By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider credited WWE legend Mick Foley with inspiring him to be charitable. “We lived near each other on Long Island, and we met and connected,” Snider told Side Jams with Bryan Reesman. “Mick does insane amount of charity, and without making a big deal about it. Amazing. Put it this way — the man’s married and he’s got three or four kids. Mick would just in his spare time, go and knock on doors and show up at kids houses that he knew had were dying of cancer and were fans of his, and hang out and watch TV with them. And he called me one day and says, ‘Listen, I’m visiting a kid in the hospital. He’s got leukemia, he’s a big fan of yours. Would you come with me?’ So I went to the hospital and met this kid and saw what the kid got out of it, out of just that moment.
When Mick drove me home, I said, ‘Mick, you made me a better man today.’ I’m getting a little choked up because I was so shaken. I said [to myself], ‘Look at what Mick does, and look at what you don’t do.’ At the point, it was in the early 2000s, where I said, ‘I need to do more. I need to give back. I need to say yes.’ And not just send a guitar. By the way, all celebrities get these invitations, these opportunities to do more, and most of us just blow it off or send them an autographed picture or something. Thank you, Mick Foley, for waking me up and showing me that we can help. And there’s something more that we need to do.” Read more on the story at Blabbermouth.net.
Powell’s POV: Snider took the ball and ran with it. He helped raise a lot of money for the Station Family Fund, which helps the survivors of The Station Nightclub fire that occurred when the band Great White used pyro that causes the club to be engulfed in flames. One hundred people died in the fire and 230 others were injured. Snider has also worked with a number of additional charities over the years. Kudos to Snider and Foley for their charitable efforts.
I spent many a Saturday night as a young lad at The Station in RI putting on a buzz and watching metal cover bands. What happened there was a tragedy and I knew someone who lost their life in the fire. I live on the west coast now but believe the memorial is still there.