Amy Hopkins needs our help after open heart surgery!

[Clint Searcy]

Fantastic work with the new auction guys!! We have also had a few paypal donations. This calls for a new totals update I think.

$7584 = The PayPal account total so far. This includes Indiegogo, Mario's pick guards, The MIMF Bass, and Straight paypal donations.
$1500 = Deb straight to Amy
$1000 = MIMF auction.

Total $10,084!!!!

This does not include a few hundred that have been give the to Alicia and I by friends in cash that we have sent straight to Amy. It also does not include the concert for Amy.

While we haven't put all of Amy's money worries behind her I think we can all be proud of this effort!! The Indiegogo effort has 12 days left to go and I would like to see it pick up a few more bucks before it closes.

http://www.indiegogo.com/AmyHheart?c=home

Amy has a very good monthly payment plan set up with the hospital. Her part of the bill is going to be about $25,000 total. These MIMF efforts and the concert are going to get her better than half way there I think.




I hate to get melodramatic here but Amy just celebrated a birthday. Without the operation her Dr. said it would have been her last.

[Darrel Friesen]

Good news Clint.

[Arnt Rian]

Thanks for your continued effort on this Clint, and to everyone else who has helped out. I'm proud to be a member of such a fine group of people. Amy, I hope you are doing well!

[Ron Belanger]

+1 Arnt

[Charlie Schultz]

Belated Happy Birthday Amy and many more!

[Matthew Lau]

Happy belated birthday

[amy hopkins]

Thank you all so much! I'm sorry I have not come in here, my computer has been on the blink for a while but I have it sort of rigged up with a borrowed monitor now. I'm not spending an extra penny on anything til this bill is paid, I've never been in debt before or owned a credit card or anything. Hard as it is for me to accept it, this money is such a huge help, I'm paying off Johns Hopkins monthly and giving them extra each time some comes in. They really kept the cost down also, thirty thousand is way less what this would have been had it gone through insurance companies. With all the donations from the wonderful folks who have helped, I can pay them off in two or three years, that is fantastic!! Able to work with less stopping to rest also and I'm teaching again a couple evenings a week. I'm able to care for Dad and keep the firewood supply going although it is hard pulling the pull start on the chainsaw and splitter still. I'm not ready for a flood restoration trip to New Jersey yet, that kind of thing will have to wait another year or so. Thank you everyone so much, being able to pay this bill without laying awake at night worrying so much is wonderful.

[Simon Magennis]

Just wondering id there is an update on how Amy is doing these days?

[Jim McConkey]

A couple months back she was complaining she still couldn't chop wood very well, but I just heard from her the other day and she seems to be doing great!

[Jim McConkey]

Update! Yesterday was Amy's one year anniversary since the surgery and I can report that she is better than new! To celebrate, she helped me play a unique underground dance in Grand Caverns, formerly Weyer's Cave, in Virginia. The cave has its own Ballroom, and was the site of the first known underground dance circa 1806. The cave has a long tradition of Grand Illumination and Balls, where the cave is lit up with hundreds of candles for cool summertime entertainment. We recreated such a dance last night as part of the park's annual Heritage Day celebration. In a nod to modern sensibility, some of the candles are LED these days - it cuts down on the number of dresses that catch on fire!

Amy's last words before being rolled into surgery last year were reportedly "You have no idea what a cool gig I had to miss for this!" What a better way to celebrate her anniversary! Nearly 100 dancers, mostly in "period" costumes, showed up for this very unique dance, and dancers, caller, and musicians all had a blast. Amy is (obviously) on fiddle, and me on dulcimer., cittern and flute, with musical friends Danny, Mike, Mike, and Erich helping out on guitar, bodhran, mandolin, button accordion and tenor banjo, and Becca Dennison calling. We can't wait for next year's dance...

[Charlie Schultz]

Awesome! Thanks for the update Jim.

[Darrel Friesen]

Awesome! Thanks for the update Jim.

Plus one on that Jim. Great to hear good news on Amy.

[Jim McConkey]

Coolest place on the planet to play!

[Matthew Lau]

How is Amy doing?

[Jim McConkey]

Amy is doing great! Just saw her last month at a jam. She is still repairing instruments by day and playing by night, crazy as ever and completely recovered from the surgery.

[Matthew Lau]

Give her my regards.