MISSION ONE 2013: Print for Piper  Article written for Caliber Technologies March 2013 Copyright ARLADEAN ARNSON/ Caliber Technologies

We are very happy to announce our first Mission of 2013: PRINT FOR PIPER! We are helping little Piper Wilhide and her family. Of course, we wouldn’t be able to do it without your continuous support.

Caliber Technologies usually receives requests through various charities to help distressed military families and veterans; however, Piper’s request was a bit different.

One of our recently hired veterans, former USAF SSgt Mac Hobgood, had actually served with Piper’s father in Germany.  The two had remained friends and when Mac shared Piper’s story (see side panel) it was obvious that we had to help in any way possible.

Both Piper’s mom and dad proudly serve our country. The father has been in the Air Force for 15 years and now is stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB. Piper’s mom is in the Air National Guard and is an instructor at Wayne Community College.

Unfortunately, since Piper was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, her mom cannot go back to work. As a result, the family is incurring increasing debt including childcare and travel costs.

Caliber Technologies’  Mission is to raise enough money, to purchase plane tickets for Piper’s grandparents to fly in and provide the much needed assistance and support during the recovery process.  In addition to the tickets, we would love to be able to assist Piper’s parents’ with their unexpected travel costs to and from Piper’s hospital and their hotel stays.

We greatly appreciate all the continuous support through your purchases.  If you would like more information on how you can best help with our Mission, please contact your didicated Business  Development Manager.

PRINT FOR PIPER- Her Story

Piper Wilhide was only four weeks old when she first went in to see the doctor. She had been waking up from her naps with the sweats. The doctors were confused because nothing seemed wrong.

While doctors ran tests, her heart rate was in the 190’s, which is abnormally high. Peper then had an EKG done at Wayne Memorial Hospital. The pediatric cardiologist took a look at here and did a heart echo; that is when they saw a mass behind her heart.

Piper was quickly admitted to Vidant Memorial Hospital for more tests to establish the best diagnosis. She was diagnosed with Stage 3 Neuroblastoma, a malignant tumor that develops from nerve tissues.

Little Piper has to go through eight cycles of chemotherapy due to the size of the tumor. Each cycle consists of getting the chemo administered over three days with 21 days between each cycle.

As you can see, Piper has a long fight ahead of her.