PurpleStride Indianapolis was a great success and a great day. It went as great as planned. As I explained before, there are PurpleStrides all across the country and unfortunately we do not have one in Louisville. Indianapolis was the closest one other than Cincinnati's in October. I don't plan on walking in that one but I may volunteer. I was very passionate about this walk as I know funds are needed to research more about pancreatic cancer and there's the need to improve the outlook of those diagnosed. It was surreal to see the number of people wearing purple at the event. During the opening ceremony, they said there were about 800 registered walkers (not including kids) which was a good amount of supporters. It was the only PurpleStride in Indiana for the year. "Survivors" wore light purple t-shirts and all the caregivers, friends, family etc. wore royal purple. This was the one thing that again brought reality to the event. Out of the 800+ walkers, I estimate I saw about 10 different people wearing the light purple. With where the stats are for this cancer, 7.5 out of us 10 won't be back to walk it next year. Anyhow, I'm generally more of the quiet type so I didn't get to spend any quality time with the other "survivors." I do wish I would have reached out more than I did. I'll have to work on that. The good news is I had great support at the event. We brought, to my count, 32 of my closest friends and family to the event. I know there were a lot more folks who wanted to make it but couldn't and I appreciate all of you. The AWESOME news comes from the big reason the event was held which was the fundraising. The event as a whole announced a total amount of $79,000 raised to go towards research and patient care. The goal for this walk was $60,000 so that was surpassed impressively. I am very humbled to announce our success in fundraising. My team, Hope in Louisville, was the TOP fundraising team for the whole event. As a team, we raised over $6,200!!!!!!!!!! We finished the campaigning extremely strong and ended up beating 2nd place by about $700. At the event, we saw a bunch of folks from the Nicolet family who finished 2nd and we got to do some friendly bragging with them all in fun during the walk. They also recognized the top individual fundraiser which ended up being yours truly. The total amount I raised personally was a little over $3,900. That does mean my team kicked in an additional $2,300. Special thanks to Lavin Graviss and Sara Davis for both raising over $500 individually. Big thanks to Tim and Carol Neichter for giving at the "You really didn't need to donate that much" level. I look forward to thanking you in person in Hilton Head in a few weeks. I got to go up on stage and be recognized twice. I was first recognized for being the individual winner and I went up on stage with my 1 year old Hannah on my hip. When as the team captain I was recognized for being the top team, I went up on stage and took Emily and Morgan with me (after they were bribed for getting a cookie for dessert at lunch). Obviously the only reason I was rewarded at the event was because of the many folks who supported me and my team. I am so very grateful for the amount of support that my family has received. This event was something I'll always cherish. There's so much I'd like to say for how appreciative I am. All I know to say is "Thank You" from the bottom of my heart. I'll post some pictures this week from the event once I get them downloaded and I receive them from the event photographer.
The weekend as a whole was great as well. We, along with the Ives and Bohannon families, went to the Children's Museum on Friday during the day. It was an awesome trip as there is enough to do for the kids to last an entire day. The favorite exhibit, as voted on by family, was the Barbie exhibit. They had probably every Barbie ever created on display. They also had a dress up room and a modeling walkway for the girls to walk out on. The girls, including Hannah, had a very good time. Hannah's favorite part of the museum was Dora and Diego's room of fun. We were there for about 5 hours but had to cut the day short due to the little one getting a little tired. After the museum, we went back to the hotel to swim and the Breit family caught up with us there. We had to man 10 little ones in the pool but it was a lot of fun. We enjoyed an easy Italian dinner at the hotel as a group and got to hang out. Saturday morning was the walk and afterwards was lunch for 19.
I've said it a few times here lately but I'm in such a good place right now that I have the energy to do the things that I have been doing. I truly feel right now that there is nothing I can't do that I previously couldn't do. Today was your normal day, I went to church, worked out at the gym, cut the grass, grilled out for dinner and played with the kids. I want this to last as long as I can, that is my prayer. I still have a bunch planned the rest of the summer.
I feel so blessed for all I am experiencing right now. God has been so good to me and I'm glad to have him as my guide. I give all the praise to him!
No comments:
Post a Comment