UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. - St. Louis Blues forward Chris Thorburn, along with his family and the Blues organization, presented a teacher at Flynn Park Elementary School in University City with a $20,000 check on Thursday.

Sierra Weber pours her heart into teaching children with special needs, including the Thorburns’ son, 7-year-old Bennett. The Thorburns recently opened up about how Bennett was diagnosed with autism at age four. They said Weber’s leadership and care has led to noticeable breakthroughs in Bennett’s development.

“Bennett has started reading more words,” said Sara Thorburn. “He’s just progressing at a faster level and with more ease, less anxiety and he’s more willing to learn which is a lot more exciting.”

They noticed that Mrs. Weber was often buying school supplies and learning tools with her own money and wanted to find a way to give back.

The funds were raised at the April 4 “Support Special Education” night at the Blues game, along with a silent auction and raffle.

“We’re just regular parents just wanting to try and help and fortunately I have a platform which enables me to kind of reach out a little further,” said Chris Thorburn as he took time to thank fans who contributed as well as teammates, ex-teammates, and alumni. “We’re very proud. We are honored.”

Weber said she’s looking forward to more class field trips, added technology, and sensory tools for students for years to come.

“We work at a Title 1 public school with students with special needs and never in a million years would I have thought something like this would happen,” Weber said. “We’re super grateful and really touched by everybody’s support and help and how thoughtful everybody’s been and how generous and we’re blown away and so grateful.”

http://fox2now.com/2018/04/12/blues-pla ... s-teacher/

Kudos to Thorburns. From everything you read and hear, he's a real class guy.

That is how you do it.

My god yes. Class act.

Imagine the good Backes could have done for kids if he put his mind to it, instead he's buying puppy biscuits.

Awesome job by the Thorburns. Man, anytime I read about a teacher having to buy school supplies with their own money it drives me mad.

UMSLBlues12 wrote:Awesome job by the Thorburns. Man, anytime I read about a teacher having to buy school supplies with their own money it drives me mad.

Damn straight. Especially with our politicians stealing tax money right and left for their own use.

UMSLBlues12 wrote:Awesome job by the Thorburns. Man, anytime I read about a teacher having to buy school supplies with their own money it drives me mad.

My wife's been a teacher for over 10 years. Almost every teacher has to buy supplies for their students out of their own pockets, and it is even more of a burden for those who work in a Title 1 school, where unfortunately those teachers often make less $$$ than those who teach in charter or non Title 1 schools.

Kudos to the Thorburn's and all who support teachers and their schools.

Really awesome. My wife is a Special Ed teacher and we always love hearing stories about support from the community.
Just to relay another great story about Blues involvement, Ken Hitchcock came to visit the children at my wife's school a couple years back. She said that not only was he one of the nicest people she's met, he was incredible with the special needs children.

BlueinNy wrote:Imagine the good Backes could have done for kids if he put his mind to it, instead he's buying puppy biscuits.

Come on man... He has done some incredible things for animals. Not only has he invested money, but he has given a ton of his time and continues to do so in Boston. He has done more for his community than most people will ever dream of.

that's a great story, and i'm happy the school was able to get some help, but...

you guys are acting like chris wrote them a check with his own money. sounds to me like he used his position to co-opt blues fans into paying for supplies for his kid's school. what a hero. wealthy guy who could absolutely afford to do this quietly on his own instead gets fans to pay for it. nothing in there saying that he then matched what was raised or anything.

T.C. wrote:that's a great story, and i'm happy the school was able to get some help, but...

you guys are acting like chris wrote them a check with his own money. sounds to me like he used his position to co-opt blues fans into paying for supplies for his kid's school. what a hero. wealthy guy who could absolutely afford to do this quietly on his own instead gets fans to pay for it. nothing in there saying that he then matched what was raised or anything.

Do you honestly expect him to say something like this:

"Of this $20,000.00 I personally gave $8,889.58 of it to you! We would have had more, but Vladi's wife is pissed off about his shoulder, and Sobi don't like the American education system. Petro is buying his wife her own ice cream shoppe and shaved ice machine for while she is pregnant with triplets, and Steen is getting reconstructive nose surgery. There's some other dude name Haskins who supposedly plays on my line, but we don't talk much, so I couldn't hit him up for any funds. The rest of team don't like me for some reason. So be happy with the $20K that the fans..yeah, fans, thanks for the $548 you sent in, and Mr. Stillman, who covered the rest."

That better?

i don't expect anything. the writer is the one who made it about throburn rather than the blues organization that raised the money.

BlueinNy wrote:Imagine the good Backes could have done for kids if he put his mind to it, instead he's buying puppy biscuits.

Totally disagree. You've got BILLIONAIRE philanthropists dedicated to helping many human causes. MEGA foundations have been set up to help people in innumerable ways yet who speaks for those who can't speak for themselves?? Plus animal charities receive very little compared to human charities so they need all the help they can get.

They say in life you should follow your passion and Backes & his wife are following theirs. When 6 cattle escaped a slaughterhouse in North county Backes raised money along with many others like Dodgers All-star pitcher Clayton Kershaw to buy a farm for them to live! It's run by the Gentle Barn foundation & it's open to visitors in Jefferson county!

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metr ... 2973d.html

i mean, the guy got his pilot's license to fly around and rescue dogs. doesn't get much more dedicated than that. my son met him at a rescue dog fair a few years ago and he was super cool and very into it. applause.

