Hey everyone,

I just wanted to let everyone know about a fundraiser that I helped start at my school. A couple of months ago, one of my past teachers found out that her daughter (Reese) has metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD). This is a "rare genetic disorder that creates an enzyme deficiency in the brain. According to the National Institutes of Health, fewer than 200,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with the disease each year." (You can read the short story about Reese and her disease by clicking Here)

The teacher, Mrs Behnken, would need to travel all over the country to try and find a doctor or procedure that could save her daughter. She found out that if Reese was chosen by a group of doctors, she would qualify to have a special procedure done on her that would maybe save her life. They would have to travel all the way to Denmark for her to get this procedure, and they would have to live there for quite some time. This would cost a TON of money Anyway, I really like Mrs. Behnken and I knew that there was some way that I could help out.

It was then when I found out that some of the students in my high school were starting a "spare change drive" at lunch to raise money for my teacher. One day, I walked over and asked them how much they raised. I was appalled when they said, "2 dollars and 30 cents." I couldn't believe that high school students couldn't donate a little change to one of their past teachers. $2.30 did NOT cut it for a 30 minute lunch period with about 150 students.

I sat down and pulled out a deck of cards and soon, a couple of my friends came over to "see a trick". To make a long story short, there were literally about 50 people standing around me within about 5 minutes and I was amazing them with card magic. Then I realized that we could raise money by having these "little shows" at lunch! I told everyone that they should donate some money and then I performed the 3 card monte.... and raised about 50 bucks. In 15 minutes, we went from raising $2.30 to $103.79. I was very proud of myself.

For the next week, I began to have these shows every lunch period and I gained a GREAT reputation with the corny name "magic matt." I was doing the thing I loved... and I was doing it for a great cause!!! Everyday I fooled tons of kids and even got my principal and other staff members involved! Not once did I screw up a trick. By the end of the week we raised a little over $1,000!!! It was amazing to see how generous high school kids could actually be. Not only did I gain a great reputation, but I also won student of the month in October. It made me feel great that I raised this much money for one of my teachers.

The story about my teacher is especially sad because she always talked about her kids. She "adores" them and makes it more obvious then anyone else I ever met. I really hope that her daughter Reese is going to be OK.

Thanks you all for taking the time to read this!

-Matt

Way to go! I'm glad to see that the principal supported your efforts.

Great effort, Matt
Congratz

Hey that's teriffic! It's always great to see someone using their gift for a good cause. Well done - I hope your teacher's daughter gets the help she needs.

Thanks guys! Someone of penguin is accusing me that this is a scam though
-Matt

You mean someone on the Penguin forums? Don't listen to them. Some people are idiots.

What are the names of the principal and the school? Where are you located? Maybe a few magicians in that area could put on a show as a family night event to help raise money.


Ray

Sadly the principal just retired. Her name was Mrs. Fadde and I really liked her. She would always see me in the hallways and say "Hi magic matt." I live Robbinsville, New Jersey and there are not a lot of magicians around here, (from what I have seen.) If anyone lives nearby, let me know and maybe we could have a "magic night" or something.

That's a terrific and inspiring story, Matt! Try not to let someone's criticism get to you - you know you're doing a wonderful thing, and that's all that really matters.

Thanks for sharing this.

Ron

Thanks a lot Ron!

Matt,

You could try to contact the Philly area SAM and IBM groups, as well as the NJ-based Kidabra chapter, outside of Philly. I'm sure that Dennis Dowhy, known as Dennis Michael around here can help with finding local magician's in your area. You will find many posts with his info in the Little Darlings forum, and in the Kidabra Forum, which he staffs.

I think it's great what you've done, and agree... don't let the doubters get ya down. This story was printed a few weeks back about the situation... http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/b......5490.xml If this gets removed, Google Behnken + NJ , and you will get a Times article from Dec 31, 2006.

Thanks a lot JesterMan!

NICE!!! Best way to put it!!! NICE!

Matt,

Thank you for taking the time to share that story with us.
It's people like you that give magic and magicians a good reputation. You overcame your fears and used your abilities to help someone in need. You should feel very proud of yourself. Way to go Matt!

:dancing:

Matt - I am a teacher myself and was moved by your story. It's magicians like you who give is a good name. It gave me an idea of something I could do myself, or try to organize, to benefit the local community where I live in Japan.

Thank you for all of your comments guys! I recently sent this story to MAGIC Magazine, and it is going to be published in the September issue. I am very excited!
-Matt

You got that right. Matt, PJHMarine here, it's great to see you outside of Penguin.

I loved your story. It's great that people can use magic to do amazing things like this. Your teacher must be very proud of you. It's great that this is going to MAGIC Magazine! I'll look for your article!

John

Hey John! Nice to see you hear on the Café! Thank you very much for your nice comments. Now I just need to hire a photographer for the magazine...

-Matt

Hey Matt,

What happened with this???

Just curious. I am going to be doing balloons at an event for a little guy with MLD next month.

Good show Matt keep the art of magic alive.
pm if I can be of assistance