Chili's Give Back Night for Tucker

Last Wednesday our local Chili's held a Give Back Night to benefit Tucker. A friend of mine had one in May for her son, to help pay for therapy. She told me it was very easy to set up, so I contacted the Chili's. It was easy! I sent them the costs of Tucker's therapy (when people find out the amount we pay weekly for therapy, they look at me kind of funny...like I am making it up...I assure you, I am not! Most of his therapies are covered by insurance, but the few that are not add up quickly), and then I picked a date. The manager made up a flier with the date and Tucker's info on it, then it was my job to get the flyer out to as many people as possible. Customers had to turn in the flier to their server for 10% of the proceeds to go to Tucker. So for the last few weeks we have put the fliers all over facebook, emails, and my grandmas went around handing them out to people who did not have emails. The response was impressive....ridiculous almost:) I got so many emails asking for flyers, from people I didn't even know. I also got many emails and requests from high school and college friends that I hadn't seen in years, but who had been following Tucker's story on facebook and through mutual contacts. On the day of the benefit I brought pictures of Tucker to Chili's and a stack of flyers in case people forgot theirs at home. I saw several people there for lunch, and it was so nice catching up with them. I left to get Tucker from preschool, then took him to eating therapy. He did FANTASTIC at eating therapy that day, he ATE (as in took in, chewed, and swallowed, withOUT gagging) about 20 bites of spaghettios!! YAY!! His therapist said he pretty much made her summer. Once Chris got home from work and got ready, the 3 of us headed over to Chili's. We talked to several families on their way out from dinner, including my Galatas grandparents, Aunt Wendy and Uncle Raymond, and Katti. Then we saw the Schexnaydres and LeGranges, and got caught up with all of them. Thankfully my Lavigne grandparents and Dylan and Gina sat at our table, so we had somewhere to leave our stuff and someone to watch Tucker...we knew almost everyone in the restaurant, so we spent most of the evening talking to people, and very little time sitting down! Tucker ran around, of course, sitting for over an hour is not very appealing to him. Most people had very long waits, up to an hour or more...we saw the Conyers, the Bornes/Vizinats, the Savoys/Kellers, the Pizzutos, Waggenspacks, many Lavignes, many Gonzales Baptist Temple members, so many friends from high school, and of course my sisters each brought people with them. Even before we knew the numbers, we were overwhelmed by the support and turnout. I am posting the Thank You Note I sent out to everyone, it has details about the turnout and how thankful we are. We want to thank everyone for supporting our son at Chili's Give Back Night yesterday. Through lunch, dinner, and take-out orders, you all raised $674 yesterday, meaning that $6740 worth of food and drinks were purchased in honor of Tucker yesterady. We also received several donations which total $545, bringing the total so far up to $1219. This total has surpassed any goals we had in mind, and the Chili's manager assures us it was a fantastic turnout. We were truly overwhelmed last night at the amount of people that showed up to support our family. Over the last few years our family and close friends have stood by us, but to see so many others out there last night both humbled and amazed us. People we hadn't seen in years, People who brought out co-workers and friends, People who brought out their entire families, and People who came out twice in one day....we can't thank you enough! To everyone that posted pictures of Tucker on Facebook and sent emails out...we can't thank you enough! Since Tucker's birth over four years ago, we have been on a Preemie/Medically Fragile rollercoaster, and most of the time we want to hop off. We have seen some incredible highs and gut-wrenching lows. I speak for Chris, Tucker, myself, and our parents, when I say that yesterday had to be one of the highest points in our journey. To know that so many people have been touched by our story, and to know that your thoughts and prayers have been with us these last few years means so much to us....more than I could ever express. For those of you present last night, I hope you got a chance to meet Tucker. He is a blessing to all who meet him, and Chris and I feel it is our job to give him every chance to progress that we can. He attends a special needs preschool this summer, along with 6 therapy sessions each wekk. We are about to end our 3rd week out of 8 weeks, and the progress he has already made with speech and eating this summer has been phenomenal. Thank you all for helping us to keep Tucker enrolled in all of these programs to help him thrive and succeed; we will continue to do all in our power to help this little guy meet his potential. Your help has meant the world to us, thank you all so much! Leigh, Chris, & Tucker Townsend (along with grandparents Tonia & Curtis Galatas and Mia & Ricky Townsend)