Fundraiser leaves teacher grateful for support

Nearing the end of 2016, math teacher Andrew Shoemaker’s wife was diagnosed with Lyme disease. Shoemaker faced the costs of supplements, medical visits and a sleep apnea machine for his wife along with his recent relocation from Hawaii to California. Shoemaker said that he began sinking “into a medical bill debt hole.”

Upon hearing of Shoemaker’s financial situation, sophomore Jonah Noralahi began a fundraiser on gofundme to pay for a conversion van that would allow Shoemaker and his wife to vacation and relieve their financial pressure. Although Shoemaker was thankful for Noralahi’s gesture, he didn’t expect much would come from the fundraiser.

In the end, though, it generated $3,272 through donations from 37 people. Students donated sums from $10 to $500, citing their appreciation of Shoemaker’s teaching as their primary reason for donating.

“He was the best teacher I’ve ever had,” Noralahi said. When Noralahi caught wind of Shoemakers’ situation he believed he has to do something to help them.    

Shoemaker planned to use the donations to buy a van to take ma cross country road trip over the summer, which would have been their first vacation in over two years. However, he decided to put off purchasing the van because his wife fractured her foot a few weeks before the trip.

“My wife was immobile for a couple weeks from her fractured foot,” Shoemaker said. “Her bones are more fragile because of the diseases she’s dealing with.”

The money is in a savings account while Shoemaker continues to shop for a suitable van. In the meantime, he said his wife’s condition has improved but that she still suffers effects of autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto’s disease and Lyme disease.

While the fundraiser hasn’t resulted in a  van yet, it showed him how much his students cared for him.

Sophomore Arash Amiri, who donated to the cause, said, “I never had a more caring teacher and one that was willing to make the class do extremely well. After seeing what he had done for us, the least I could do was contribute.”