“I met Sarah about 10 years ago,” said Sami Love of Kettering,” My boyfriend is a bass player for a local jam band and we met at a concert for mutual friends and we just started hanging out and going to concerts.”
Sarah and Love ended up having babies a year apart and coincidentally hired the same babysitter to look after their children while they worked.
“All of us moms are tight-knit and supportive, so when Sarah got sick we knew we had to do something to come together for her family,” Love said.
Sarah was diagnosed with asthma as a child and struggled with the disease all her life. But regardless of her illness, she was known for a contagious sense of humor and had a wide circle of friends.
Love, along with Carol Brad, who worked with Sarah’s mom, Kim Vesey, approached Sue Brandell and her husband Jimmie, owners of Jimmie’s Ladder 11 in Dayton about hosting a fundraiser at their restaurant to support the family.
“I was approached by Carol and her daughter, who coincidentally will be marrying my son in December,” Brandell said.
At that time, Sarah was still on life support and the fundraiser was to raise money to help the family with medical expenses.
“We knew we needed to put it together quickly,” Brandell said. “Because Sarah’s condition was grave but also we hoped to have it while she was still with us because we knew how much Sarah loved music.”
Brandell had met Sarah through the music scene at her restaurant after it first opened in November 2011.
The date for the fundraiser, dubbed #StayStrongforSarah was July 6. But Sarah passed away before the event.
Love worked to book local bands, Sway, Cheezcake, Sub T and the Ohio Allstars, all bands that originated in Dayton. And between the hours of 6 and 9:30 p.m. a percentage of food and beverage sales was donated to the cause. The event continued until about 2 a.m.
“I worked with my friend Jamie McGee to put together gift baskets that we also raffled off,” Love said. “I’m estimating that throughout the night we had about 200 people attending.”
Brad said she was pleased with the outcome, especially since she knew how much this meant to the family she has known for so many years.
“I have seen every single time Sarah has been in the hospital,” Brad said. “Her asthma was so bad. I have seen her struggle her entire life.”
Brad said the money raised from this event will help the family not only with medical expenses but with educational expenses for Sarah’s son and living expenses for Laravie since he wasn’t able to work full-time while Sarah was hospitalized.
“The benefit theme made perfect sense because Sarah was a major fan of music,” Brad said. “She loved to design art and pictures and in addition to being a loving mom, she loved music. She and Corey loved to go to Jimmie’s and listen to the bands there.”
The benefit ended up raising about $4,000 to help the family and Brad said it was very gratifying to see how many people came to help the family”
“At the very difficult time in my life, I was simply overwhelmed by the concern and care of so many of Sarah’s friends,” said Kim (Sarah’s mom). “The event at Jimmie’s was certainly well organized and successful and I am truly grateful to everyone involved. The greatest gift I received that night was meeting Sarah’s friends and hearing stories of her kindness and self-sacrifice. We lost an amazing bright young soul and have been forever changed. I will hold the memories of that night in my heart forever.”
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