, we want people young and old to come out. 21 with ID to drink.

There will be a limited about of tickets, so make sure you get one ASAP.

More info to come soon, keep checking the blog.

If you have e-mailed me wanting to help, and I haven't gotten back to you, don't be offended. I assure you we will try to find a job for everyone. And, if not, coming out to the Beef and Beer is more than enough!


*It really is a cool place!

Video Update From Dustin

If you want to know about Dustin's Situation, please click.


So, we are getting a little more high-tech over here. Instead of typing out what Dustin wants to say, we have a video update from him.

Don't let the mask throw you off, it is strictly a comfort thing, not for ventilation. This new unit he is using doesn't cover his mouth, and allows him to speak without yelling. So, here he is...






Yes, I'm aware the video is on here twice. Some people can only view this in certain formats, so hopefully one or another works for you.


*I uploaded the video again, if it says unavailable when you try and play it, let me know. Apparently its an issues on Blogspot's end.

We're Still Here..

Want to know about Dustin's Situation...click here

Just an update since I haven't posted anything lately. We are still moving, and working on the fundraiser. We even have some ideas for events later on in the summer as well. Hopefully tomorrow, there will be a video update from Dustin, letting everyone know how he's doing.

Also, I'm going to try and link the Dustin's Situation page to every post, just in case this is your first time reading this, and would like to know how we got to where we are.

For now, I would just like to thank everyone that has sent me (Steve) e-mails of encouragement about what we are doing. I'm glad that this blog can be a tool to help people stay update on Dustin and different fundraising activities.

If I haven't responded to any of your e-mails, I apologize. I receive a good amount throughout the day, and sometimes they just slip my mind.

We will have a Trust Fund set up very soon in Dustin's name where all donations can be made. We will also have this linked up to a Paypal account, so that online donations can be made, as well as online ticket ordering, and similar activities.

The Beef and Beer Fundraiser, which seems like it's turning into something much larger, so no worries for all the vegetarian's and under-ager's, will be announced very shortly. So please keep the first two weekends open in April, that's when we are shooting for.

Check back tomorrow at some time, hopefully we will have an update from Dustin.

How far a dollar goes...

For those curious as to just what raising money for an ALS patient can do for them, this is just a sample, that I was given from the ALSA.

$25 Personal pager
$40 Two hours of in-home care (dressing, bathing, etc)
$60 Door chime to call for help
$150 One resource (support) group session
$225 Van transportation to and from our clinic or a social event
$350 One visit to our ALSA-certified Clinic at Pennsylvania Hosptial or Hershey Medical Center
$550 Lightweight wheelchair
$1,300 A "Link" communication device
$4,000 Lightwriter(R) communication device

Flyers, and other info

Hey, just like this blog.. Spread this flyer around, and send it to anyone whom you think may interested. Soon enough we will have more flyers for other events, and dare I say t-shirts?

Also, any other fundraising ideas you may have, or be working on. Lets be smart about them!!!

Obviously we want the support for Dustin to be ongoing, and not just die out after a month or so. So lets try and spread out our ways of support and work together to help out Dustin.

And of course, if you have something you are thinking about, let me know and we will throw it up here on the blog. We just don't want to "flood the market" with Dustin Dustin Dustin, only to have such an awesome cause become last weeks news.

Any questions regarding the beef and beer, Dustin's contact info, anything really, check the other posts, it may have already been entered.

As always, my e-mail is XSTEVEJUSTINX@GMAIL.COM, i'll try to get back to you asap.

The one thing about Dustin being such a great guy, is that there are tons of people that want to help, so please bear with me!

We're really hoping to have a lot more info for everyone within the week, as well as specific people you can contact about Dustin, fundraising, and whatnot.

Keep the letters coming!

So yea, I don't do blogs professionally, and my camera battery was dying.

But here is the gist what his walls looked like a few days ago. So please lets keep filling these up.






Dustin Myers
108 Church Rd
Malvern, Pa

An update on/from Dustin

I apologize for not putting this up last night, but we ordered cheesesteaks and I went into a food coma shortly after.




Apart from eating greasy food, I did ask Dustin if there was anything that he wanted up on the blog. So here is a bit of what he is up to...

Dustin still is working part time from home. C Media has been amazing in that regard.


He's enjoying getting to spend lots of time with his family every day.

Still in good spirits, appreciates everyone's cards, letters, and books.

