Road March for Shon Coleman (pictures added)

Saniflush · « **Reply #160 on:** April 28, 2010, 02:26:44 PM »

Thanks for the update and you unselfish actions.

jadennis · « **Reply #161 on:** April 28, 2010, 02:28:03 PM »

Quote from: wareagle044 on April 28, 2010, 02:23:39 PM

chopper is right. here i am to spread that news to you guys. also, someone was wearing their t-shirt at Tiger Prowl and there is a thread solely dedicated to it on the bunker now.

i'm not sure what kind of story he wants to do but he sent me a message letting me know that he would be happy to help spread the word as well as a few questions to add to the story. it's because of you guys over here that this got it's legs. thank y'all so much. I also got a message from Shon's mother today and she is going to be e-mailing me a statement from the family. I told her to send Bruce a message on facebook as well so maybe we can get something big rolling.

hopefully, since the tigersx.com link is on the fund tribute, the site picks up some extra traffic

Did you try to contact anyone else at ESPN besides Bruce Feldman?

GH2001 · « **Reply #162 on:** April 28, 2010, 03:38:44 PM »

Quote from: wareagle044 on April 28, 2010, 02:23:39 PM

chopper is right. here i am to spread that news to you guys. also, someone was wearing their t-shirt at Tiger Prowl and there is a thread solely dedicated to it on the bunker now.

i'm not sure what kind of story he wants to do but he sent me a message letting me know that he would be happy to help spread the word as well as a few questions to add to the story. it's because of you guys over here that this got it's legs. thank y'all so much. I also got a message from Shon's mother today and she is going to be e-mailing me a statement from the family. I told her to send Bruce a message on facebook as well so maybe we can get something big rolling.

hopefully, since the tigersx.com link is on the fund tribute, the site picks up some extra traffic

Pretty awesome dude. Thats how we (Auburn family) roll. Everyone else needs to know this.

Godfather · « **Reply #163 on:** April 28, 2010, 03:55:28 PM »

Quote from: wareagle044 on April 28, 2010, 02:23:39 PM

chopper is right. here i am to spread that news to you guys. also, someone was wearing their t-shirt at Tiger Prowl and there is a thread solely dedicated to it on the bunker now.

i'm not sure what kind of story he wants to do but he sent me a message letting me know that he would be happy to help spread the word as well as a few questions to add to the story. it's because of you guys over here that this got it's legs. thank y'all so much. I also got a message from Shon's mother today and she is going to be e-mailing me a statement from the family. I told her to send Bruce a message on facebook as well so maybe we can get something big rolling.

hopefully, since the tigersx.com link is on the fund tribute, the site picks up some extra traffic

It's all you buddy, were just here to help. Let me know if you need anything, I have pretty much exhausted all my contacts.

wareagle044 · « **Reply #164 on:** April 28, 2010, 04:16:35 PM »

I contacted, Bruce Feldman, Ivan Maisel, and Chris Low. I also sent the guy from Sports Illustrated a message through his mailbag.

We're under 1000.00 to our overall goal and I might bump the goal up if we get there sometime today to 15,000.00 if this story busts open.

AWK · « **Reply #165 on:** April 28, 2010, 04:27:49 PM »

Quote from: wareagle044 on April 28, 2010, 02:23:39 PM

chopper is right. here i am to spread that news to you guys. also, someone was wearing their t-shirt at Tiger Prowl and there is a thread solely dedicated to it on the bunker now.

i'm not sure what kind of story he wants to do but he sent me a message letting me know that he would be happy to help spread the word as well as a few questions to add to the story. it's because of you guys over here that this got it's legs. thank y'all so much. I also got a message from Shon's mother today and she is going to be e-mailing me a statement from the family. I told her to send Bruce a message on facebook as well so maybe we can get something big rolling.

hopefully, since the tigersx.com link is on the fund tribute, the site picks up some extra traffic

Yeah, it's all you buddy. The only traffic we care about here is to your charity site.

