We express our most deep and sincere gratitude for all attendees of the 2023 #TumorTakedownTailgate to benefit National Brain Tumor Society! Thank you for braving wind, rain, and hail to attend the 2023 Tumor Takedown Tailgate. Let’s not bury the lede, with some auction and donations outstanding, our unofficial total raised to benefit National Brain Tumor Society is … drum roll, please …

Just over $20,000 raised to benefit NBTS!! This brings our total raised over four years to more than $85,000!!

Wow. In Old Town Greenwood, Indiana, with a small and mighty team, we’ve raised money that rivals some of our larger community events in big cities throughout the country. What’s even better, many of you approached us this year with ideas for growing the event even bigger next year.

THANK YOU VENDORS, SPONSORS, ENTERTAINMENT, AND VOLUNTEERS

This event would not be possible without Mark and Katie Henrichs from Revery, Folktale, and Dashboard Food Truck. Please follow their social channels for your next meal or event. For those who don’t have the privilege of seeing behind the scenes like me, Katie was literally setting up the event space herself when we arrived, then she was braving rain to run power out to the tent for our emcee and live music.

Mark prepped all the food and was then in the truck cooking for the event, with his chef from Revery, Juan. Plus Mark donated everyone’s first round of food. Incredible generosity!

Andrew from Mashcraft set up the beer once, then set up the beer again, when we had to move the beer under the big tent when the rain started. Andrew’s wife, Brittany, was pouring beer for the event. They not only donated the beer but worked the event as volunteers! Please meet Adam and Whitney at Mashcraft soon!

Lisa, one of Whitney’s best friends, and the wife of one of Jack’s Donuts head guys, Dave, picked up and then carried boxes of donuts from the shop to her car to the event.

Another one of Whitney’s best friends, Bethany, arranged the Ramona donation! How good is that canned spritz?!

Gabe, one of Adam’s best friends, designed this year’s shirt and tracked down a sponsor, Stupid Rad Merch, to get the shirts at cost, then covered those costs to allow all shirt sales to go directly to NBTS, plus he and his wife, Amy, ran the merch table.

Sam, another one of Adam’s best friends, and Chad, Whitney’s brother, Adam’s brother in law, were carrying supplies, keeping the rain out of the tent, taking out the trash, and being just all around incredible volunteers and worked all day behind the scenes.

 

Lauren Casey, RTV Indy, thank you doesn’t cover it. Your professionalism, your passion for the event, and your friendship with Adam and Whitney shine through in all that you do. We are so grateful for you!

 

Jay Elliott and Ben Tatum were incredible. Please follow Jay on Instagram and Ben on Instagram to catch them playing all around Indy, including at Smocktown, just behind Revery!

Lindsay Eichelman, the brilliance behind the event and planning, somehow balanced event planning for TTT4 in the midst of planning her own freaking wedding!! Lindsay, we love you, and none of this would be possible without you!

Whitney, my spouse, event co-founder, and primary caregiver, for all the planning, hard work, preparation, and childcare organizing, thank you. You know the signs of my fatigue and symptoms, and you know when to boss me to sit down! We couldn’t pull this off without each other.

Thank you Boookends Financial Planning for your generous sponsorship, and thank you to all silent auction donors who make this event so special and hyper-local.

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

The highlight of the event for me is connecting with other members of the local brain tumor community. I shared hugs of recent diagnosis, hugs of survivorship milestones, and hugs of grief. All of these things are part of the brain tumor experience, and living with this disease teaches you to embrace all the moments from the most heart wrenching to the joyful. Thank you to those who came out for the first time this year. You are part of our community, and we are part of yours, I am so happy that we have each other!

If you’re living with a brain tumor or caring for someone who is, you are welcome to check out the monthly, virtual support group that Adam co-facilitates. If you have lost someone to a brain tumor, you are welcome to attend the virtual grief support group. Both offered by NBTS.

FOLLOW US ALL YEAR LONG

Our Facebook page and Instagram are updated all year long, and for those not into social media, Adam’s personal blog is the source for updates throughout the year. Adam blogs pretty regularly about his life living with brain cancer.

THANK YOU!!

This event is successful because of YOU! There were several four-figure donations on our online donation page. That generosity just blows us away. Each time we see a donation of that size come through I get tears in my eyes. Truly you are changing the world, and we’re doing it together. For your generosity in any dollar amount, we wouldn’t be successful without all of you.

This post originally appeared May 1, 2023, on Glioblastology. It is republished with permission.