So Proud

Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides Walk:

Saturday, June 25^th was the 3^rd Annual Great Strides CF Walk. It was a really fun day and I'm so fortunate to have so many people that truly care about furthering the CF Foundation's Mission! Each year the walk grows in activities and fun! We had more raffles and silent auctions than ever before. 20 silent auctions & 10 raffles. Subway in Henry, IL donated all the sandwiches, Sullivans donated the chips, and Dave Huseman donated all the water. We had Unique Twist create balloon animals and Chariss Hoffman did face painting. T Entertainment donated their time to DJ our event  and had a jam sale too. Teams walked 1 miles around the loop at the park. All the sponsors & donors were listed on the banner :-) make sure to thank them and show their businesses some love!

Overall, the teams raised more than they did in the past. Our walk raised $11,750 on Saturday. While this is quite a bit lower than the $23,000 we raised last year, I’m very proud. One of our biggest teams from 2015 moved out east and another large past team had another commitment that day. Those 2 teams were responsible for $13,000 of the $23,000 last year.  I was projecting us to raise around $9,000 this year and the teams really pushed themselves. Team CF2 (my team) typically raises $7,500 a year, this year we brought in over $10,000 of the donations!  Also, we are not done fundraising for the walk yet. The link remains active and open through the end of the year. So anyone who wants to raise more, please feel free!

We have a fundraiser going on at Rip’s in Ladd, IL on November 21, 2016, as well as a couple more bake sales this year.  I’m so proud of my team!!! I can’t believe of the 85 teammates that were able to come & fundraise we all raised $10,000.  A few of my team members really stepped it up. One asked friends, co-workers to donate, and shared their link online a lot; he raised $745. One team member had a bake sale at their Chiropractic office on Wednesdays (for a month), and threw a dessert party at their home. They asked their friends to just brings donations for CF Foundation. Between the two events they raised $780.  Another team member makes jam & jelly all summer long and sells the jars for $5, donating all proceeds to our team, she has raised over $300 already and still making more! All three of these team members found a way to fundraise by themselves to supplement the amount they donate to the walk. Way to go guys!!!

This supplemental/secondary fundraising is called passion fundraising. Fundraising is the only way this team or walk is going to grow! I hope it continues to grow, as it is very important. People may not realize the almost every single cent donated goes directly to the CF Foundation for research for a cure.

I want a cure in my lifetime, for many reasons. 1. I’m selfish. I can tell I feel like I’m 80 years old already, my joints, bones, body just hurt almost every single day. Some days I wake up feeling like I’m suffocating until I do my breathing nebs. Some days those don’t event help as much. I can tell every year how much more toll Cystic Fibrosis has taken on my body. I am DETERMINED to live a full life.  A beautiful life with Andrew, with goals and dreams. My dream is to have a family and to see my kids become adults, get married, even wish to become a grandparent one day!  2. I want to see the day a child is born with CF and no longer given a “life expectancy”  3. I want to know the future generations will have a better life (medically) than I did!

So please consider joining us next year, helping us plan, fundraising, and make a difference in all the CF Community’s Lives!  Thank you!!!!

Pictures will be posted as an album on Cheriz: My Life with Cystic Fibrosis (Facebook page)

We started putting together a Walk Committee for 2016 and some big & exciting changes will be happening, let me know if you want to help us plan the walk :-)  ALSO, make sure to check back. Soon I will be posting about our new house we bought and the next big step for Andrew & I's future, plus I'm starting Orkambi soon!