Godfather · « **Reply #166 on:** April 28, 2010, 05:05:41 PM »

Quote from: wareagle044 on April 28, 2010, 04:16:35 PM

I contacted, Bruce Feldman, Ivan Maisel, and Chris Low. I also sent the guy from Sports Illustrated a message through his mailbag.

We're under 1000.00 to our overall goal and I might bump the goal up if we get there sometime today to 15,000.00 if this story busts open.

screw that bump it to 30k at min 20k

wareagle044 · « **Reply #167 on:** April 28, 2010, 07:13:04 PM »

just curious if the t-shirt thread over on the bunker netted anymore support for those tonight.

wareagle044 · « **Reply #168 on:** April 29, 2010, 01:26:00 AM »

Shon's mom speaks....

djsimp · « **Reply #169 on:** April 29, 2010, 08:08:54 AM »

I teared, I'm not gonna lie. Keep praying for this family in all areas of their lives; mentally, emotionally, spritually and financially. Oh yeah, and a big War Eagle! to you we044.

Godfather · « **Reply #170 on:** April 29, 2010, 08:47:42 AM »

Quote from: wareagle044 on April 28, 2010, 07:13:04 PM

just curious if the t-shirt thread over on the bunker netted anymore support for those tonight.

10-4 about 7 shirts

Godfather · « **Reply #171 on:** April 29, 2010, 08:52:38 AM »

J,

Would you tell Shon's mom that we would like to send her a couple of shirts, one for her and Shon. Can you get sizes and PM me an address. Thanks!

jadennis · « **Reply #172 on:** April 29, 2010, 02:26:51 PM »

From Feldman's ESPN blog...

Quote

Josiah Greene's fight for Shon Coleman
April, 29, 2010
Apr 29
8:55
AM ET
Comment Print Email Share

I'm midway through my swing through the Pacific Northwest schools in the Pac-10 and had planned on writing today about the Washington Huskies (I saw them two days ago). But another story came up that I'd really like to discuss.

I received an interesting note into my inbox Tuesday from an Auburn student deployed overseas with his Army Reserve unit on a peacekeeping mission to Kosovo. It's always great to hear from our troops. Josiah Greene's letter was especially intriguing. Here it is:

"I am currently stationed on Camp Bondsteel," the note said. "I will be making a 25 km road march hosted by the Danish Army called the Dancon. About a month ago when the initial news of Auburn signee, Shon Coleman, having cancer came out, I started a tribute fund with St. Jude with his mother's permission. In a matter of 3 weeks time I have raised about $7,600.00 in honor of Shon for research at St. Jude. I have been trying to spread the word around and set a goal of $10,000.00 for the fund. This has been a rather grassroots effort of me promoting to family, friends, auburn message boards, etc. I thought maybe with some bigger exposure to not just SEC rival fans but fans of college football around the nation we could make a huge, huge impact for children fighting against this terrible disease. This fund bears Shon Coleman's name, but the fund reaches far beyond that and I would really love to get any and everyone that I can involved."

This is obviously a moving gesture. Coleman, as you may recall, is the blue-chip offensive tackle recruit whom many analysts said was the top prospect in Mississippi in the 2010 class. Late last month, Tigers coach Gene Chizik disclosed that the 6-foot-7, 285-pound Coleman was dealing with a "medical issue," which his mom explained was cancer.

I traded e-mails with Josiah, a 25-year-old who has been in the military for six years, to find out about how the fund came about.

"I have a passion for being a positive influence in the lives of young people and hope to channel that into becoming a teacher someday," says Greene, an animal science major. "The older and more experience I can take with me, however, will allow me to make a bigger and better difference for kids in the future."

