The walk for 2011 took place on the tenth. Devin was awarded a sub and a Pepsi homerun t-shirt for being the highest fundraiser and $100 credit to Gamer Craze for being Volunteer of the Year. He was complemented on his imaginative fundraising efforts and bringing diabetes and the Walk itself into the public eye. He was so excited that he ran the first bit of the walk. Unfortunately he has asthma and other problems not associated with diabetes and promptly had an asthma attack so I drove to where he was to pick him up. All together the team raised $1,325.00 Better than last year. Next year we hope to
0 Comments
Our local Walk is coming up on September 10th. We set a goal of $2,000 for the team and have only $802.00 I am so disappointed. Devin hasn't felt well enough to fund raise and my efforts went mostly toward the requests for raffle prizes. We may hit the streets tomorrow with the team to get more donations. It all depends on Devin's well being and the weather. I wish I knew someone who would match whatever we brought in. Maybe by this time next year I will
Hard to believe that this is the last weekend before school starts again. To our advantage it was a reasonably warm day so we went swimming. Unfortunately Devin was told to not swim with his pump and his sugar went to 498. He was very angry and snappish as usually happens when his sugar goes high. There is a correlation between high blood sugar levels and a BAD attitude. I know that Joslin DIabetes Center in Boston is studying this connection. I hope they find a way to combat it until we have a cure.
Well here's the latest...The car wash on July 3rd raised $108.50 (no thanks to the SPORT team who did not show up). On the plus side, we did not have to share any proceeds! We rallied despite the heat and humidity thanks to Richard's help. Thank Heaven for the Ogdensburg Fire Department for letting us use their station and some of their equipment. They also had a very well air conditioned hallway where a couple of us went to cool off when the heat became unbearable. We all ended up red as lobsters despite trying to keep out of the sun as much as possible. Worth it though! We even managed to sell a few raffle tickets.
The 7/9/2011 Magic The Gathering Tournament went well for us. Aaron Reardon of Gamer Craze gave us a check for $120. for that event, which was $3.00 per participant. He was so helpful that he even found a bigger venue by talking to his friends The Mannings from The Partridge Cafe. I love it when people are generous and helpful. It gives me hope. We have many raffle prizes now and are selling tickets when we can...though Devin's insomnia has made it quite hard to get him going and the heat and humidity of recent days has been downright dangerous. We hope to sell some tomorrow at the Seaway Festival. We are working toward an art auction but have been hampered by the fact that the IRS does not allow charitable deduction for the actual artwork...only the supplies. No wonder the public TV station stopped its annual art auction! We are also waiting for the metal group TYRADE to hold a benefit concert (the drummer Matt is also a type 1 ). I have a few ideas still milling around in my brain. Halloween comes to mind and a wonderful acting group nearby called the Grasse River Players. Keep your fingers crossed that they will help us. On the 19th we met with Senator Patty Ritchie at her new offices in Ogdensburg at an Open House. She was so friendly and gracious that I offered to make her a member of the team and she agreed. She said that she will walk with us at the Sept. 10th Walk'n for Willz if her schedule permits. Devin was on top of the world the rest of the night!
We have a date and location for our car wash! The Ogdensburg Fire Department is graciously allowing us to use their facility to hold a car wash on Sunday, July 3rd from 10 am to 3 pm. As we have such a small team, we have asked some of the members of SPORT Ogdensburg to help us wash the cars in exchange for 1/2 of the wash proceeds. Hopefully there will be great weather, energetic washers, and generous car owners!
We still need volunteer washers, car washing soap, bottles of water, soft drinks, snacks and something for lunch for the washers. We could also use some balloons, signs or supplies to make them and some experienced washers and supervisors. The Cure-iers team is not feeling up to snuff. Richard, Devin and I are all feeling ill. Exhaustion and dehydration no doubt are the reasons. So fundraising is slow right now. We were given raffle prizes from Dominoes Pizza, Price Chopper, and Dunkin Donuts and a promise for a check for $50 from our Vet: Dr. Tim Monroe this week. The promise of that check not only made my day but it made every member on The Cure-iers team feel good! If only everywhere we asked were so generous.
The order is in to Price Chopper for the raffle tickets. It will take about six weeks for them. Kayla managed to get a donation from Mrs. Peck at her school. Friday, I spoke with the managers from Subway and A plus Sunoco, I was given the, 'We will be in touch if we want to donate,' brush off. That makes me so sad. I think it was the fact that I was wearing a home made team shirt. It does look rather amateur which looks suspicious. What they don't realize is that I do not have a JDRF issued shirt in my size and had to make due. So from now on I will wear my regular clothes. That way if I get the brush off it will be for some other reason. Naturally they presumably "kept" the paperwork I gave them. They don't realize that we pay for the supplies to make that paperwork out of our own pockets. Our pockets are terribly shallow. I could have used those papers for better prospects. It felt like a rather depressing, somewhat fruitless day so I went to the credit union trying to accomplish something. I tried to open a separate account for the donation money coming in and was told after a lengthy wait that I would have to file paperwork with the IRS first. Why does doing something good have to be so annoyingly complicated? I can't even send out an ad to accept donations via Facebook until we receive 25 likes. To date, we have three. People want to LIKE stuff like their favorite soft drink more than they will consider liking something like saving lives? Pressing that button costs the same either way. Wednesday we go back yet again to the Joslin Diabetes Center in Syracuse for a 6 month check up. Hopefully Dr. Sills can suggest something to help Devin with his neuropathy pain and his insomnia. His sugars are still far too high. No wonder he has started having complications at this young age. Richard reminded me that the expected life span of a type 1 is maybe 35 years. I cried a good long time, where nobody can see ofcourse. I don't want my son to die so young. I don't want him to become blind. I don't want him to lose his legs. I want him to live a fulfilling , long, happy life... God we need the cure! Tears can't cure him! If they could I'd have cried enough to cure all type 1 diabetics by now. Only money plus dedication plus time can cure him. I pray Devin has enough time to receive the cure. I pray that people care enough to give what they can to get it to him in time. Yesterday we followed up on some previously mailed donation requests to places that donated to our raffle last year. They both DOUBLED the gift certificates that they gave last year! God Bless them!
All we did was have pizza and soft drink at Pizza Hut today but that simple act was more than somone like Devin could handle. He has been struggling with blood sugar levels hovering around 400 despite insulin correction. Normal levels are between 70 and 120. He feels lousy, is very cranky and probably will not be able to sleep. Can you imagine the very sustenance you eat becoming like a poison?
Tomorrow we will talk with the Chief of the Ogdensburg Fire Department about having a car wash there. We need both volunteers and people with dirty cars. I will keep everyone posted on when!
|