Support Cameron's First Independent DMB Adventure

DMB Friends and Family,

I'm reaching out about a DMB Family member, Cameron Cox, who is traveling from Seattle to Saratoga Springs for the annual pilgrimage to the legendary Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). The most important thing to communicate, which can not be understated, is that this is his first truly independent vacation and it's to see DMB. Now, to make a long story long, I connected with Cameron on my first trip to one of the other DMB pilgrimages, The Gorge, via Facebook. Cameron utilized Facebook to see if he could get help from the DMB Community to drive his specialized van out to The Gorge due to a scheduling conflict with his caregiver. Eventually, that was resolved, and he was able to make it out to the Gorge and see DMB on Friday and Saturday night.

On Saturday morning, the DMB Fit Crew had a group run that just so happened to cross paths with Cameron as he was coming up the road in his wheelchair. We chatted briefly and set up a plan to hang out that afternoon at the Cave B Winery. Cameron is a lifelong DMB fan, so it wasn’t hard to kill time talking about life and DMB while overlooking one of the most beautiful venues on the planet.

Cameron has always wanted to visit famous DMB venues like SPAC, and during one of our conversations, he mentioned this. Of course, I said, “Why not this year? We’ve got time to plan it out.” He’ll also be going to Grad school this year, so the timing feels right. Cameron then posted in the DMB SPAC Crew page looking for assistance and while we did get some responses, the beautiful Carrie Corby went above and beyond (see Facebook post here). Over the past few months, Carrie and I have been assisting in the planning, including doing a recon of the Saratoga area to check on any potential ADA hurdles. We’ve also needed some additional specialized equipment such as an ADA van, Hoyer lift, an extra wheelchair, and other tools to replicate what Cameron has access to in Seattle.

Cameron has requested that he handle the financial responsibility of the flight and caregiver during his stay, and we respect that. The additional costs of the hotel, rental van and a single ticket inside each night are where we could use some assistance. Those costs are coming out to be $1,037 for 4 nights at the hotel, the specialized van rental at $960 and a single ticket to each night at $206 per night. We all know if you’re coming to SPAC from Seattle you should be inside! If you’d like to see a more detailed breakdown feel free to reach out to me and we can go through the financial aspect.

There are cheaper places to stay in the Clifton Park area but it’s hard to describe how accommodating Thomas (Tom) Fassett and his colleague Carolyn have been at the Best Western - Clifton Park. They took the time to give us a tour of one of the ADA rooms and work the logistics out for Cameron. The major hurdle we hit was that all of the hotels we checked have solid bed frames, ones that run from the floor to the mattress and these cannot accommodate the Hoyer lift that allows Cameron to get out of his wheelchair and into a bed. Tom responded on a Saturday night at 7:30pm about the situation and had a new bed frame ordered that Monday that could accommodate the lift. It's this responsiveness to the situation that’s guided us to stick with a room that’s more expensive but we have comfort in the people working there.

If we hit our goal we would like to donate any excess funds to Southern Adirondack Independent Living (SAIL) non-profit. SAIL has been an incredible asset in acquiring the equipment Cameron needs for his first solo adventure and we would like what we don’t need to help others in need. It should also be noted how important Felicia's Homecare Consulting & Staffing Assistance in Saratoga Springs has been. Felicia has really turned into the capstone of this journey by facilitating caregivers for Cameron during the two, two hour shifts that he needs assistance with each day. Without her connections, this adventure may not have come to fruition.

I'm fully aware that mixing money and friendship can be a bad combination. If you don't feel comfortable giving for whatever reason or feel that you can help out in another way, I fully understand. I truly mean that, as I understand the social nuances this creates.

If you’re weary of utilizing a site like GoFundMe I have a breakdown of how they operate at the very bottom of this. If you would like to share it with friends and family, please do so, but I would prefer we keep it off the DMB-related social sites and let individuals spread the link from friend to friend. If you would like to post it on your personal social pages feel free to do so.

This initiative has many nuances and it is incredibly important that I acknowledge the help that Carrie and this team has provided throughout this process. It has been extraordinarily helpful to work with everyone on this, and I truly appreciate it. This has by no means been a one-man show. Instead, it is the combined work of this small team that has worked tirelessly to ensure the best possible SPAC experience for Cameron.

With Much Love,

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