Portsmouth Rock station 100.3 WHEB, Manchester Rock station Rock 101, and the Seacoast’s Z107 have joined forces to give a Barrington, NH, teen fighting a rare blood disease a trip to Miami to the annual “Jingle Ball” on December 19, complete with meet-and-greets with some of the performers. Gunner Tucker, a 19-year-old graduate of Oyster River High School, has been battling aplastic anemia for the last year, with frequent trips to Boston’s Mass General Hospital for treatment.
In the recent annual “Lend A Helping Can” drive undertaken by The Morning Buzz to benefit New Hampshire’s hungry, an anonymous donor made the high bid for a trip for two to Miami to see pop music’s biggest performers in the annual “Jingle Ball.” The donor then decided to pass the trip on to Tucker.
“It was terrific to raise over $150,000 to help the state’s hungry, and then especially gratifying to know that one of our best auction prizes went to Gunner. He is a fighter and we are thrilled to have him attend this show,” said Greg Kretschmar of The Buzz, which airs on both WHEB and Rock 101.
iHeartMedia-NH Market President Joe Graham thought said, “We asked Z107 (WERZ-FM) Program Director Jadd Naamani to reach out to the record labels and see if we couldn’t make the experience even more special. Jadd and our iHeart colleagues in Miami (Program Director of Y100-Alex Tear) and Boston (RSVPP-Dylan Sprague) came through big-time, setting up meet-and-greets with some of the artists, including one with The Chainsmokers, Gunner’s favorite band! We are so grateful to our people and to the record labels-who really stepped up.”
The 2016 Miami Jingle Ball happens at the BB&T Center and will feature not only The Chainsmokers, but also Fifth Harmony, Alessia Cara, Tove Lo, Lukas Graham, and Hailee Steinfeld.
Thank you….isn’t enough. Im Gunners mom and he is beyond excited!!! He’s has been such a great kid his whole life. Since his diagnoses he has remained positive and strong through everything! There isn’t an end to this illness as of yet but with the meds and visits to Mass General we are hopeful that Gunner will beat Severe Aplastic Anemia! ❤Thank you from the bottom of my heart!