Please Help Show Your Love for Landers

It’s a story that should scare any one of us. You have a nice holiday season, ring in the New Year, but a week or so later you come down with a cold. And then comes the fever and the cough. On January 20th, you’re finally admitted to the ER because you just can’t seem to shake it. Strangely, though, under the constant supervision of doctors, it only gets worse. To the point where the doctors decide they have no choice but to induce you into a comatose state so that they can try and buy time to figure out what’s wrong. They poke, and prod, and test—and test again—but can't figure out what's wrong with you. So a decision is made to transfer you to one of the nation’s top hospitals, where even more tests are conducted before doctors are finally able to piece together the mystery behind your body's inability to fight back—you’ve contracted a form of lymphatic cancer that has broken down your immune system and caused your body to go into hyperdrive, leading to a prolonged fever and the swelling of your internal organs.

This is the story of Patrick Landers who, among his many roles in life, is a loving husband and devoted father of two beautiful young boys, ages 2 and 5. While we all followed his every update with a helplessly empty feeling inside—and our hearts became heavier yet when we heard the word “cancer”—our playful and charismatic friend has taken the news in stride and showed a remarkable determination to win this battle (it should come as no surprise to hear that instead of feeling sorry for himself and cursing God, he’s decided to crack jokes and sing into a phantom microphone). But while he is busy doing his part to beat this disease, we have an opportunity to step up and do ours.

After 6+ weeks in the ICU, he now faces months of chemotherapy and physical therapy. Patrick is fortunate to be insured, but rest assured there will be bills that insurance won’t cover. And then there will be extended leaves of absence from work. Although it may feel like life has been put on hold, the bills won’t stop coming and the bank won’t stop looking for its monthly mortgage payment. That’s where we come in.

The Landers family is not asking for any financial support. They never would. But as human beings first and friends of the family second, we all want to find a way to help and to be part of something meaningful. Let’s be honest—there is no greater feeling than helping a deserving person in need. You have that opportunity before you right now. Patrick Landers is in the fight of his life and as one might expect, his family is undergoing a tremendous amount of stress. We'd ask that you all chip in and do your small part and try to help alleviate any financial worries the family may have so that they can focus on what really matters—providing Patrick with all of the love and care that he will surely need in the weeks and months ahead.

Please help by donating whatever you can (http://www.giveforward.com/loveforlanders). You may not feel that you can provide any “meaningful” contribution, but it all adds up. Take the money you were going to spend on lattes this week, or that round of beers at happy hour, or the money you would have spent on the tickets that Patrick gave you to that game awhile back—and help a family in its time of need. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.