Archive for Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Benefit event raises funds for kidney transplant
Randy Freeman, front, performs Saturday with his band Johnny Rockit and Weekend Rockstars. The band was one of five bands who performed at the Randy Freeman/Terry Long Kidney Donation Benefit event.
August 10, 2010
Johnny Rockit and the Weekend Rockstars
Edwardsville resident Randy Freeman, lead singer, performs with his band Johnny Rockit and the Weekend Rockstars Saturday during a benefit event organized in his honor. The event was to raise money for Terry Long, a friend of Freeman who has agreed to donate a kidney to Freeman. Enlarge video
A crowd filled the Speedway Grill Saturday in support of a local resident about to undergo a kidney transplant.
The benefit was planned to raise money for Terry Long, who has offered to donate one of his kidneys to longtime friend and Edwardsville resident Randy Freeman. Freeman and his family, which includes his mother, Phyllis Freeman, city clerk of Edwardsville, said prior to the event that the benefit was to help Terry pay his bills during his leave of absence from work for recovering following the transplant surgery.
The benefit started with a Poker Run motorcycle ride and was followed by a night of live music, raffles and a silent auction. Randy played guitar and sang in three of the bands that day — Johnny Rockit and the Weekend Rockstars, Low Jones and Run Around Naked. Two other bands — Lucid Fiction and Lost Dog — followed.
Freeman began his battle with kidney failure in 2008 when his blood pressure skyrocketed and he became extremely ill. Following several tests and attempts to lower his blood pressure, which was required before he could go on the national transplant list, both of Freeman’s kidneys were removed. He now goes through dialysis treatment three times a week.
“There is no place I’d rather be,” Freeman told the Speedway Grill crowd prior to playing his first song. “I’m so glad to be here and to be alive.”
A date for the transplant surgery has yet to be set, but Freeman said he expects the surgery to take place between now and the end of September.
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Point of View
The postal service is cutting back hours at some rural post offices. How often do you go to the post office?
“For my own personal use, I only go a couple times a year to mail gifts, usually around Christmas and family birthdays. At that time I usually buy a couple books of stamps that last for most of the year! For professional use, I go a couple times a month to check our PO Box.”
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