Dutch Bros. Fundraiser Pushes ‘Super Sam’ Total Past $7,100!

All that caffeine really helped.

Friday's fundraiser at Dutch Bros. Coffee — for which Dutch Bros. offered to donate an entire day's profits — has pushed our "Super Sam" campaign past $7,100!

"Super Sam" (5-year-old Sam Wilkinson) got a lot of help from Children's Village and the Children's Miracle Network when he was first born, and now his family wants to do something to pay if forward.

That's where Dutch Bros. and The Bull came in. The Bull's been trying to raise financial support for Children's Village, and Dutch Bros. offered to help by giving all of Friday's proceeds to the cause.

That amounted to $2,800, manager Bethany Hashek said Monday. And that's not counting the $770 that came in from the fresh cupcakes "Linda the Cakemaker" sold Friday during the Dutch Bros. event. To top that off, Yakima Mayor Micah Cawley stepped up and contributed another $300 of his own.

The next "Super Sam" fundraiser is coming up this Friday morning from 6 to 9, when we're holding a dollar drive at 40th Avenue Espresso. Stop by — you never know who you'll meet.

Before he was even born, Sam was diagnosed with a lethal form of skeletal dysplasia, which prevents bones from growing as they should. After a premature birth, Sam wound up in Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where he grew stronger.

Today (as anyone who met him Friday will tell you), Sam is a happy, active, gregarious little boy.

For more of Sam's story — and to find out what you can do to help out with the campaign — click here.