A Monkey for my brother
As the oldest of five children, I grew up with a lot of responsibilities for helping take care of my younger siblings. I also have memories of some events they were too young to remember. One of the fondest memories I have of my youngest brother is of taking long walks through our old neighborhood. We would walk and talk and I would periodically check to see if he was getting tired and wanted to turn back towards home. He always wanted to keep going a while longer. Invariably, by the time he said he was ready to go home, he would only walk about one block before he was too tired and I would end up carrying him the rest of the way home. I eventually figured how to plan our path in a big loop through the neighborhood so that by the time he was too tired to walk anymore we would only need to walk another block forward to get home instead of retracing our steps.
Of course, when I asked Al if he remembered those walks, he didn't. Instead, he said what he remembered most was coming to my wrestling matches a few years later when I was in high school. He didn't remember anything about my wrestling. Instead, he remembered all the cheerleaders who were constantly offering him drinks or orange slices, and showering him with attention. Just one of the advantages of being a cute little kid!
I was soon off to college and then out on my own in life, so I wasn't around as much while my little brother grew up. While our long walks together became a fond memory of long ago for me, they became an impossibility for Al. About 30 years ago a car accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. Although confined to a wheel chair, he grew up to be an outstanding athlete. He played wheel-chair basketball, competed in track events that gave him an opportunity to travel and he even set some records and made the newspaper a few times. As he grew up, he got his drivers license, got a job where he advanced quickly, bought his own house and continually demonstrated that he refused to let being in a wheelchair hold him back. He repeatedly proved how much he could accomplish and how self-sufficient he could be.
Unfortunately, over the Christmas holidays, I learned that my brother's independence and self-sufficiency is now threatened. His injuries have lead to more health problems, and he was recently diagnosed with neuropathy in his left arm. This means that the arm is gradually losing strength and mobility. As he continues to lose the use of this arm, he will lose the ability to do many of the things he now does on his own.
While things may sound bleak, Al has already found a way to help him keep much of his independence. He has been approved by the state to own a service animal - specifically a service monkey. Monkeys trained as service animals are able to retrieve items from high shelves, turn pages in a book, bring over the wheelchair, or even grab a drink out of the refrigerator. They can do many things that will help Al continue to live on his own and have the independence he wants.
The one drawback is that service monkeys typically cost $25,000 to $35,000 to train. Fortunately, due to the generosity of others, Al doesn't have to bear the full burden of this cost. However, to make this happen for him, we need to raise at least $5,000. This will cover the remaining cost of the monkey and modifications that are needed to make his house monkey friendly. For example, special doorknobs and cabinet handles will enable the monkey to open doors to retrieve items.
Over the past several years, we have found the students at Jing Ying and people in the local community to be very generous. When the Asian Tsunami hit, we raised money for an international cause. We have supported national causes such a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In more recent years we have focused on local charities such as The Arc and SPAN. Now I am hoping you will support a personal cause. At Jing Ying, our logo is the Monkey King. Proper training helped turn the monkey king from causing trouble to doing good to help others. It seems fitting that our efforts can help obtain a monkey that is trained to do good by helping its owner. I hope you will donate to the fund to help obtain a service monkey for my brother.
Please understand that your donations are not tax deductible. I initially checked into setting up an account or trust to collect funds for my brother, but the process seemed daunting and time consuming. We wanted to tie this in with our Chinese New Year celebration, so I am proceeding with what we have because time is short.
Using the link below, you can make a donation by PayPal or Credit Card that will go to Jing Ying. You can also pay by check to Jing Ying or Al Greer if you prefer. If we don't raise the $5,000 needed for my brother's monkey, we will donate the money we receive to Helping Hands (http://www.monkeyhelpers.org) so someone else can get a monkey. If we raise more than $5,000, the excess will go towards ongoing care of my brother's monkey.
