Support Shane's Battle with ALS

Hello, dear friends. Lunch Break wanted to take a moment and share with you all what's been going on lately in our quartet family. Many of you may already be aware, but our tenor Shane publicly shared the news recently that he has been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, aka Lou Gehrig's Disease) after well over a year of battling symptoms, working with doctors to rule out possible causes, and long stints in rehabilitation centers.

This news was heartbreaking for us and for everyone who calls him a friend and a brother. And while each of us in the quartet has had a chance to visit with Shane down in Tampa over the past month or so to hug his neck, talk with him, love him, and try our best to encourage him and lift his spirits, it's safe to say that it was Shane who actually has lifted our spirits. He's encouraged us. He has shown us love, he's laughed with us, cried with us, and we're positive that anyone reading this who has had a chance to visit with Shane following his diagnoses has the SAME story to share. His body has been broken by this horrible disease, but his spirit is indomitable. His voice is being silenced by the onset of mid/late stage ALS, but every word he says is full of life and joy. His ability to move on his own has been taken away, but his mind is razor sharp with the same (dare we say, insufferable?) wit and charm we know and love. In the midst of this, the greatest battle of his life, Shane is still very much Shane.

Shane's been very fortunate to be surrounded by a tremendous support group including his church congregation who has stepped up in an incalculable way, and friends, family, and colleagues who have provided food, care, and critical support both physically and financially when he's needed it the most.

But perhaps the most enthusiastic support and encouragement he's received has been from the barbershop community who has journeyed with Lunch Break down our strange comedy road over the years we were active as a quartet. Even just a year ago, he shared over the phone during one of his stints in physical rehabilitation how overwhelming it was to hear from so many barbershoppers who reached out in love and support and encouragement. And since his official diagnosis just a few months ago, the rest of us in Lunch Break while on our barbershop trips across Society events and barbershop gatherings are constantly being asked about Shane's well being. We're asked to give him their best, their prayers, their love, and their encouragement. To those who have asked us about him and expressed their love and support, we THANK YOU so much from the bottom of our hearts. You have no idea how much that means to us and to Shane.

And we have something we'd like to offer you! You see, many years ago when DVD technology was a thing that existed, Lunch Break produced a DVD of live performances, contest sets, interviews, and special features, and we sold it at our gigs, and it was great fun to make and we think it's great fun to watch. We're not entirely sure 100%, but we do think it's pretty fun. And even all these years later, after we completed all our gigs, we ended up with a stach of nearly 300 copies that we've not really known what to do with.

So we thought that one way we could rally together as a community to show support for Shane would be to offer each of you a chance to buy one copy of whatever we have left over at a price that you can decide, with all proceeds going to help Shane's exorbitantly expensive health care costs required to adjust to the progression of this disease. Around-the-clock care is still needed, more equipment is needed to provide him the means necessary to communicate and be mobile, and more is needed to secure the specialized transportation required to take him where he needs to go. Every dollar you can give will go towards Shane finding the highest quality of life he can possibly have during this phase of his life.

The good news is, you'll be able to help our brother Shane out and end up with one of our amazing DVDs. Bad news is, you'll probably have to find a DVD player to play it in. And more bad news: It's a Lunch Break DVD. So... yeah, but we guarantee you'll enjoy at least one aspect of this DVD. "Yeah, when it was finally over." Hah, touché.

Seriously, friends, even if you're not able to donate to Shane's care through this DVD offer, what you are always welcome to do is reach out to Shane and show him some love and that you're thinking about him and praying for him. Your words lift him up in ways you can't imagine. And while it's become difficult for Shane to respond directly to emails, messages, texts, or phone calls, his caregivers have been able to relay back to him everything that comes to him and help him reply as best as he can.

***After you donate, we will send you a “Thank You Note” with instructions where to send your mailing address for mailing the DVD to you, should you desire to receive one.

With love and with squirrel,

Shane, Eddie, KJ, Drew, and Mike