I felt lucky to spend a big part of my day yesterday with some of my favorite people.

The Brooks family held an amazing fund raiser at the newly renovated Rankin Park in Martinez California for their amazing little man Jacob.

Jacob is the Brooks first born and tragically he’s been diagnosed with a horrible genetic disease called Niemann-Pick Disease.

I’m not sure how much was raised but I’m sure it was a nice chunk. Jacob’s mom and my good friend Sarah Brooks writes a blog about what their family is going through.

I encourage you to follow their blog “Joy of Jacob” and stay in touch with their story and donate to their fund for Jacob by visiting the bottom right corner of their blog. Every cent really helps.

Learn More About What Niemann-Pick Disease Is

Niemann-Pick disease refers to a group of inherited conditions that affect the body’s metabolism. In patients with this rare disorder, fatty material builds up in various vital organs, sometimes including the brain.

There are four main types of Niemann-Pick disease:

• Type A—causes fatty substances to collect in the liver and spleen. Patients have severe brain damage and usually die by age two or three.
• Type B—affects the liver and spleen. Organs enlarge during the pre-teen years. There is usually no brain damage. Patients usually suffer from breathing problems and die in teen years or early adulthood. The prognosis is better for type B than type A.
• Type C—produces extensive brain damage. The liver and spleen are moderately enlarged. Type C usually starts in childhood and leads to death in teen years or early adulthood.
• Type D—similar to type C, but occurs only in people related to a family that lived in Nova Scotia at the start of the 1700s. Type D is now recognized as a variation of type C.

There will be another fundraiser for Jacob held at Smokey D’s BBQ in Martinez

If you click on the picture below and print out the flyer bring it down to Smokey D’s BBQ in Martinez that day and 20% of your purchase will go to benefit medical expenses for Jacob Brooks and his family.