As most of you are obviously aware, I am a Steelers fan. No, scratch that. I live and breathe every morsel of information regarding the Steelers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As many of you discovered, I am annoying to talk to during football season because every conversation revolves around the Steelers.
Well, you may have heard that the Steelers won the AFC Championship again and are headed to try to win a record 7th Super Bowl in Dallas. Much has been said how the number 7 is spookily inserting itself into this season. Now, I’ve spent a lot of time planning and arranging my life so that I can attend this game live. Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to attend the Championship game in Pittsburgh and I watched dollar after dollar go through my hands for beer, tickets, and meaningless crap.
On the flight home from frigid Pennsylvania, I did the math on how much money I would potentially spend attending this Super Bowl. I was drunk with exuberance for my team and I was willing to do anything to see these guys play for another Lombardi Trophy; however somewhere between drinking the disgusting airline coffee and eating a chicken sandwich that wasn’t made for human consumption, I had a moment of sobriety.
If I were to spend this same money on anything else, do I realize how much an effect it could have on someone else’s life? Really. Some people are wondering how they can cover the costs for food, medical treatment, or just how they can pay for clothes for their kids. Here I am going to the Super Bowl, and the money I am going to spend could help one family in their daily struggle to survive.
With my guilt absorbing me, I wondered what I could do to help. Well the coffee finally kicked in, and I remembered I run a great non-profit that does help people in dire medical situations. The grim image of a family being informed 15 weeks into a pregnancy that they may need to terminate the pregnancy due to a syndrome called TTTS was stuck in my head. I’ve also imagined the dispair for this family, when informed by their health insurance provider, that they would need to pay out of pocket for their own travel expenses to receive treatment. The only hope for these families is to reach out to my friends at Fetal Hope, who can provide them with a wealth of information about their situation. I remembered the same pain I felt when given a similar prognosis and wondered how I would deal with it. Luckily, my family was in a situation where neither money nor access to information was an issue. At the end of the day, I was able to focus on what was important for the survival of my kids rather than wondering how I was going to pay for treatment.
Even with all of this information, money and help, we were only able to save one of my daughter’s lives. I can’t imagine my life without her. I have a hard time imagining a family without means or resources trying to manage this same impossible situation. It’s painful. It’s wrong.
Thus, I weighed what was really important in this world. Attending another Super Bowl, or the simple joy of a mother safely giving birth to a child. That answer is incredibly easy and clear.
After all that, I concocted an idea to help families out as much as possible. If you so desire, you can help too. I’ll even provide an incentive.
I’d like to see if over the course of the next 2 weeks, up until kickoff of the Super Bowl, if we can raise enough money to help at least 7 families. I will personally match dollar for dollar every donation to Climb For Kids that happens over these two weeks.
You may also know that I also have a passing interest in wine, so let me throw another incentive at you. In keeping with the theme of 7, every person who donates $77 or more will be invited to a very special wine event to be held at my house on February 19th where I will open a 7 year vertical of wine from Chateau Montelena starting with 1984 to 1990. To participate in this special event, donate here, and you’ll be automatically invited: http://mat.tk/e8sPaV
I will also put up a bottle of 1975 Chateau Mouton Rothschild up for silent auction. Highest bid that includes the number 7 will walk away with the bottle. In keeping with the Pittsburgh theme, this bottle has original artwork by Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol on the label. The silent auction will end on February 18th, and I will announce the winner at the event. If you want to place a bid on the 1975 Mouton, please send your bid (and include the number 7 in the bid) to info@climbforkids.org
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Matt, this is incredibly generous, thank you! The families that will be helped thank you!
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