"I have been in Kosovo for six months. This will be the fourth Road march that I have flown the Auburn flag in since being in country. All three being in honor of something to do with Auburn, the first one was in honor of the Iron Bowl so I called it the Beat Bama Dancon since it took place the week of the Iron Bowl. Another was in memory of the Bataan Death March from WWII, so I marched in honor of Lt. Oel Johnson c/o '34. He was an Auburn alum and survivor of those horrific events. When news of Shon's diagnosis came out, it only made sense to give him some encouragement and support by flying the flag for him. I have shared the past marches with the Auburn family back home and wanted to do something to get them involved, so I researched ways to raise money and support for cancer research which brought me to the St. Jude Tribute site."

"I knew through Caringbridge and various Auburn message boards that Shon's mother was active on Facebook, so i took the time to look her up and make sure it would be okay to do this in honor of Shon. She approved about a day later, so I set it up so that all donations received would put an e-mail in her inbox letting her know about it. My parents told me that cards have been showing up at the house from St. Jude for this same purpose so I am having them collect those to give to Shon and his family upon my return home."

To say Shon's mother was touched would be an understatement. "When I originally was contacted by Josiah several weeks ago regarding his plan to honor Shon I was really moved," says DeKeisha Tunstall, Shon's mother. "His original e-mail actually brought tears to my eyes."

Greene said because he wasn't sure how the fund would be viewed in regard to NCAA regulations he tried to keep things are "grassroots" as possible, so he circulated it via message boards, Facebook pages and Twitter. "I did, however, receive an e-mail back from Coach [Gene] Chizik thanking me for rallying people in support of not just Shon but other kids," Greene said. "To me, that e-mail was meant for not me, but everyone coming together to show love and support, so I posted that publicly to various message boards."

"Once I posted it to the Auburn family, it went pretty viral. There have been donations and support from Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Alabama, Kentucky, and people who have no affiliation to any school or even care for sports. I've really been amazed at how it took off. There was almost $2,000.00 in the first 12 hours of existence. I have to commend the folks back home for all the help and support. A lot of former Auburn football players had it on their Facebook pages, Ben Tate, Jerraud Powers, Quentin Groves, Marcus McNeil. All I did was copy and paste the link. Folks back home made it successful."

Says Tunstall: "Josiah is a very special young man, and for him to do this is truly amazing. Neither he nor any of the St. Jude donors have ever met my son or family, but they care enough to donate to ensure that Shon and other St. Jude patients continue to receive the best care available. That just means so much. Every donor is literally saving a child's life.

"Since Shon's diagnosis several weeks ago there has been such a huge outpouring of love and support from across the country, and that support is what helps us face this devastating disease head-on every day. It is really amazing that everyone is lending a hand. St. Jude has received donations from our Auburn family, and other schools who would normally be fierce football rivals to AU. In this situation rivalries have been set aside to meet a common goal. It's a beautiful thing, and we are so grateful."

For updates on how Shon is doing, you can go to this journal his mom is keeping online at the CaringBridge site.

Godfather · « **Reply #173 on:** April 29, 2010, 02:33:05 PM »

Quote from: jadennis on April 29, 2010, 02:26:51 PM

From Feldman's ESPN blog...

Thats awesome, although I wish he would have mentioned the St. Jude link.

wareagle044 · « **Reply #174 on:** April 29, 2010, 03:36:13 PM »

i noticed he actually does link the fund through text in his actual blog as well as a link to the danish march.

djsimp · « **Reply #175 on:** April 29, 2010, 04:16:46 PM »

I teared again.

wareagle044 · « **Reply #176 on:** April 29, 2010, 09:38:22 PM »

possibly another news story in the works with WTVM-Columbus. I will keep you posted if it works out.

wareagle044 · « **Reply #177 on:** April 30, 2010, 10:29:05 AM »

Chris Low posted in his blog today. This is very cool.
http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/10571/fighting-cancer-in-honor-of-coleman

GH2001 · « **Reply #178 on:** April 30, 2010, 02:41:40 PM »

All debates on this board aside, you are one great American brother! I salute you. Good job.

War Eagle!!! · « **Reply #179 on:** April 30, 2010, 07:38:24 PM »

It's truly incredible what you have done. Great job man. This story truly is an inspiration.It's amazing the act of one person can have such a huge affect.