Irish Pub Party in Philadelphia Benefits Foundation Named for Ocean City Boys

The public is invited to bring friends and family to a happy hour at the Irish Pub in Philadelphia on Saturday, Jan. 28.

The $35 admission includes food, beer, wine and house drinks and all proceeds benefit the Randles Boys Foundation for cystic fibrosis. The event takes place in the upstairs of the popular pub at 12th Street and Walnut Avenue near the Forrest Theater.

It will be the eighth year for the annual fundraiser, which is "a great event and a great crowd" and for many provides a casual start to a fun night in Philadelphia, according to Pat Randles, the Ocean City police officer who organizes the fundraiser on behalf of the foundation named for his two sons.

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Tickets are available at the door. Visit randlesboysfoundation.org for more information.
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The happy hour offers a fun way to help in a serious cause: helping the scientists who research cystic fibrosis and helping the families who live with it.

In eight years, the Randles Boys Foundation has raised more than $70,000 for clinical research and to support the work of the Cystic Fibrosis Clinic at the Bristol Myers Childrens Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New  Brunswick, NJ. 

Randles named the foundation for his sons, Colin, 8, and Sean, 6, who are students at the . 

The Randles boys live with cystic fibrosis, a progressive disease that affects the lungs and digestive system.

"Slowly but surely, the disease takes their breath, piece by piece," Randles said.

Colin and Sean are like most other young boys — full of energy and into basketball, baseball and soccer.

"You can't stop 'em," Randles said. And that makes living with the disease all the more difficult.

"You can't see it," he said.

During a routine checkup on Wednesday, doctors found a plug in Sean's right lung that left him hospitalized in New Brunswick.

Sean, Colin and other children living with cystic fibrosis spend a lot of time in waiting rooms and clinics that are not always child-friendly — and that's one of the things the Randles Boys Foundation hopes to change.

The foundation donated two iPads to the Cystic Fibrosis Clinic on Wednesday. Children and their parents can both use the computers as they wait at the clinic. The donation helped fulfill the foundation's dual role of helping both research and families, Randles said.

Randles shares responsibility for the boys' medical care with their mother, Whitney.

"She's a huge advocate for the children," Randles said.

The Irish Pub fundraiser is held in Philadelphia, where Randles grew up and where his sister worked as a waitress. Other events are held in the Ocean City area.

To contribute to the foundation, click on the "Donate Now" button at randlesboysfoundation.org or mail to: The Randles Boys Foundation, P.O. Box 917, Ocean City, NJ 08226.