Dylan Osborne (AKA "August West"), father of two, life-partner of Candice Delancey and co-founder of the band that is loved and missed by all, Brokedown Hustlers, needs our support in a big way.
His and his family's lives have recently been turned upside down with the devastating diagnosis of a rare and aggressive form of Thyroid Cancer that has mestastisized to his spine.
He has begun chemotherapy treatments and once the chemotherapy has proven effective he will undergo major surgery to remove his Thyroid completely and a mass of cancerous lymph nodes in his chest cavity. There's a long, hard road ahead and the next few years are going to be unimaginably hard for him and his family.
They have been raising two teenagers and living paycheck to paycheck for years, which is stressful enough on it's own and they are still doing it even with this weight on their shoulders. Dylan was laid off last year due to COVID and going back to work is not going to be a possibility for him for a long time.
I can tell you that with all of the things he is facing: chemo, surgery, the possibility of losing his voice, his own mortality...the thing that scares him and wears on him the most is that he feels he has become a burden on his family.
We can all take a little weight off of their shoulders. We can all throw in $10 or $20 every month and maybe instead of worrying about whether the car needs new tires or if their next paycheck comes before or after the 1st when rent is due, they can just focus on getting their family through this scary time. Maybe Dylan will be able to focus on just getting well.
Whether you know him personally or not, Dylan has touched a lot of lives and created a lot of great memories for a lot of people through his songs and character.
He is also the founder of the Strength of Strings charity event organization, pooling together artists and musicians from the Tri-state area to provide the very same kind of help to organizations and individuals that his family needs right now.
His impact on our community is unmeasurable. He's earned your support and deeply appreciates whatever you can give that will help make this entire ordeal not easier on him, but easier on his family.
If you do know him personally: THIS IS DYLAN!! This is one of our own, and they really, truly need us. Don't think in terms of "whatever you can spare"; think in terms of "what you can sacrifice"? Can you eat out one less time each month? Can you buy the store brand of some staple items for awhile? Do you really need Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+? Can you buy cheap(er) beer for awhile?
I know we all feel strapped, but we all have a little something more to give than just whatever amount is easy and won't significantly impact our life. I'm asking you to give until it hurts. Sacrfice some small luxury in your life to make theirs a little easier.
That's what giving truly is - doing it when it's hard, when making your life a little harder makes someone else's a little easier. That's what family does and that's what Dylan would do for anyone of us.
