Good Morning America and Star Wars Celebration
It was a big weekend for the Caring Like Nicholas Foundation as its founder Andrew McClary traveled to Chicago to debut their first video that was produced in partnership with the 501st Legion. Andrew was asked by the Legion commanders to sit on a panel at the conference on Charity in the 501st or #BadGuysDoingGood which is a motto for members of the 501st Legion. Though they all dress in the costumes of the “bad guys”, what the members all do is “good”. For this panel Andrew worked overtime to get the foundations first PSA video put together to debut at the panel. ABC national news got wind of this video and Clayton Sandell from ABC News met with Andrew on the show floor to help tell Nicholas’s story and how we can help other kids fighting the same fight. This story hit Good Morning America’s home page on April 16th and has already started going viral around the Star Wars community.
At Star Wars Celebration on Sunday evening, Andrew spoke with other members of the 501st Legion on the panel to a filled room of Legion members and people who were thinking of joining the Legion. There were very few dry eyes after the video finished playing. After Andrew answered questions, many audience members stayed back to wish him well on his crusade and to give him hugs. The video was launched Monday into the Legions vast social media sphere and is quickly gaining traction.
The 501st Legion is a Star Wars Costuming club that boasts over 13 thousand members world wide. Their members dress up in costume and help charities all over the world including lots of children’s hospitals and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. After speaking to the command staff, the Legion likes the idea of the pro-active approach to fighting cancers that the Caring Like Nicholas Foundation is doing. “I enjoy helping Make-A-Wish, and on top of that adding in something proactive to FIGHT to keep kids from suffering. Now THAT is making a change!”, said Albin Johnson, one of the founders of the 501st Legion. We will be working closely with them in the coming year to do a lot more to try to get our message out.
The 501st Legion is a worldwide Star Wars costuming organization comprised of and operated by Star Warsfans. While it is not sponsored by Lucasfilm Ltd., it follows generally accepted ground rules for Star Warsfan groups. Star Wars, its characters, costumes, and all associated items are the intellectual property of Lucasfilm. © & ™ Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. Used under authorization.