Dear friends of the Drum Corps, marching arts,and friends of Darryl Pemberton.

I first met Darryl my rookie year in Cadets and immeadietly took to him and felt at ease with an instructor from New York and that NY swag. The guy everyday would be on a hot field with a fit matched from head to toe.

I also met at that time a girl in the guard that would become my lifelong sister and one of the most important people in my life April Perrine.

It's been 6 months since Darryl passed and a lot of us know that when a loved one passes life doesn't really just end there especially when it is so sudden and unexpected. Darryl's life and home was in San Antonio and all of life's responsibilities don't just stop and it has all fallen on Aprils shoulders as well as his mom back in New York. Dealing with all that comes with handling all of someone's personal and financial affairs after they pass is a huge undertaking and April also lost her mom just a few weeks after Darryl's passing which put her in a most challenging position as well as his mom.

As the home that Darryl and April shared is being prepped to be sold and time sensitive there is a lot to be done. One of the most important things to be done is to gather and pack up all of Darryl's personal belongings and bringing them to his mom. I have thought of every possible way to do this and the best, direct, and most reliable way would be for me to fly to Texas and load all of Darryl's belongings in a uhaul, that means everything to his mom, and deliver them to her in NY. Any which way his belongings would be dealt with would be a huge expense for her. A pod is ridiculously expensive and her arranging and having it put in storage for as long as it would take her to arrange in the future to get it would be a greater expense for someone of a certain age that is still working to make ends meet. Depending on how soon we can book the truck it will cost up to $2,200.00 for the truck only. The flight,few nights in a hotel, tolls, and probably $600.00 in gas and other expenses is money I would love for April and Darryl's mom not to sacrifice.

Speaking for those of us that chose to give up 3 months of our lives in the summer and time in the fall and winter to do an insane thing that most don't understand and became lifelong chosen family and gained a bond like my Cadet brothers and sisters that is most special and unexplainable I'm hoping that family will step in to help in this situation. There is not a single person in this 'world' of ours that didn't work, march with, march under, or has a tie to this legend over so many years. Please consider giving whatever you can. This is very time sensitive as the house has to be on the market in July. My goal is modest for most go fund me pages I've seen but if the goal is reached and exceeds it and people still want to donate please do so as every penny left over will go towards any and all expenses that need taking care of that came along with this untimely passing. Please share this on your pages and send to all that I'm not reaching.

Thank you for your time and FHNSAB

Luis