How to go
Who: Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Dayton Office
What: Dayton Shining Stars Gala
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13
Where: Engineers Club of Dayton, 110 E. Monument Ave., Dayton
Tickets are $75 in advance or at the event.
For more information, call (937) 298-6906 or visit cff.org.
DAYTON — Danny Shay has fought to keep his breath 35 years.
“I have to make sure I do all of my therapy,” said Shay, who was born with cystic fibrosis, a deadly disease that impacts the lungs and digestive system. “I am going to continue doing what I have been doing 35 years to extend my life another 35 years.”
The fight hasn’t been an easy, Shay said.
The median life expectancy for someone with cystic fibrosis is about 38 and treatment is extensive.
Two to three times a day Shay, the athletic director and boys basketball coach at Springfield Central Catholic High School, uses breathing treatments and a vibrating vest to loosen and thin mucus building in his lungs.
He takes enzymes to help his body absorb nutrition and takes insulin to battle cystic fibrosis related diabetes, Shay’s wife, Rachel said.
“That’s why raising money is so important for medicine and research is so important,” she said. “Friends and family don’t know what goes into daily life.”
The Shays will be honored Saturday, along with Dayton resident Ryann McCoy, during the “Dayton Shining Stars Gala” benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Dayton office at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Engineers Club of Dayton, 110 E. Monument Ave., Dayton.
Tickets are $75.
The Shays have raised $10,000 annually for the Dayton office through a golf scramble held at Reid Golf Course.
Cystic fibrosis is particularly brutal on children, Danny Shay said.
“It’s more about us getting the awareness out,” Shay said. “To know what kids have to do daily to get a breath of air.”
Ninety cents of every dollar collected by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation goes towards research, said Barbara Rothstien, the Dayton office senior special event director.
Organizers hope to raise $50,000 from the dinner and through the fundraising efforts of this year’s Stars, a group of eight made up of people affected by cystic fibrosis and those nominated to help.
Each Star was asked to raise at least $2,000.
Sam Mauro of Dayton, a WHIO-TV account executive, has set a goal to raise $3,000 through raffles and other special events.
Like the Dayton Daily News, WHIO is part of the Cox Media Group.
The Sidebar Restaurant, 410 E. Fifth St., Dayton, will donate a portion of their profits they get from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday to Mauro’s efforts
Though not directly impacted by cystic fibrosis, Mauro said he knows people who have been.
A coach Mauro knew as a student at Alter High School lost children to the disease.
“He was a good guy. I respected him a lot,” the 1978 grad said.
Mauro became active in the foundation through his boss, John Condit, who holds a karaoke contest to benefit the foundation.
Mauro said he’s happy to help a cause that is often ignored by medical researchers. About 30,000 children and adults in the United States have cystic fibrosis.
“30,000 people is a lot of people, but it is not enough to get the pharmaceutical companies involved,” he said. “I hope people realize they can make a difference.”
David Clapper, director of facilities management and security at Standard Register, said he only had to learn about the foundation’s efforts to educate and support youth and their parents to want to get involved.
He solicited funds from his company.
“We felt it was part of our responsibility,” he said.
Contact this reporter at
(937) 225-2384 or
arobinson@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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