The beginning...

A little over a year ago, Chad's stepdad, Greg Seibert, suffered a completely unexpected spinal stroke, which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Although they had health insurance, the medical bills and costs of renovating their home to be handicap-accessible were an enormous financial burden on Greg and his wife, Jeanne, compounded by Greg's inability to work.

It was so heart-wrenching to watch our parents go through this crisis. We decided to help in the only way we knew how: to throw a party. We certainly couldn't help Greg walk again, but we could attempt to take some of the financial burden off of them. So we went to work.

We tried to come up with an event that would be fun for people to go to and a little different. After a lot of brainstorming, we decided on organizing a Taste of Edwardsville. The response to the idea and to Greg and Jeanne's story was overwhelming. We were able to raise $42,000 in one evening and have a great party at the same time.

The power and generosity of the Edwardsville community (along with the convincing of a few specific people) inspired us to start a tradition. We really want to extend the kindness we witnessed from the community to other families. And that is how Edwardsville Neighbors in Need was born. We plan to build a foundation through fund-raising that will be available to families in the community who have suffered a medical crisis and have specific financial needs. We will accept nominations and help as many families as we can.

So thank you for visiting our blog, and check back often for updates. We'll post information about fund-raising as well as families we are able to help. And please e-mail us at edwneighborsinneed@gmail.com for more information or to nominate a family in need.

Thank you,

Chad & Kathie Opel