October is one of my favorite months....for many reasons.....I love the cooler
weather. (sometimes that happens here in Texas) I love all the beautiful fall
flower arrangements in the stores. I love Halloween and all the yummy candy and
cute costumes. I love carving pumpkins, making pumpkin bread and baking the
seeds. I love getting ready for the holidays that are right around the
corner...and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the “JDRF Say Boo To Diabetes Walk!” This year
will mark our 4th annual!
My daughter, Kaci , was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes on July 28, 2009.
She was just 7 years old. It was devastating. I won’t bore you with all the sad
details....If you have a loved one (especially a child) with Type 1 Diabetes –
chances are- you can just remember back to your loved ones day of diagnoses and
pretty much channel any emotion I felt that day. Anger, Sadness, Fear, Guilt,
Regret, Horror, Shock....well, you get the picture! Kids are amazing- at least
my Kaci is! She accepted her diagnosis much quicker than I did. There are still
days when I just can’t believe checking blood sugars, taking shots and testing
ketones is our “new normal” But there are many quotes that often help me make it
through the “highs” and the “lows” (pun intended) of diabetes:
“It is what it is”
“You can’t change yesterday, but you can ruin today worrying about
tomorrow.”
“Making the decision to have a child -it's
momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your
body.”
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot
change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the
difference."
“While we try to teach our
children all about life, our children teach us what life is all
about.”
I
love my children with every part of my being. I love them with all of my heart.
I love them with all of my soul. There is nothing that I would not do to help
make them more successful in life. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to help find a
cure for Type 1 Diabetes.
So
each year- about this time...we put on our volunteer hats and we begin to
fundraise for the JDRF Austin Chapter in hopes of raising even more money than
we did in the previous years to help find a CURE for Diabetes! Each
year it gets harder- but each year we are determined to raise more.
The
first year of fundraising seemed the easiest. Kaci was 7 and adorable. She was
going into the 2nd grade and starting at a new school. She was walking around
with a band aid on every finger that she poked to test her blood sugar. For the
record, that meant she usually had 8 band aids on. The only finger she would not
let us test on- and still won’t today- is her pinkie! She was walking around
with band aids on every spot of her arm, leg, stomach or bottom where she had
been given one of her 6 daily injections. It was “new” to so many of our friends
and family members. She was young and fragile- I was a raving lunatic that cried
at the drop of a hat~ It was easy to raise money year one.
But
as we progress into our 4th year....it has begun to get a little bit harder.
Kaci is now 10 and still adorable. She is going into the 5th grade. She is able
to test her blood sugar on her own. She is able to calculate her insulin dosage
and giver herself her own shot. She often makes it look easy- when diabetes is
anything but! She is not DIABETES, but DIABETES is part of her. It is not the
neon sign on her back that it once was to other people....even though, it often
still blinds me! This year our fundraising walk goal is $5,000.00. How will we
ever reach that goal you ask?
Here
is a list of our previous year’s fundraising totals-
2009-
$1, 575.00
2010-
$3,502.84
2011-
$3,342,22
Each
year we have had to work harder and harder and start earlier and earlier! It is
only July and I have already logged on the JDRF site and created our team page.
I have registered each member of our family as a team member. We each typed up
our personal story of how Kaci’s diagnosis has touched and changed our lives and
emailed our story and team page link to all of our friends and
family.
We
have posted the Team Page link to our Facebook. We also created postcards that
we have mailed to businesses and family members who are not a part of the
“computer world”. The postcard explains the purpose of the walk to them and asks
for a small donation.
In
years past, the kids have sold lemonade in the front yard to help raise money
and 2 years ago we even ordered and sold rubber bracelets with our team name.
Last year -we came up with a team shirt and sold them at cost to team members
and friends who wanted to show their support for our team. This year- we got the
shirts at a much better price and are selling them for $5 over the cost- so with
every shirt purchase- Kaci’s team is making a $5 profit to go towards research.
Who can pass up a cute t-shirt for just $15 bucks!? It is definitely a
WIN-WIN!
Another
fun way we help raise money is the cute angel piggy bank Kaci has on her dresser
in her room. Everyone in the family deposits spare change into Kaci’s piggy bank
when they come across it. We do this all year. Then in mid-October, Kaci counts
all the spare change and Clint matches the amount we have collected and adds it
to her walk page meter. Fun and easy – and quite shocking how “spare change” can
add up over a year’s time.
I
would love to hold a bake sale this year at my work- or perhaps I can talk Clint
into it too! That would be a fun and easy way to round up some donations. Again-
a WIN-WIN for all involved!
So-
this year we are asking you ....once again.....to help us, help the Juvenile
Diabetes Research Foundation find a CURE for Type 1 Diabetes. No matter if Kaci
is 7 or 37- we want Type 1 Diabetes GONE!
If
you are able to make a donation (every dollar counts-it doesn’t have to be a
HUGE amount) please click on one of the links above.
If
you would like to order a t-shirt- please send me the size(s) and we will have
it ready for you the 1st of October. They come in all sizes Youth S, M, L, XL
and Adult S, M, L, XL, and XXL.
We
will never lose HOPE!
Thank
you for believing with us!!
