Thanks to the incredible generosity of so many people ZimKids was able to come in third and earn an extra US$1000. We did not miss first and second place by much!!!
1st. Education Scholarships for Child Laborers in India raised US$27,686 and 262 unique donors.
2nd. Support Entrepreneurial Drive of Women in Ghana raised US$27,373 and 121 unique donors.
3rd. Feed Zimbabwean Orphans, Body and Soul raised US$26,801 and 112 unique donors.
We are absolutely thrilled at the results and cannot thank each and every one of you enough. I do, however, want to single out the Foundation at the Independent Pilot's Association. The trustees involved in making this decision to help and the ultimate generosity of the pilot group (of which I belong) makes me very proud and honored to be a part of.
From all of us at ZimKids.com, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
There is roughly 3 days left to contribute to our ZimKids project. I hate to bug you all especially those that have been kind enough to donate already. But, what we need in the next couple of days are small, unique donations. What I mean by unique is different people. It can be separate US$5 donations from you, your spouse and your kids. If you check out the links below it will better explain what we are trying to achieve. Many, many thanks from all of us at ZimKids.com.
Dear John, To say I am overwhelmed is an understatement! Thank you and the trustees of the IPA Foundation for your generous assistance to Zimkids. Over the last year, we have nearly tripled the number of orphans we serve at the same moment that the price of food has skyrocketed. The dolls the children make pay for the basic food package they all receive, but we have been struggling to meet growing medical expenses. Your donation will allow us to ensure that the kids with HIV and those with tuberculosis get consistent treatment, as well as to meet the raft of other diseases all of the children contract. We will also use the funds you have provided to improve the variety and nutritional content of the food we presently distribute which has been woefully short on protein.
Over the course of the coming months we will be happy to provide you with an accounting of how and for what we use the funds.
I told Tinashe Basa, Prosper Modhi and Sipho Nyoni, our trustees in Zimbabwe, about this wonderful gift. They asked me to pass along their deepest thanks, both to you and to Adrian, who has been such a stalwart friend to all of us.
Sincerely Dennis Gaboury Founder, Trustee Zimkids Orphan Trust
I had the most incredible surprise today concerning our ZimKids project. For the past number of days I had been working with two of the most wonderful pilot friends of mine at UPS that are involved in our Independent Pilots Association IPA (union) charitable Foundation (John D. and Tim B.). This Foundation was established by our pilots of which I have been a participating member since its inception quite a number of years ago.
I cannot begin to explain the generosity of this pilot group of which I am very proud to be associated with. We are all fortunate to be employed by a very good company (UPS) making very good livings. Of course, as pilots, we can always find things to complain and whine about. It's simply part of our core being (I say this with tongue in cheek)! However, while we may not all agree on every cause the Foundation Trustees choose to support we all, non the less, understand the concept and idea of giving back. In this particular case the trustees choose to support the ZimKids project with an incredible initial donation that almost meets a third of our yearly budget.
I have difficulty explaining how much this donation and it's source mean to me. Even though I have been on extended medical leave my Company and of course, my Association has never forgotten me. The love, caring and prayers from so many of my flying "family" mean the world to me and has been an incredible source of support. I am humbled, honored and truly touched by all of this. Words are simply not enough to express my gratitude. I am and will forever be a very proud member of this group of people.
To all of you, I say, may you all have blue sky and tail winds and of course, safe flying. Remember to trust your bodies in what they are trying to tell you and may you all stay in good health.
With deep gratitude, love and affection, Adrian Suskin, B757/767 Captain Louisville.
Once again, and thankfully, my blood work and vitals were all good. I think I gained another couple of pounds (lbs). The only hang up today was waiting to see Dr. Schraeder today to check up on my cough. He listened to my lungs and all sounded fine except for the bottom part of the right lung. Quite normal as that is where the tumor was. Having said this, there is always a chance of "something" going on. I will be having a PET/CT and a more detailed separate CT done next week September 21st. That should provide a wealth of information with regards to what's going on "inside" me!!!
After the game Rob and I were standing at the entrance to White Hart Lane waiting to see if we could get a couple of pictures with some of the players as they left. We met this young brother and sister who were obviously doing the same thing as us. They started to tell and show us about all the autographs they had gotten and people they had met (i.e. Sir Alex Ferguson). Somehow during the conversation the sister, by mistake, started to mention her brothers health problems and then abruptly stopped. The brother then took over and proceeded to tell us that he had Leukemia and that he was currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment. I thought to myself, what an awful common bond I had with this unknown kid. I told him of my treatment and we high fived and wished each other well. Now for the weird twist. He told us his dad was currently in treatment for the same disease. Wow!
Cancer knows no boundaries or limits. Awful and indiscriminate with no regard for rich or poor, young or old, black or white yadda, yadda, yadda.
So I arrived early Friday morning after a delightful cell phone/airport fiasco. I spent over two hours in the immigration line and my cell phone did not get a signal. Needless to say, dad, Russ and Gerry were pretty worried. I finally found my driver and got to the Bass house at around 10 in the morning. My dad was the only one there in his PJ’s. Very nice. Anyways, we took the tube to Camden to meet up with Lunney for lunch. We were supposed to go to a Gordon Ramsey restaurant but the only time they had was 2:30, so instead, we went with a suitable alternative, Wagamamas. It’s a delicious noodle joint that we hit up usually every time we are in town. After that, we headed to the clinic to get my teeth whitened (my dad already had his done). We were helped out by the lovely staff and Russ’ friends Gemma, Chloe and Karen. My teeth are brighter than ever. When I got back to the house, I passed out for a few hours and then we went out to dinner to Russ and Ger’s friends Mike and Jackie. Obes, Lunney and Carolina met us there and there was some lovely and delicious food. Sadly, the only thing I could eat was the chicken because any colored foods would stain my teeth.
