Shelley's Wish: Rec Room PHASE 2 - The Home Stretch!

UPDATED as of Oct 23, 2024

IMPORTANT: Please keep all of this information among ADULTS ONLY. We cannot run the risk of the kids hearing of the seriousness of the situation from anyone other than Shelley & Joe themselves.

Thus, please do NOT share the link on social media where the kids' peers might accidentally see the information, only share through direct e-mails or texts to other parents. Thank you for your understanding.

If you are here, chances are you already know the history of Dr. Shelley Weier's diagnosis. Diagnosed with Stage IV metastastic breast cancer in 2022, the prognosis was very poor. Yet somehow, one terrifying diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion in 2023, one long and critical hospital stay, and one less lung later--Shelley is responding to her current chemo, and her cancer markers are stable! Feel free to check out her most recent post from Oct. 14th in her CaringBridge site (https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/shelleyweier).

Nevertheless, we all know the unpredictability of cancer and so there is still great urgency to this request. This is a fundraiser for the one thing which Shelley has said she most wants to see through to completion, so that she will know for sure that her boys can enjoy it for years to come.

Shelley's greatest wish is to see the completion of their basement family rec room for her sons.

Shelley and Joe have always imagined this rec room as a gathering place for their three boys and their friends, a welcoming place of fun, camaraderie, and that unique brand of chaos that only three active boys can create. In the long term, it will become a comforting space of reflection and remembering, with shelves for the massive library of books which Shelley--a lifelong prodigious reader--is leaving her boys, and also a memory wall of photographs of her with family and friends. The sky is the limit once the space is complete.

The wonderful update to make here is that all of YOU, friends and family, came through with incredibly generous donations of money, time, and good ol'-fashioned sweat to bring the basement to its current, almost-completed state... WELL UNDER BUDGET!

*ORIGINAL BUDGET:

4 PHASES for a total of $67,900

*UPDATED BUDGET:

PHASE 1 - COMPLETED!

$24,000 Flooring, dry wall, electric, painting, gas fireplace purchase, plumbing, fixtures, cabinets

PHASE 2

$15,000 Countertops, fireplace installation (involves rental of a lift), furniture

TOTAL $39,000

Note that $39,000 was our original estimate for only PHASE 1 of this project. Shelley & Joe and the friend/family team spearheading this project have worked hard to make every dollar count, accomplishing far more for far less than originally estimated.

We are now in PHASE 2 and the final stretch! Anything you can give would move us that much closer to completing the Weier Family Rec Room. Whatever the amount, we are eternally grateful for your unflagging moral support, love, and generosity in so many different ways.

Let me close this update with the same description as before:

So for Shelley Weier, Medical Professional Extraordinaire who has always generously shared of her expertise; Relentless Hockey & Baseball Mom, who dove headlong into both of these worlds TIMES THREE (and shows no remorse for dragging others of us into them as well); Activist & Warrior for social equity, who puts her money and efforts where her mouth is on behalf of all those who do not have a voice; and most of all, SuperMom, who in her every word and action demonstrates that her three boys are her greatest priority in Life...

...for the Shelley we know and love who is all of the above, let's see what we can do to create this Happy Space for an individual who has always created so much happiness for others.

LET'S CROSS THAT FINISH LINE TOGETHER! :-D