T.C. wrote:that's a great story, and i'm happy the school was able to get some help, but...

you guys are acting like chris wrote them a check with his own money. sounds to me like he used his position to co-opt blues fans into paying for supplies for his kid's school. what a hero. wealthy guy who could absolutely afford to do this quietly on his own instead gets fans to pay for it. nothing in there saying that he then matched what was raised or anything.

You remember a few years ago Petro was raising money for a sick relative of his girlfriend? I remember he was so happy he raised $25,000 through an auction or something yet he has a contract worth almost $30 million!! He could've given that sick child $100K & he wouldn't have even NOTICED it! Yet he appeared so thrilled about raising $25K when he could easily have given a LOT more! That's just wrong.

FederkoSutterHunter wrote:

T.C. wrote:that's a great story, and i'm happy the school was able to get some help, but...

you guys are acting like chris wrote them a check with his own money. sounds to me like he used his position to co-opt blues fans into paying for supplies for his kid's school. what a hero. wealthy guy who could absolutely afford to do this quietly on his own instead gets fans to pay for it. nothing in there saying that he then matched what was raised or anything.

You remember a few years ago Petro was raising money for a sick relative of his girlfriend? I remember he was so happy he raised $25,000 through an auction or something yet he has a contract worth almost $30 million!! He could've given that sick child $100K & he wouldn't have even NOTICED it! Yet he appeared so thrilled about raising $25K when he could easily have given a LOT more! That's just wrong.

Glad this thread has descended into ripping a guy for helping raise $25,000 for kids with cancer. Re-think your life choices.

T.C. wrote:i don't expect anything. the writer is the one who made it about throburn rather than the blues organization that raised the money.

It was 'about Thorburn' because it was his kid that goes to that classroom. He saw she had a need for additional resources, probably could have helped on his own, but figured if he got the Blues involved, MORE $$$ could be raised to help, along with more awareness of both autism and the needs of teachers, especially special needs teachers in a Title 1 school that receives piss poor funding.

I'm just not sure how anyone can find a negative in this story? I don't get the impression that Thorburn, nor the writer, was trying to make it about all about him, but it was his son and the relationship he's built with a teacher who has helped him more than any other who inspired the fundraiser...so that is part of the 'positive' aspect of the story and why it is about Thorburn, IMHO

edit: My point is this: We have NO idea how much Blues players, nor anyone else, donates to different causes, including to their own niece with cancer (Petro), or others in needs, whether is animal rescue or something like this. I'm pretty confident that MOST athletes donate a lot of their $$$ and time to special causes, and most of the time we don't know about it and it is 'quietly done'. But sometimes, to raise awareness for a cause, it makes sense to get fans involved and the organization and/or league involved to.

not trying to find a negative, just bums me out to hear we were able to help a school like this, but that the number is a small fraction of any given player's salary, especially when his child directly benefits. seems like he could have been a force multiplier for that amount without even impacting his daily life. i don't expect him to build a new wing for the school or anything, and $20k is nothing to sneeze at, but if that's the best thousands of regular people and a few millionaires can do, it bums me out. but glad they were able do something and bring attention to the cause.

T.C. wrote:not trying to find a negative, just bums me out to hear we were able to help a school like this, but that the number is a small fraction of any given player's salary, especially when his child directly benefits. seems like he could have been a force multiplier for that amount without even impacting his daily life. i don't expect him to build a new wing for the school or anything, and $20k is nothing to sneeze at, but if that's the best thousands of regular people and a few millionaires can do, it bums me out. but glad they were able do something and bring attention to the cause.

I find this type of narrative almost uneducated, which I know you're not, TC.

First - he's made about 9 million dollars (before taxes), so, you're right - the 20 grand doesn't seem like much in the general scheme of things. However, if you look at the basics:

He's making 900K this year, and donating 20K. If you were making 50K a year, you'd have to donate 1.1K in order to match his percentage. That's kind of hefty when you think of it. That's a 2.2% donation of your pre-tax earnings.

Considering he doesn't have to donate anything, some might say that writing any check out is a wonderful thing.

I can appreciate any athlete that takes their time or funds to donate to something that they believe in.

we don't know how much of this amount, if any, came from him. the blues supporters donated, that's the story. i'm glad it helps deserving kids, one of which happens to be the son of a very wealthy person.

also, "uneducated" is fair, as i dropped out of college. but i appreciate the pretty much unearned respect.

T.C. wrote:also, "uneducated" is fair, as i dropped out of college. but i appreciate the pretty much unearned respect.

You're the Hitchcock of college, quitter.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:

T.C. wrote:also, "uneducated" is fair, as i dropped out of college. but i appreciate the pretty much unearned respect.

You're the Hitchcock of college, quitter.

it's ok, i'm a big kent state buff.

T.C. wrote:we don't know how much of this amount, if any, came from him. the blues supporters donated, that's the story. i'm glad it helps deserving kids, one of which happens to be the son of a very wealthy person.

Knowing from experience - I would bet money that Thorburn probably donated much of it himself. The Blues / supporters, etc, throw in a little money to get their name on it.

The vast majority of athletes are stingy with money.

Edit: Thorburn said the money was raised in an online auction that he, his wife and the Blues drove. So, I would still bet money that Thorburn donated a large chunk of it himself. But when you watch the segment, the check is from the "Blues for Kids" organization.

yeah. again, i fully support the cause and i don't think thorburn dictated the angle of the write-up or anything. it's that angle that rubs me the wrong way. like when kanye started a gofundme.