Dear friends and family,

We are helping our good friend Andrew raise funds for Fight SMA: Andrew's Buddies.  FightSMA is dedicated to raising funds and awareness and most importantly to finding a cure for the little known killer, Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

SMA is an incurable, untreatable, and devastating illness that robs children of the ability to walk, swallow and sometimes even the ability to breathe. SMA is the number-one inherited cause of infant death...and it is the disease our friend Andrew (pictured left) has been living with and fighting 16 remarkable and amazing years. Remarkable and amazing because the doctors told his family he probably wouldn't live to celebrate his 8th birthday. In the life of kids fighting SMA, Andrew's considered one of the lucky ones...most don't get to their 2nd birthday.

Andrew is an amazing, intelligent and funny guy who has lived his life with a will and a spirit that continually amazes those around him. He has faced more medical issues and challenges in his 16 years than most of us will encounter in our entire lifetime! Andrew loves WWII history, the Dallas Cowboys, hunting, fishing, video games, graphic arts, the world of politics, and just hanging out with his friends. His favorite TV show, NCIS, even prompted a new friendship with the "real" NCIS agents in Norfolk, VA.

Even more inspirational for me personally is Andrew's mom, Carice.  Raising a child with such extraordinary needs and heartwrenching prognosis, it would be entirely understandable if that task alone consumed her.  It has not! Together with her family and a few dedicated volunteers, Carice began hosting the annual Strike Out SMA Bowl-A-Thon to raise funds for FightSMA 10 years ago. Over $300,000 for research has been raised.  Carice's monumentral efforts have also generated much awareness for SMA in our community and surrounding areas.

Carice and her family are unable to host the Strike Out SMA Bowl-A-Thon this year, but our family plans to help them celebrate the successes of a decade by raising more critically needed money for research.  Please consider making a conrtribution... help FightSMA continue the fight for our friend Andrew and kids like him!

Thanks in advance for your support,
Karen Sparrow Williams, Dan Williams, Emma and Claire