Benefit raises $4,700 for Brandon Ayers
Jennifer Roblez
Friday, August 31, 2007
The Ayers family enjoys a rock n’ roll benefit at Natasha’s on Aug. 24 for Brandon Ayers, who has an arteriovenous malformation or AVM. The big smiles, from left, belong to his sister Shelley Ayers; father, Jim Ayers; sister Jamie Scott; mother, Shirley Ayers and Brandon Ayers.
When Brandon Ayers is wheeled into an operating room next month for his third procedure to shut off an abnormal collection of blood vessels in his brain, he’ll remember the hundreds of people who raised nearly $5,000 for him on a sultry summer night.
Within 30 minutes of the start of the Brandon Ayers Rock-n-Roll Benefit Concert, Natasha’s downstairs was packed with about 400 benefit patrons. They were hungry and thirsty and ate up a bunch of Wheat State Pizza, given free by the restaurant. Many sported new tattoos from nearby Monarch Tattoo, another event sponsor.
“It was amazing — awesome,” Ayers said this week while relaxing with benefit organizer Jason Chandler at Natasha’s. “I couldn’t put it into words. There are a lot of very generous people in this town.”
The DeWayn Bros., the Highwater String Band and Elexa Dawson & the Hitchhikers provided the rock n’ roll and downtown Emporia businesses contributed diamond rings and other merchandise for a not-so-silent auction and raffle. Ayers is the son of Brown’s Shoe Fit owner Jim Ayers.
The benefit raised $4,700, about $2,000 more than organizers expected. Proceeds will be used to help with Ayers’ medical expenses. His condition — cerebral arteriovenous malformation — can cause severe and often fatal strokes. U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota is just now returning to the Senate after suffering a brain bleed last December. The character Nate Fisher on the HBO television show “Six Feet Under” died from AVM.
Brandon Ayers is hoping for the day he can return to holding down a job and planning his future.
“There was so much more support than I anticipated,” he said. “It feels good knowing all those people are in my corner.”
Donations still can be sent to the Brandon Ayers Medical Fund at ESB Financial, 801 Merchant St., Emporia, KS 66801. For more information, call the bank at 342-3454 or e-mail esbtrust@esbtrust.com.
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