Thursday, August 18, 2011

This is Jennifer...Murray's daughter! You'll probably hear from most of his kids (Sam, Chris, Jennifer, Eric and Tiffany) on this blog...since we will be the ones "running" it.

A big "Thank you!" is not enough for Angela who helped get this thing going. Thanks for taking that off my plate! You're pretty much the best!

So, the purpose of this blog is to #1 keep family and friends updated on my dads condition...which as stated in the header is PSC....and no, we aren't trying to be dramatic...the doctor's say he needs a new liver ASAP.

The second purpose of this blog is fundraising. Pretty soon there will be a pay pal button on here where people can click and make donations. We also will have it set up to where you can put a button on your blog! We will post all the info. about fundraiser events here as well. As of now, you can go to any WELLS FARGO location and make a donation into the MURRAY BARRETT LIVER DONATION FUND. (Just write that down+take it with you to the bank!)

Even though we have known about my dads liver disease for about 8 years...we have only known about his urgent need for a transplant for about a week.

My dad also has Crohn's disease. He has been living with Crohn's for 20+ years. This, along with the liver disease has made it so that he doesn't qualify for health insurance...and because he worked for a small company that didn't provide health insurance, he has gone without seeing a doctor regularly. Now, he is in liver failure. We have applied for PCIP Insurance which is government backed...but we haven't heard back from them yet. If he is able to get that insurance than we are looking at needing to raise $12,000...that'll be the max out of pocket and I am sure we will reach that each year. If he isn't able to qualify for this insurance than we need to raise $200,000 before he can be listed for the transplant. So fundraising will be a big part of our lives for a while! (If anyone has any tips+ideas+time to spend helping...let us know!)

Dad was hospitalized for about 5 days back in May...we are working with Banner to see about them writing off over $10,000 for that. Right now there's still a little less than $13,000 to pay from that hospitalization. Dad was also hospitalized last week and we haven't gotten any bills from that yet. So like I said, it's time to..."fundraise,fundraise,fundraise!" Our family in Utah is having a benefit yard sale for dad on Sept. 3,2011. I will post more info about that later!

Well...I just wanted to do our first post so that this blog looks more blogish! :)

Stay tuned!

4 comments:

  1. Hey Jennifer, A friend of mine just adopted a little boy from Ukraine, and did a ton of fundraising. Sometimes you can ask people who do parties to donate to your cause, like avon, or scentsy, or mary kay. Another thing, sometimes restaurants will donate a certain percentage during certain hours. I think panda express might. Good luck! We love you guys! - Casey Tobler (Beall)

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  2. Hello Jennifer, I felt saddened today as I came home from meetings and got an e-mail from my Sis regarding Murray. My prayers are for my cousin Murray and his sweetheart Lynette and you, his children. You may not know it but your grandparents - my Uncle Wes and Aunt Joyce will always been my favorites. Aunt Joyce passed the same year as my Father. I spent many fun-filled days in the Barrett home ,,, your Dad, Wesley and I were playmates as kids and very good friends as youths. I will help any way I can. I will get in touch with Cheryl here in Utah relative to the yard sale and other things we might be able to do here.
    Love from Debbie and I ,,, Dan Cooper

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  3. Hi Everyone,
    This is Diane (Murrays Sister) I thought it would be a good idea to hold the yard sale here in Utah in Murray's behalf, so I talked to Cheryl. She is holding the sale @ her house on Saturday
    Sept. 3rd starting @ 8am.
    Her address is: 5836 S.4525W.
    Hooper,Ut
    If you have any further questions you can call me @ (801)603-2687 or Cheryl (801)686-5174
    Thank you for yourlove,support,and prayers:)

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  4. i have an idea for fund raising it builds awareness and raises some $..
    make shirts about it. and sale them then people get something that can sale more to stragers.. just a thought..

    best of wishes from the Lance Steele family...

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