Help our friend Amiel Haynes

Dear Classmates, Friends, and Neighbors of Amiel Haynes,

My name is Henry Fulkerson and I am writing to encourage you to help our classmate and friend Amiel Haynes. Like many of you, I have known Amiel since kindergarten at Emerson Elementary in 1956. Amiel has a special place in my heart and the Fulkerson family’s. During my dad’s (Dr. Wilbur Fulkerson) struggle with cancer, Amiel was there to help console and comfort my family at both Barnes Hospital in St. Louis and Research Hospital in Kansas City. He was also there during my mom’s (Ada Fulkerson) fight with emphysema, for the good times and bad. During frequent trips to Higginsville, Amiel was there at our kitchen table playing high stakes, penny ante poker; or helping my 4-year-old son Sean, reel in his first catfish from Anson’s Pond. He was also there as a pallbearer for my father’s funeral in 1972 and my mother’s in 1992.

Amiel is now in his fight for better health – driving himself to the VA hospital in Kansas City three times a week for lengthy dialysis treatments. As many of you know, Amiel has only one kidney, because he selflessly donated his other to his brother Norman. This is not Amiel’s first rodeo with bad health. Amiel is also a cancer survivor, likely caused by his exposure to Agent Orange, while serving his country as an infantryman in the jungles of Vietnam.

Fortunately, Amiel lives in Higginsville, where neighbors and friends do pull together and help each other. It is an especially easy ask to help someone who has given so much to his friends, family, and country. (Not to mention the four years of amazing basketball entertainment Amiel provided the Husker nation, recognized by his induction into the Husker Sports Hall of Fame).

We all get by with a little help from our friends, and Amiel does need help to fix some unforeseen home repairs. Currently, Amiel needs help to pay for:

• Furnace repairs and duct cleaning ($1,000);

• Replace hot water heater, and some pipes ($2,000);

• Five window replacements, insulation of attic ($4,000)

Our Go-Fund-Me goal to help with these repairs is $7,000. To ensure victory in this fundraising campaign we have assembled an A Team that would make legendary Husker coaches Jim Perrine and Chuck Stevens blush with envy. Our starting lineup:

• Reverand Evelyn Elmore and Reverand Glen Elmore

• Fulkerson Family (Lynn, Henry, Leah, David, and Martha)

• Arron Haynes

• Bill and Susan Schneider

• Gary Schroer and Donna Stoeklin Schroer

• Ray Sutherland and Jill Anson Sutherland

• Candy Best Tompkins

Our team will be reaching out to you individually and collectively. Please donate generously to this very worthy cause to help a friend in need.

Sincerely,

Henry Fulkerson