Saturday morning, I wanted to sleep some more but we had hair appointments with Russ’ guy Peter at a salon in the city/ Peter did Russ’ hair, which looks lovely, and then fixed mine up. I said I wanted hair like Cheryl Cole’s. He cut it a little shorter in the front, but left the back longer, and he managed to thin it out, treat my scalp and give it some body to boot. I love it and it looks amazing. Thanks Peter! And Bobba’s friend, the Duchess of Kent was there as well. After that, we went with the boys for a quickie hamburger lunch before heading out to Peter Murphy’s house to go to the soccer match. We arrived promptly at 3:15 and picked up some more on the way. When we got to White Hart Lane, we got to park inside the stadium, where only players, staff and VIPs get to park. Many fancy cars all around. Then the Manchester United coach pulled up and I tried to snap some pictures of them getting off the bus. I yelled at Giggsy. Then, James, Peter’s son, told me that if I had said I was American, I could have gotten to meet them. But that’s a horse of a different color. After all the players had gone inside, we headed up to the box holder’s lounge, complete with a bar and a betting station, where my dad and I placed our bets. We bet on a 2-1 United win, with goals from Defoe, Berbatov and Fletcher. We were close, but I’ll get to that later. Then we headed to the box, which was awesome. A great view, a little to the left of the center pitch, above the team benches. They served us a delicious four course meal consisting of soup, salad, a beef dish and a cheesecake desert. All delicious. There was a TV in the box which Peter used to check scores of other matches. Then the players came out on the pitch to warm up and the starting lineups were announced. My feeling was that if Rio Ferdinand played, we would win. Here were the lineups:
So the game kicks off. Peter, perhaps unwisely because he is the Spurs fan and box holder, has brought 7 Manchester United fans with him. After 52 seconds, he was ecstatic as Jermain Defoe scored a SICK bicycle kick. Everyone else in the box…pissed. At least we will win some money. Then, United settled into the game, Berbatov getting booed on every touch. He won a free kick about 5 yards outside the area. Who would it be? Not Ronaldo. Rooney or Giggs, Rooney or Giggs, Rooney or…GIGGS! YOU BEAUTY. Giggsy scores a brilliant free kick to draw us level! Didn’t bet on that, but I was ecstatic. My all time favorite player happens to score when I’m there. After that, United really took control. Berba missed a sitter and Rooney had a few chances as well. A few minutes before the half, Spurs failed to clear a corner and the ball rolled to AndersonRio and Vidic defended him well. Alan Hutton came on for Spurs in place of Corluka, and Keane came off as well. Then, after sitting deep and defending, Fletch on the right place a beautiful curving ball into the path of Rooney, who cuts past one defender and nutmegs Hutton and then proceeds to put the ball through the wickets of Cudicini for our 3rd goal! How brilliant! Bloody Rooney is 6 for 6 so far this year and United come from behind to win-even with a man down. Nani comes on to relieve some pressure and does some nice crowd pleasing tricks. Tottenham were stunned and created nothing and United grabbed the points and jumped them in the table. 3-1 the final score. So we didn’t win a lot on the bet, but trust me, I am much happier with the result. I told my dad to bet on Rooney as well and he wouldn’t! outside the box and he smashed it past Cudicini, who had made a few good saves, for his first ever United goal and a 2-1 United lead. Brilliant stuff. Our score was right on. In the first half, Keane and Lennon were non factors, but Crouch had been a bit of gangly trouble. The second half started and United were still bossing. Jenas had come on for Palacios, who had been booked, to add some attacking edge. Scholesy picked up a yellow for a silly tackle so Carrick started to warm up. But as he was ready to come on, he was given a harsh second yellow for a quite silly tackle and he was off. The United fans in the box looked glum. A one goal lead, half an hour to go and a man down. Carrick did come on for Berba to sit in front of the back four. Despite the man advantage, Spurs didn’t make any clear cut chances. They tried to go through Crouch a lot, but nothing came of it.
Afterwards, we had to wait for everyone to clear out. I was mulling the area looking for players, and apparently, I missed SIR ALEX, Sir Bobby Charlton and David Gill! Silly me. James also said he saw Crouchy and we just missed cutie David Bentley. But I did snag a photo with Alan Hutton and he was very nice. His Lambo’s plate number is “X HU77ON” haha. No prizes to guess whose car that is. Then we loaded into Peter’s van and headed back to his house, where we played with the dogs before Gerry picked us up and we headed back home. When we got back, Ruth and David/Doody were there so we spent some time chatting but I was tired so I headed upstairs to pack and went to sleep.
This morning, got up relatively early to head out to the airport. Said bye to Russ and Gerry drove us. Didn’t get to say a proper goodbye to the boys though! It was so great to see everyone even for such a short period of time. Next time, I will be back for longer to spend more time with the gang. I had a GREAT time, especially at the game. What a wonderful experience and we got some good photos. Now, I have to head back to school. I haven’t done any work and I have to get a doctor’s note and make up a lab. I might be in trouble here…
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