Drew Telesky is on a mission to fight
childhood cancer. With the support of his father Matt Telesky (who is one of
NYCM’s Special Investigation Unit Supervisors), along with the rest of his
family, nine-year-old Drew committed to shaving his head as a part of the St.
Baldrick's “Brave the Shave” virtual initiative, which took place in Norwich,
New York on March 13, 2021.
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation was founded
in 2004 and - with the help of people like Drew - has since raised over $300
million dollars for children’s cancer research. NYCM was proud to support the
foundation as this year's Hero Sponsor.
A Philanthropist
At Heart
When Drew was younger, his father came home and asked if anyone would like to contribute toward their family donation to St. Jude’s Hospital. Matt shares that Drew was the first
to reach for money out of his own savings. When asked why he had chosen to donate,
Matt remembers Drew replying that he wanted the money to help kids who needed
more than him. “What was I going to do with it?” he said, “Buy another
nerf-gun?”
It was important to both Matt and his
wife Jennifer that they instill the joy of giving and supporting their community early on. That being said, compassion is within Drew’s nature. In
fact, when asked what inspired him to get involved in the St. Baldrick’s
fundraiser in the first place, Drew told us about how when his mom had brought
it up one day after school,
he knew right away that he wanted to help. “Not all kids are as lucky as me,”
Drew explains, “I want to do what I can to help the ones who need it.”
NYCM employees make a point of following
a set of deep-rooted beliefs that we refer to as our North Star. The North Star
is used as a guide to create positive change within our professional and personal lives. In a discussion about the North Star during one of their weekly team
meetings, Matt had mentioned what his son Drew had set out to accomplish. This
set off the chain of events that led Special Investigation Unit Vice President,
Jim Potts, to shave his head in support of Drew, once he had hit his $2,000 goal.
Jim has only praise for young Drew and
says that he is in awe of the work Drew has done at such a young age. “This is
right in line with our North Star. For a nine-year-old to be participating in
something like this, is just amazing.” Jim goes on to explain that his decision
to join Drew and shave his own head came from wanting to show Drew that he had support and that the good you do, does not go unnoticed.
Drew originally set a goal of raising $2,000, which was quickly surpassed. Upon hitting his
initial target, Drew decided he would set a secondary goal of $3,000. By the
end of this event, Drew had raised $3,512 for the cause. “It really shows you
where his heart
is. Even after his goal had been reached, he wanted to keep going. He’s so very
inspirational.” shared Jim. He compliments Matt and his family for teaching Drew and instilling these positive values. Sarah McIntosh-Posson,
another Special Investigation Unit team member, was highly impressed with
Drew’s drive
and set out to help the young philanthropist meet his goal by getting the entire team involved to help spread the
word.
Drew mentions that another fun part
about participating in the virtual “Brave the Shave” initiative was the
friendly competition between himself and some of the other participants.
Despite being one of the youngest participants of this year’s Norwich fundraiser, Drew is currently sitting in 2nd place out of 37 on the leaderboard.
Drew says that even if he doesn’t raise the most money, he had fun doing it and
knows it’s for an amazing cause.
When asked if he will be participating next year as well, Drew quickly said that he believes so and that he’d
love to get more people to join in with him. Matt shares that he and his wife
are beyond proud to support Drew in his efforts. Matt even committed to “Brave
the Shave” alongside Drew on March 13!
“I want to say thank you to my mom,
dad, Mr. Potts, and all the people that helped me reach my goal and donated to St. Baldrick’s,” shared Drew in a closing statement.
Inspired to Give
Back?
NYCM would like to extend thanks to Drew
and his family for supporting St. Baldrick’s in their annual fight to cure
childhood cancer. For more information about how you can participate and donate
to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation in honor of children fighting cancer, click here.
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