Dexter Greenhaw has given up a lot but he is not ready to give up his “I love yous.”

Though a North Carolina specialist recommended inserting a feeding tube because of respiratory problems, Greenhaw, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (or Lou Gehrig’s disease), so far has refused, said his mother, Edna Greenhaw.

“He thought about it, we prayed about it and talked about it and he decided not to,” she said. “He said, ‘Mom, I want to be able to tell the kids I love them.’ He just has the most wonderful attitude.”

Dexter, 51, uses a breathing tube 20 hours of each day and sits in his specialized wheelchair whether awake or asleep, she said.

But he still travels to Huntsville once a week for a visit to his doctor and a support group, so Edna and Dexter’s friends are trying to buy a new specialized van that will allow him to travel more safely. Dexter and his wife Cindy have two sons, Zachary, a music director at a church in Georgia, and Ian, a student at Calhoun Community College, and a granddaughter, Zachary’s daughter, Allie Grace, 6.

Clements High School faculty, students and parents will raise funds Friday night during the school’s homecoming game to help buy a van for Dexter, who was band director at the school from 1978-1986.

“We were made aware of the situation last week,” said Clements High Principal Don Wilson. “We knew with homecoming being this week, it would be an ideal time; there will be a lot of former students here.”

People will be asked to donate money in several buckets placed around the stadium. Wilson said other schools where Dexter was band director, including Hartselle High School in Morgan County and Lee High School in Madison County, will also help raise funds.

John Wayne King, a former teacher at Clements who is now a Limestone County School Board member, said Dexter took the band there from 34 members to more than 100 during his time as director.

“He made it a vital part of our school,” King said. “He really put a lot of life into the band out there. I think the community owes him a lot for the work he did and this is a way to give back.”

King said a many former students of Dexter’s will likely attend the game and they are “certainly willing to help out as much as they can.”

The van, which has a lift that lowers to the ground so Dexter could roll his chair onto it, would cost about $50,000 new but a Huntsville woman is willing to sell one with only 21,000 miles on it for $17,500, Edna said.

Dexter, also the son of the late Dub Greenhaw, formed the local band Dexter and the Derbies in his youth and still acts as music director at Friendship United Methodist Church, although he is unable to play much or sing. Because of his respiratory problems, he finds it difficult to talk, his mother said.

Workers from Hospice of Limestone County now help with his care, and his mother said Dexter could live six months or a year.

“A lot of it is his attitude, his determination not to give up,” she said.

Despite the prognosis, Edna said a new van is needed because the lift on the one the family currently uses could be dangerous and he travels to Huntsville each week and also “likes to get around a little bit.”

Edna said she has a pledge of $1,000 to kick off the fund-raiser.

To add your donation, visit Clements High School for its homecoming game at 7 p.m. Friday, or mail a donation to the school at 7730 U.S. 72 West, Athens, Ala., 35611.