Coffee sleeves serve greater purpose
Stacey Howe
Issue date: 1/30/09 Section: News
Adams Street Coffee has started a fundraiser to raise money for Shaymus Guinn, a 7-year-old boy with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. The coffee shop will be selling $1 sleeves for coffee cups, colored green to honor the Guinn's Irish heritage.
Adams Street Coffee's owner, Mark Bloom, is hoping to raise $2,500 by St. Patrick's Day, March 17. So far, over $300 has been contributed.
"We're not asking for the shirt off their back, but how about a sleeve?" said Bloom. "Macomb has a big heart, and while our insulated cups don't need sleeves, Shaymus does. I hope there are a lot of green-clad cups traveling about Macomb the next two months."
Shaymus is the son of Tony
and Karla Guinn. His father, Tony Guinn, has been Western Illinois University's women's soccer team coach for two years, and also teaches in the kinesiology department. Bloom came to know the Guinn family when they became regulars at the coffee shop.
Guinn began to notice a change in the way his second grader was walking. After searching for answers, they found Shaymus had a lump on his knee, causing him to limp as he walked. This lump became cancer. Before they knew about the cancer, the Guinn family was going to adopt a 3-year-old girl from Mexico, but once Shaymus was diagnosed, the adoption plans had to be put aside.
"Shaymus is handling things better than we are," his father said, according to the press release. "He wakes up smiling every morning, and the nurses fight over who gets to take care of him. It's amazing." To cheer up some of the children on his ward, Shaymus creates drawings for them every day.
"He will ask the other kids what they like, then he'll go draw them these beautiful pictures or build them a Lego sculpture. Professors from the art department at WIU have viewed drawings made by second graders in Macomb. All of them want to meet Shaymus. I don't know where he gets it from - I can't draw," said Guinn, who now commutes two and a half hours Monday through Thursday to continue teaching.
Shaymus is currently being treated at the University of Iowa hospital, so the family had to move to Iowa City. He is receiving chemotherapy, although his first round of treatment caused severe side effects to his gallbladder and pancreas. When his gallbladder is removed, the treatment will continue for a year. Doctors also have a list of additional recommended options, such as stem cell harvesting and replacement and other potential surgeries.
In addition to Bloom's efforts to raise funds for Shaymus, other local organizations are also asking how they can help.
For more information and updates about Shaymus Guinn, go to www.carepages.com where you can register and search for his care page.
Adams Street Coffee's owner, Mark Bloom, is hoping to raise $2,500 by St. Patrick's Day, March 17. So far, over $300 has been contributed.
"We're not asking for the shirt off their back, but how about a sleeve?" said Bloom. "Macomb has a big heart, and while our insulated cups don't need sleeves, Shaymus does. I hope there are a lot of green-clad cups traveling about Macomb the next two months."
Shaymus is the son of Tony
and Karla Guinn. His father, Tony Guinn, has been Western Illinois University's women's soccer team coach for two years, and also teaches in the kinesiology department. Bloom came to know the Guinn family when they became regulars at the coffee shop.
Guinn began to notice a change in the way his second grader was walking. After searching for answers, they found Shaymus had a lump on his knee, causing him to limp as he walked. This lump became cancer. Before they knew about the cancer, the Guinn family was going to adopt a 3-year-old girl from Mexico, but once Shaymus was diagnosed, the adoption plans had to be put aside.
"Shaymus is handling things better than we are," his father said, according to the press release. "He wakes up smiling every morning, and the nurses fight over who gets to take care of him. It's amazing." To cheer up some of the children on his ward, Shaymus creates drawings for them every day.
"He will ask the other kids what they like, then he'll go draw them these beautiful pictures or build them a Lego sculpture. Professors from the art department at WIU have viewed drawings made by second graders in Macomb. All of them want to meet Shaymus. I don't know where he gets it from - I can't draw," said Guinn, who now commutes two and a half hours Monday through Thursday to continue teaching.
Shaymus is currently being treated at the University of Iowa hospital, so the family had to move to Iowa City. He is receiving chemotherapy, although his first round of treatment caused severe side effects to his gallbladder and pancreas. When his gallbladder is removed, the treatment will continue for a year. Doctors also have a list of additional recommended options, such as stem cell harvesting and replacement and other potential surgeries.
In addition to Bloom's efforts to raise funds for Shaymus, other local organizations are also asking how they can help.
For more information and updates about Shaymus Guinn, go to www.carepages.com where you can register and search for his care page.
Be the first to comment on this story