2nd Benefit Recap and Thanks

It's been a whole week already, and we're happy to announce that, not only did Tommy have a blast at his second annual spaghetti dinner benefit, it was a resounding success in terms of fundraising. Over the next few months, we're going to be updating the blog and social media pages sharing the impact you've all had on this little boy's life.

If you were not able to make it, we discussed how important Tommy's DMI intensives have been in helping to unlock new potential. With the funds raised last weekend, we can begin to plan out the rest of Tommy's year. Last September, we worked with RISE on a two week intensive, and Tommy did great. We also learned they would be at the shore this summer for aquatic therapy sessions, and we knew it would be great for Tommy because he did so well in Florida with Molly on the paddleboard. This is set for the end of July, and will be Tommy's second intensive this year. We've been aiming for four intensives through the year to capitalize on their growth impact during these early formative years, and your contributions and support will ensure Tommy is able to meet that target.

In addition, there is a very promising new therapy involving stem cell research, but it's not covered by insurance. In the current stages, it's an experimental treatment attempting to inject stem cells (cells with the potential to grow into any number of beneficial cells) into the spinal column to help develop into nerve cells able to connect to other nerves and improve movement in affected individuals. This is the only method we've seen that can repair or replace the existing damage to his brain. Early research and hearing other parents' accounts for their own children with cerebral palsy has us very excited, as it does appear to greatly improve gross motor skills and overall quality of life.

While it's still very much ongoing research, and as such, very expensive, it's now very much a reality for our son, and that is to the credit of our wonderful community. It was great to see everyone again, and we truly felt nothing but support from everyone involved. We can remember looking around the room and noticing so many supporters and volunteers wore green to support Tommy, and realized we never asked that of anyone. It just became a small unspoken token of shared support, and those are the kinds of gestures that mean the world to us.

We want to give a big shout out to everyone involved in the planning and volunteer-work for the benefit. It went very smooth, and we couldn't have done it without you!

We also want to thank our community once more. So many local businesses donated raffle gifts and silent auction gifts, direct donations to Tommy, and allowed us to hang flyers. If you won something from a local business, keep in mind they donated to support this wonderful cause. So many individual community members came together and donated as well, and we cannot thank you enough. Hopefully you'll be able to see that impact your donations and support had as we continue on our journey.

An important part of our initial goal at Tough Like Tommy has always been spreading awareness on what our son is facing. It's great to raise money to help him on his journey, but that's just a part of this battle. Spreading your knowledge to others helps turn a strange condition into a familiar and approachable one. We got the official diagnosis in 2025, and had friends and family alike explaining that this was the first time they were hearing about cerebral palsy. Just one year later, we saw young kids asking us questions some adults used to be fearful to ask us. We saw some of Tommy's cousins providing explanations to kids that could have been quotes from ourselves. You really nailed the awareness part, and we're eternally grateful. Please keep following along and sharing Tommy's story, and thanks for spending the afternoon supporting Tommy!