Xander is an ambitious 8th grader who is using his school’s community service project as an opportunity to raise awareness and support for kids like himself battling Lyme disease. As a young child at the age of 5, Xander fell ill and was experiencing unexplained symptoms; however, the physician providing care at that time did not have any answers and dispelled the gut feeling of Xander’s mother. Thankfully, by his mother’s persistence, they continued to seek medical help and after 3 years he was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease as well as PANS. Since then, through proper treatment and guidance of a Lyme-Literate Practitioner his health has improved dramatically which has opened the doors for him to be a kid once again – enjoying outdoor sports and hanging out with friends.

On April 19th Xander will be hosting an awareness table at Six Rivers Brewery (a favorite spot for many locals) where he will share his experience about his journey, provide brochures and information to educate his community about Lyme disease, and he will also be collecting donations to go directly toward funding treatment grants provided by LymeLight Foundation. Six Rivers Brewery will be joining him in this worthy cause help children and young adults battling Lyme disease by donating $1 for every pint sold that evening as part of Pints for Non-Profits Night. Also, during the month of April, Xander will set up his awareness table at a school event where he will have the opportunity to share with his peers about his experiences. Xander will be fundraising through April 30th – so please join him in reaching his goal of $1,000!

When asked why Xander is doing this fundraiser he said, “I have been in treatment for Lyme and PANS since I was 5 years old. I wanted to do this fundraiser for my 8th grade community service project to help other kids like me and raise awareness of Lyme Disease. I like to snowboard, mountain bike, and play drums.  All of these are hard with Lyme Disease, that is also why I wanted to raise awareness.”