Caps 4 Sam - Hats Off !!
A special page for some special stories

Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority
9 girls from Sigma Sigma Sigma helped out a "race central" (aka Sam's grandparents' home) helping to fill 721 race bags for the 2008 Caps 4 Sam race day !

Phi Kappa Sigma Fraternity
Outstanding support and hard work in selling caps and getting the word out about the 2007 and 2008 Caps 4 Sam race events!

NIU Huskies Men's Baseball Team
Sam was invited to be the bat boy for the NIU Men's Baseball Team. "Hats Off" to the Huskies!


Running out to get a bat.

Got it.

A well deserved break.

We win.

Oh, no. More bats.

Girl Scouts
The girls in this Sycamore Girl Scout troop are the same age as Sam. Their leader, Mrs. Paulsen, was touched by the newspaper article. The girls designed hat cards out of construction paper and mailed them to Sam shortly after his surgery. They also sent a significant donation to Caps 4 Sam and sent Sam some Family Fun Center passes to make him smile. The troop invited Sam to share his story. These pictures are from that visit on Monday, April 11. "Hats Off" to all these girls and their kind leaders!

McKenna Teboda
McKenna Teboda is a fifth grader at St. Mary School, DeKalb. Instead of gifts, McKenna asked her friends to bring donations for Caps 4 Sam to her birthday party. This was an amazing gesture. We are very grateful to McKenna and her friends, whose donation totals $575 !! For this, McKenna, her friends, and the Tebodas deserve a "Hats Off"!


McKenna is modeling a hat which was embellished by our friends at Cracker Jax!

DeKalb High School Boy's Basketball Team
Very shortly after Sam came home from the hospital, Sue and Lucas Klatt brought Sam a special surprise from Coach Chuck Schramm and the DHS boy's basketball team. The boys and coaches had pictures taken with each of them wearing a "Caps 4 Sam" cap. Sam received two framed pictures from the team! These pictures are now prominently displayed in Sam's bedroom. What a heartfelt gift to receive from a team that Sam truly admires, now more so than ever. "Hats Off" to the Barbs!

NIU Huskies Men's Basketball Team
As you probably know, Sam is a huge NIU Huskies fan. On the day before Sam's surgery, thanks to Dan's co-workers, Coach Rob Judson and the NIU Huskies Men's Basketball Team invited Sam to visit one of their practices. As you can see from these pictures he thoroughly enjoyed this visit and it really helped take his mind off of the upcoming date with the doctors. "Hats Off" to the Huskies!

Meeting Coach Judson ...swish...	Getting some autographs The players love getting out of practice Shooting hoops on the main floor!
A group photo with the coaches and players

St. Mary Church Hispanic Community
Shortly after Sam's surgery, a prayer group from St. Mary Church visited our home to pray with us and sing with us. All of the prayers have certainly helped Sam and his family on this difficult journey. Our friends also brought us a special basket which contained some wonderful items for everyone. We are truly blessed to be surrounded with such wonderful people in our community.
"Hats Off" to our friends at St. Mary!

Clinton Rosette Girl's Basketball
Coach Tim Vincent told us that the girls basketball teams had asked him about meeting Sam so we arranged for a visit to one of their practices. Sam was very excited to meet both the 7th and 8th grade teams and watch them practice. He also got to spend some time shooting around in the gyms. As a special surprise for Sam, he received an basketball with autographs of all of the future WNBA stars!
For this, the Clinton Rosette girls basketball teams deserve a "Hats Off"!

Unfortunatly we didn't have our camera with us so we were unable to get a picture of all of the girls (please send us your pictures, girls!). But we did snap some pictures of Tim and our boys (Sadie was fast asleep on the couch!).