Kids Helping Kids

Emily Simon with her big bro Nick at Dangerbird HQ.

Emily and Nick took their support of The Pablove Foundation very seriously. Using Facebook and old fashioned in-person contact, the duo asked their friends to donate whatever they could in exchange for Pablove tee shirts and stickers. That $233 bankroll in Emily's hand is the result of the cash they collected. When I see a 14-year-old high school freshman and an 18-year-old college freshman taking leadership roles in their community, it's very moving to me. Makes me feel like our message and our purpose is clear and is triggering people into action. So many of you have made contributions to the foundation, and each one of them is important to us. I knew I had to feature these guys, because of their ages, and the age of the people who contributed to the funds. Kids helping kids. Beautiful.

I know where Emily and Nick get their dedication to others. Their dad, Adam, is a dear friend of ours. He's the insurance agent for our company's healthcare plan, and a helluva cyclist. Adam and his staff helped us out when we'd receive a mid-six-figure bill that was miscoded and sent to us for payment; or when we were billed twice for the same procedure; or, our fave, when we were charged for someone else's treatment. Knowing that Adam had our back—day or night—took all of these things out of the 'urgent' category, and allowed us to focus on Pablo. We would've had many more sleepless nights during Pablo's treatment if it weren't for the commitment Adam made to us when I called him the morning of Sunday May 18, 2008.

When Adam called to arrange a meeting with him and his kids, he said his kids had something special for Pablove. I wasn't expecting Emily to turn up with a Texas bankroll. When she dropped it on me yesterday, it brought a giant smile to my face. Pablo had a cash wad exactly like that. Except his was movie money from the Hollywood Costume Company.