He's getting to catch up on a lot of TV. Flying through his Netflix queue. He's watching the (no joke) Harry Potter movies, and about to start watching The Wire. He feels the need to answer out loud when he watches Jeopardy, and is still watching the Flyers and Eagles.

He wears his breathing mask a lot. However, he wants to stress this to everyone reading. He is NOT on a ventilator or anything like that, the mask just makes things a lot more comfortable for him.

He's still on Facebook a lot, and text messaging. May be slow to respond every now and again, but keep bothering him. Eventually he'll get back to you. And if he can't, he will have someone type or whatever for him. So on that note, you may want to keep your messages somewhat PG rated. Just until you know its him.

Dustin is open to visitors anytime. Just let him know. Tomorrow, (january 7th) Dustin will be at the ALS clinic at UPENN all day, but other than that, he should be good to go.

And just so no one thinks Dustin has lost his sense of humor, without being crass. I will say that he is in good enough spirits to make jokes about hot girls coming to visit.

And just one more thing to leave you with...

Just a few minutes ago I was typing for him on Facebook, someone asked him how he was doing. And those who know Dustin and his sense of humor well will appreciate this... "I'm doing fine...apart from having ALS, ***hole"

He still knows how to make ya laugh.

Welp, We have the beer part covered...

Thanks in part to Judd Brunda from Victory Brewing company, we have a few kegs of beer donated. And possibly gift certificates to the restaurant, and maybe a case or two of beer to be raffled off as well.



Things are slowly starting to take place in just a short amount of time. We really hope to have a date and location locked down by the end of the week. Right now we are just balancing out what will hold the most amount of people, as well as be the most cost effective.

But for now, just keep your calendars open for the end of March and beginning of April. As information comes, it will be posted on here.

Also, the tattoo raffle has been updated. So check that out.

Get tattooed for Dustin

Keith Reed, from Xtreme Ink Tattoo in West Chester will be having a raffle to raise money for Dustin. He will be raffling off a $250 dollar tattoo, at the tattoo shop.



This is separate from the Beef and Beer raffles we will be having, and will be running for a longer period of time.

If you are interested in this, please stop by the shop and ask for more details. I am pretty sure that tickets for this raffle will be around $25. So here's your chance to get tattooed on the cheap, and help out a friend.

UPDATE

Keith's raffle will be going on from now until February 28th, the winner will be announced March 1st. So stop by the shop, or find Keith Reed on Facebook and buy a few tickets.

The shop's telephone number is 610 - 738 - 7666

More Beef and Beer info

So this page has not even been up for 24 hours, and tons of people are already e-mailing offering to help.

As of right now, the best thing to do is just brainstorm. Think of who you know, what may help, etc. If you have an idea or a contact that may be useful. Please contact any of the following:

Steve Justin -xstevejustinx@gmail.com
Aaron Thompson - rage1684@netzero.com
Berry Woodrow - woodrow.berry@gmail.com

It's awesome how many people want to help, but at the same time this can become somewhat of a problem. We would like to have this benefit be as successful as possible, and do not want it to become chaos.

So if you have anything that is a good idea, or resource, PLEASE CONTACT US FIRST! We just don't want to have the same place get 20 different e-mails from different people, and either turn them off, or confuse them.

Kind of like that saying "too many chefs in the kitchen"... we appreciate everyones help, just dont want people jumping the gun, and rushing into something.

Please keep reposting this blog wherever you can, and spreading the word to anyone that you think would want to come.



On a much more lighthearted note. Everyone that has been e-mailing me, or asking me why the blog's web address is what it is. It's a reference to one of Dustin's favorite TV shows, Seinfeld.

What Can You Do

So obviously, we are not doctors. We can't find some magical cure for ALS.

However, that does not mean that we are hopeless.

1. Visit Dustin. As stated in the earlier post, Dustin's mind is still 100% functional, and he is still the same person he has always been. This is by far the best way to help Dustin, since physically it is a bit difficult for him to come see you, go see him, hang with him, eat his mom's cooking.
2. If you can't make it out to see him, send him a letter, he already has a pretty awesome collection going around the TV. I'll try to get a picture up sooner than later, it's pretty amazing to see the outpouring of love just in the last few weeks. DUSTIN MYERS 108 CHURCH RD. MALVERN, PA. 19355

BEEF AND BEER!

Basically, the biggest fundraiser that is in the works for Dustin and his family right now is a Beef and Beer. We are trying to have this be as big as possible, and get as many people out as we can. In the 4 days that this has been going on for, we have been blessed to have people offer to donate their services and resources for this event.

