A Letter From Matthew Johnston

Hello,

My name is Matt Johnston and I live in Woodbury. I am organizing a fundraiser to raise funds to improve in-water access for those with tracheostomies – this is something that I am very passionate about and have dedicated more than ten years towards accomplishing. I am very close, but need your help.

I personally have a tracheostomy and am dependent on a ventilator to breathe. Things like taking a shower, in-water therapy, and similar activities are very complicated, and this affects the lives of millions of people around the US.

We’re trying to raise $20,000 to advance research into this area and engineer possible solutions to this accessibility. All contributions are tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, Ocean Opportunity Inc., a 501(c)3 not for profit organization. A GoFundMe page has been set up for the project:

https://www.gofundme.com/divingadream

This research will be publicly presented at the History of Diving Museum in Islamorada, Florida on June 3rd, where our team will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first ventilator dependent dives.

We are organizing a fundraising event at Maple Island Brewing in Stillwater, MN on May 7th from 2-5PM. I would like to invite you to attend, and also consider contributing any product or service towards a raffle and auction that will help raise funds at this event. Your donation is tax deductible.

Please contact me by email to discuss contributions to the fundraiser. I look forward to hearing from you!

Here’s my website: www.divingadream.org

Respectfully,

Matthew Johnston
matt@divingadream.org