Hi, Kimberly Crapsey Clark here. One of our Panther friends, Mark "Buddy" Valor, (Class of 1986) needs our help.

We've all watched him become a father to little Isabella late in life, just like me. :-)

While he thought he found stable employment at Sirius XM, they eliminated his department in 2024, something many of us in IT know too well.

While he was responsible and had emergency funds saved up, the recovery road to employment has taken longer than expected, and both his emergency funds and unemployment ran out last year.

For the past few months, Buddy has continued to support himself and his family in Brazil by driving for DoorDash. However, disaster struck when his old used car died while on the way to work at the beginning of March.

He got enough cash together and bought a fixer-upper used car, but it needs a few specific repairs. While he is able to make the repairs himself, saving a lot of money in labor, his cash resources are exhausted. He needs our help to buy the parts and tools to get the job done and get on the road again.

Let's help him out and send some positive energy and prayers his way while he continues looking for non-gig-work employment.

I know that money is tight for most of us right now, but you may be surprised at how quickly even $5 across many people will add up.

Buddy has been a positive force during high school and through the {gasp} almost 30 years since! I hope we can all help him get back on his feet so he can also get down to see his precious daughter sooner rather than later.