Right now, since this is in the very early stages of development, we are just getting a list of needs together.

This is tentatively scheduled for late March, or early April. We hope to have an official date posted by the end of the week. So please check back often.

Once we have the venue date secured, we will beginning doing the same with food and beverage distributors, as well as local organizations that will want to help as well.

Another way we plan to raise money at this event, is to have various raffles/silent auctions as well.

We would even like to reach out to the Phillies, Flyers, Eagles, and Sixers as well as Philadelphia media just to see if they would be interested in helping someone who has been a fan of theirs for a long time.

We hope to have a Paypal account set up in the near future, for people who wish to donate, but cannot make it to the Beef and Beer.


Please do not think that this is the be-all, end-all for fundraisers for Dustin. This is hopefully one of many, and will help to make life easier for Dustin, and curb any expenses that the Myers may be looking at in the near future.

So, if you, or anyone you may know, would be willing to donate, either tickets to sporting events, autographed merchandise, gift certificates, services, pretty much anything that can be raffled off, please don't hesitate to contact me.

This also goes for anyone that knows someone in any sort of food/beverage distribution. And, hey, if you know of any sort of fire-hall, banquet hall, hotel, or VFW that cant fit 200+ people, please, let us know.

Obviously, the point of all of this is to raise money for Dustin and his family, meaning, lets try to get everything we can for FREE.

Please contact me at xstevejustinx@gmail.com if you would like to get involved, have any resources, ideas, questions, contacts, etc.

Dustin's Situation

The purpose and intent of this blog is to hopefully provide information for those that do not have it, as well as a means to help connect people that may have resources that can help Dustin and the entire Myers family.




Without giving out too much personal information of Dustin's, I will try to give the bare essentials as to how we got here to begin with.

Dustin has always excelled in athletics. Whether he was playing baseball and football in high school, or pick-up basketball, ultimate frisbee, mini-golf, and flag-football later on. Dustin has generally always been one of the best, and without question the most competitive.

A little over one year ago, however Dustin started experiencing weakness in his left arm. After many trips to different doctors, the arm never regained any strength. Throughout the next year, Dustin went about life pretty much as normal as possible. Driving, typing, mini-golf, even tying a tie.

Unless Dustin told you about what was going on with his arm, you wouldn't have had any idea. He was beyond good at hiding any sort of impairment he might have had.

Dustin began an IV treatment on his arm that, if it went well, would restore the strength back into his arm. The treatment was not guaranteed to work, but was obviously something worth trying.

Shortly after the treatment Dustin began experiencing shortness of breath, as well as some weakness in his back, as well as leg. One of the side effects of the treatment was exhaustion, so that is all we figured it was. Dustin probably should have been wearing a sling around his right arm, so we figured that was what was starting to cause the weakness in his back.

Dustin even went to the doctor's and found out he had bronchitis, so once again, we figured that's where the shortness of breath was coming from. A few days later, Dustin was having trouble breathing, so erring on the side of caution, he spent two days in the hospital.

When he came back, Dustin was rejuvenated, was no longer as tired as he had been, and not struggling for breath anymore. He was still experiencing the weakness in his muscles, and Dustin had two other doctor's appointments.

Within this past month, Dustin was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease is a progressive motor neuron disease that is caused by the degeneration of nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement. Generally the youngest people age people are diagnosed with ALS is in their mid 30's. Dustin is 26.

Please visit www.alsa.org for more information concerning ALS.


Throughout this entire time, Dustin has remained incredibly positive. When ALS was even brought up as a possibility, Dustin truly had an optimistic view of the whole situation. At first, Dustin would say things like "I can live my life with one arm, things could be worse". Then throughout the treatment, it was "when i get better, i'll get back to kicking your ass at football". Even after the diagnosis, Dustin still is optimistic, and positive. He is constantly talking about beating this, and still, that things could be worse. He keeps stating how blessed he feels to have the family that he does, the friends, his faith.

Being around the kid, truly makes you feel great that you know him. Facing everything that he is facing, he still continues to inspire those around him, and be the same guy that everyone has come to know and love.

The only positive thing about ALS, is that it does not effect the mind. Dustin is still the same guy. He is still a witty, humorous, and sarcastic guy. He will still listen to your problems, and give you advice. He'll even still get on your nerves and make you mad. The only thing that has really changed is what he is limited to do physically.

The strength that he has lost in his muscles, has not been lost in his heart and mind by any means. He plans on fighting ALS with everything he has, and will need all the support he can get.