John “Spanke” Studer loved birthdays and turned his birthday celebration into fundraising effort for AIDS Services of Dallas back in 2002, collecting toiletries for the residents of ASD, in lieu of birthday gifts.
Spanke would twist the arms of his friends to help out, and he would cook and setup an open bar and all he asked was for his guest to bring toiletries. Spanke also served as trustee on the ASD Board of Trustees.
Sadly, Spanke hosted his last party in Oct. 2011 and passed away on Halloween, of that year.
However, his legacy has lived on thru the efforts of his friends Derrick Mask, Scott Ewing, Jim Jenkins, Mark Leech, Brandon Rios and Rick Farmer. They decided they were going to try and carry on his legacy and held their first Spanke’s toiletries event in April of 2012.
To keep the effort going during the pandemic, the party moved to an online toiletries-raiser. But that makes donating easier than ever. Click here to see the wish list.
— David Taffet