Sideshow Teams Up with Captain America to Help a Young Hero in Need

When Shawn and Gavin Richter (aka The Richter Boys) started cosplaying, they always thought it would just be something fun they could do together at comic conventions. But over time they have found an even more rewarding reason to don their superhero costumes – to help others. Recently, Shawn was contacted by a friend to see if he’d be interested in participating in a local charity event for a brave 5 year-old boy by the name of Parker, who was recently diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a rare form of childhood brain cancer.

Parker and his family

Friends of Parker’s family gathered together to organize Parker’s Carnival, with a raffle and silent auction to help raise funds. Hoping Parker’s favorite superhero could attend, there was no question for Shawn – Captain America was on the job!

Shawn rallied additional volunteers from the San Diego Star Wars Society, a league of superhero and Star Wars cosplayers, as well as photographers from Studio 626 and Sonny Meas Photography. He then reached out to Sideshow, and we were happy to join in for the cause, donating a selection of Hot Toys Avengers figures to accompany Cap for the silent auction.

He even assembled a costume for little Parker so he could have his very own Captain America costume, complete with helmet, goggles and shield.

Here is what Shawn wrote about the big day:

“What a day it was. Hundreds of people attended, the carnival took over the entire park and all three baseball fields. They had a number of inflatable bounce houses, a zipline, a dunk tank, games for the kids, a band, and the California Highway Patrol was there in force, with police cars and a helicopter that landed in the middle of the carnival.

I spent my whole time there in costume as Captain America taking photos with people, while my son was playing games to his heart’s content. Parker and his family arrived in a limo and a bunch of us cosplayers were there to greet them.

There was a costume contest for the kids and my Star Wars friends helped out, making it even more memorable. Robosaurus was also there, and the kids totally loved that! My personal favorite however was Chopper the Biker Dog – so adorable!

The figures donated by Sideshow were put together as one ultimate grand prize in the silent auction, and I was completely blown away by the final bid! I received a thank you email from one of the coordinators a couple of days later and learned that not only had the Sideshow items been the biggest ticket item, but the event raised well over $62,000 for Parker and his family. We went a long way in helping a little super hero and a family in need.”

For more about Parker and his story visit his website Hope for Parker

If you would like to contribute, donations can be made at GoFundMe Hope for Parker.