At the GiveForward headquarters, we talk about two things, and two things only: pizza and/or puppies. In our minds, these puppies are picturesque, and most likely wearing a silly sweater or encapsulated in a YouTube video.
However, sometimes there are not-so-nice dogs in the world, and unfortunately 4 year old Levi had to find this out the hard way after suffering from a vicious dog attack. Levi’s story is so inspiring, and seeing the amount of love and support his friends and family are showing him on his GiveForward page resulted in his fundraiser being picked as staff pick of the week!
One day, 4 year old Levi was outside in his yard playing frisbee with his two older brothers when the frisbee landed next to his neighbors fence, which contained 6 dogs. When Levi bent down to pick up the frisbee, two dogs attacked, and attempted to pull him through the fence.
Luckily, his brothers are superheroes in training, and were able to call for help and grab Levi away from the dogs. Levi sustained injuries to his eye, nose, check, jaw, shoulder, and arm.
Doctors are unsure if Levi will be able to regain the use of his right arm and his right eye, and they had to rebuild his entire nasal cavity. Levi’s family is raising money for ongoing treatment and rehabilitation.
We encourage you to check out Levi’s page on GiveForward and send some love his way!
Here at GiveForward, we see fundraisers starting everyday by loved ones wanting to support a family member who is going through a medical crisis. However, there is one fundraiser on the site that isn’t just for one person, but 3 members of one family battling cancer at the same time. We chose The Castillo Family Battling Cancer as this week’s staff pick as a chance to send all three members bravely battling cancer lots of love and positive vibes to get well soon!
In 2004, Lilia was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Even after extensive radiation and surgeries, the cancer spread to her lungs and bones. A mere 5 years later in 2009, her brother, Marco, was diagnosed with Lymphoma of the throat. Marco is selflessly volunteering as a cancer research patient at M.D. Anderson Cancer Treatment Center in Houston in hopes that he can contribute to finding a cure for this terrible disease. Living through this is the matriarch of the Castillo family, Beatriz. Unfortunately, Beatriz was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. A fundraiser has been created in hopes of alleviating some of the debt that each Castillo family member faces as a result of their illnesses. Like so many cancer patients, their surgeries, treatments, doctor’s visits, and medications make it difficult for each person to stay afloat. Lilia, Marco, and Beatriz struggle to pay for their daily living expenses that are now coupled with their amounting medical bills. Throughout their family ordeals, every member of the Castillo family remains optimistic and embraces every new day with rejuvenated morale and hope.
Everyone at GiveForward is sending the entire Castillo family lots of love and positive vibes, and we encourage you to check out their GiveForward page and show your support!
The GiveForward Headquarters are located in Chicago and we are constantly bursting with hometown pride. We love all things Lake Michigan, Waynes World, and not putting ketchup on our hot dogs. So when we heard about the fundraiser for native Chicagoan Matt Banchak it hit us close to home, and we decided to make it this week’s staff pick fundraiser.
Covering the cost of an unexpected injury can be a scary prospect for a family already coping with a difficult situation. But this week’s Staff Pick fundraiser is an amazing example of how the local community can rally together to show their support and help a family heal. Matt was returning home from a night out and was randomly attacked, beaten with a metal pipe, and knocked out by three individuals who broke his nose, cheek, and jaw, in addition to stealing his belongings. Matt’s friends and family are raising money to help alleviate some of the financial burden of medical costs and to offset the time away from work Matt will take to focus on his recovery. In a little over one week they have been able to raise over $6,000 on Matt’s GiveForward page.
Everyone here at GiveForward is sending Matt positive vibes for a speedy recovery. We hope the outpouring of love and support for Matt inspires you as much as it inspires us! Please take a minute to check out Matt’s story and send some love his way.
