Give Back and Stay Zach Strong Today at Hacienda on Evansville’s West Side

Feast on a wet burrito, and split a carafe of margarita's with your friends, all while helping a young man battling leukemia.

For many on Evansville's west side, Zach is a celebrity. A 2012 graduate of Reitz, Zach was born with cerebral palsy and has served as the face of our local Easter Seals chapter. He's also well known around town for his passion of sports, particularly Reitz Football which is where I'm familiar with him. While I don't know him personally (we met briefly in passing during the Easter Seals Telethon a few years back), I've watched Zach's enthusiasm for his Panther's on the sideline of home games numerous times while calling games for our sister-station, Newstalk 1280AM. I've watch how the team and its coaching staff has embraced Zach as a member of the team, allowing him to take the field with them, letting him stay on the sideline throughout games, being sure to exchange high fives when they come of the field after a big play. It's clear he's not a "hanger-on", he is, and always will be a part of the Panther's football family, and Panther sports in general.

Zach continues to carry his passion for sports to other teams in the area including the Evansville Enforcers semi-pro football team where he works as an assistant coach, as well as USI where he is currently attending classes and calls games on the campus radio station AM820 WSWI.

Never one to use his disability as an excuse, Zach finds himself fighting a new battle as he was diagnosed with leukemia on January 11th of this year. According to the Stay Strong Zach Strong Facebook page created and maintained by a few of his close friends, Zach is currently undergoing treatment for the disease at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

As with most intensive medical care, the cost for treatment is high, but you can help cover some that cost by heading over to Hacienda on Pearl Drive in Evansville and simply ordering some food. Simply print out the coupon and present it to your server during regular business hours today to have a portion of your bill donated to Zach's treatment.

The administrators of the Facebook page have also designed the t-shirt below and are making them available for purchase to the general public with proceeds from the sales helping offset the treatment cost.

Shirts can be ordered at Hett's Graphics in the old Subway building on St. Joe Avenue using this order form.

For more information on Zach, visit the Stay Strong Zach Strong Facebook page.