My best friend needs our help with his two nephews.

Thank you for taking the time to read this…

Imagine you are a small child no older than 7. You have a big brother who is 4 years older than you and the unthinkable happens. Your father dies. This puts your mom on a path that she never recovers from, and you and your brother lose her 3 years later to health issues.

What now? You’re 10 and 14 with no parents. Around you, the remainder of your family consists of an adult sister just starting out in life and marriage, your grandparents who are older and not in the best of health. One grandparent is still working full-time trying to retire. None of these options really accommodate you and your brother.

A situation like this just happened to my best friend’s nephews. I would like you to meet Alex, my best friend. His nephews Mason and Eli, in the span of 3 years, lost both parents to health issues.

About a year and a half after the death of the boys' father, Alex opened his home to his older nephew Mason. Alex and his sister agreed that Mason needed to have a father figure in his life at this stage in his childhood. So, Alex agreed to help raise Mason. Mason moved in over a year and a half ago. It’s been a long and frustrating but rewarding time for everyone in the family. You see, Alex is married and raising two kids of his own. Alex’s kids are the same age as his two nephews. Despite the limited space in his house, this blended family has made the best of it and each child has their own room.

But then the unspeakable happens and Alex loses his little sister, and the boys lose their mother. Alex immediately steps in and after talking it over with the rest of his family, he opens his home to his youngest nephew.

But this is where I need your help. Alex's family is now 6 members strong, but his house is too small to contain them all. To give each child their own room, he has leveraged every penny of equity in his home, drained what money he could from his 401k, and has earmarked any extra money for an expansion to his home.

But he is still short.

Unfortunately, he found out that he still doesn’t have enough to give each child their own rooms. The average size of the bedrooms in his 3 bed 1 and ½ bath bi-level is about 10 x 11 and are too small to share for a prolonged period. It’s very important to Alex that each child has their own space, a space where they can go and have privacy. A space that they feel safe in. A room that provides stability and an opportunity to make their own. His nephews have never had their own rooms.

I want to raise money for him and his wife so they can provide a safe and enriching life for their now 4 children.

The commitment that Alex has made to make the lives of his nephews as good as it can be is something he said to me a few weeks ago.

Alex said, “You know man, what one of my biggest hopes is? It’s when the boys are older and they head off to college or they start a family, and when it’s time to go home for spring break or it’s time to spend the holidays with their family, they immediately think of me and Asha as their home, and they come back to us. That when they think back to what home was for them, they think of our time together.”

Again, thank you for taking the time to read this.

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