At work yesterday, a coworker of mine asked if I would like to buy a raffle ticket. As I usually buy tickets because it helps defray costs for sporting teams, class trips, etc., I said sure. She then told me "these ones are $10". When I asked what it was for, I was informed that it to help cover costs for a 15-year-old Ohio girl who has cancer. Her father lost his job and her mother's job doesn't provide health insurance so they didn't have money for her treatment. I bought two and would have bought more if I could have afforded it.
I have been unable to get this family out of my mind ever since.
What is wrong with our country that a family who apparently did everything they were supposed to do now have to fundraise in order to get their child the healthcare they need? I remembered when I was about 13 in the mid-70's and there were coffee cans at various neighborhood businesses to raise money for the family of kid named Joey Conroy who had cancer. I remember a group of kids in the neighborhood went door-to-door to raise money. He died later that year and I remember how it affected the kids of the neighborhood. We weren't so innocent anymore. One of us died because he got sick and couldn't AFFORD to get better.
I hadn't thought about Joey Conroy in at least 30 years until I bought those raffle tickets yesterday. It is INSANE that in the freakin' UNITED STATES OF AMERICA that hardworking people have to depend on the kindness of strangers to determine whether or not their sick child gets the treatment needed. 30 freakin' years and there are STILL coffee cans around America raising $ for sick citizens to get HEALTH CARE.
I believe the family has ENOUGH stress to deal with trying to come to terms that their child has CANCER and now has to find out how to fundraise to get help.