Norm Sands Kick Cancer Fund

Norm Sands is an award-winning music educator. A graduate of Penn State, Norm taught elementary music and in the Real Initiative in the Bellefonte Area School District for 10 years before moving to Deep South Texas. He taught in Donna Independent School District, Sharyland Independent School District, and La Joya Independent School District. Norm was elected Teacher of the Year several times in his career, received a Citation of Excellence from the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, and received the Elementary Lifetime Achievement Award from the HEB Excellence in Education Awards in 2015 from the state of Texas.

Norm has written over 24 books for music instruction and was published by Wide World Music, Shawnee Press, and Plank Road Publishing where he served as a contributing editor and a regular featured composer in their main publication Music K-8 Magazine. With a passion for theater and singing, Norm was featured in several musicals and plays while he lived in Pennsylvania and continued that endeavor after moving to South Texas where he performed on the University of Texas Pan American stage (now UT Rio Grande Valley) in several musicals and plays.

Norm retired from teaching in 2016 and found a new passion, being Santa Claus. His striking white beard spurred him to give it a try and very quickly became known as “McAllen’s Santa” in McAllen, Texas. He even landed the biggest Santa gig as the featured Santa in the well-known McAllen Holiday Parade for four years.

In June 2022, Norm noticed he had a persistent sore throat. He treated it with over-the-counter pain medications until March of 2023 when the pain became extreme. After visiting with several doctors and none knowing what was causing the extreme pain, Norm was sent for an MRI. The test results showed a large tumor on the back of the base of his tongue. Norm was sent immediately to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas where it was confirmed he had stage 1A oropharyngeal cancer. The cancer is inoperable, so the only treatment for it is radiation and chemotherapy for seven consecutive weeks. Not only was Norm devastated to learn this frightening news, but his heart was broken because he knew the treatment would prohibit his Santa work for at least this Christmas season. He canceled all his existing Santa appearances and shaved his beard as the radiation therapy will cause much of it to fall out. To add insult to injury, Norm’s appearances as Santa generated some excellent extra retirement income, but now that is lost.

While Norm has health insurance, as you can imagine that doesn’t begin to cover what he is facing. Bills in the thousands have already come in. Since Norm lives in McAllen, Texas but must be treated in Houston daily, he must move to Houston for two months. Houston is 350 miles away from McAllen and before treatment, there were three trips to Houston. Each of those trips was expensive as gas, airfares, hotels, and food were needed for each of those trips to Houston. Cancer is an incredible burden on its own. But adding to the stress of dealing with cancer, the bills keep coming.

As a result, we have set up this GoFundMe page to help ease Norm’s financial burden while he fights this terrible disease. A lot of money is needed, so any donation you can give no matter how small will be greatly appreciated. Money raised will go toward the maximum out-of-pocket limit on Norm’s insurance, travel expenses, food and necessities while in Houston, and lodging costs.

Thank you in advance for your support!