First off, I must exclaim: WOW! The day and the event turned out to be tremendously moving and successful in so many ways. Our thought on this year's location in Wichita was to make it more accessible to more people. This coupled with our support from KFDI meant that online registration was up by 44% this year! We heard so many compliments on Bishop Carroll High School's track facilities, too. There were points when adults and kids were just relaxing on the turf with their shoes off--it was that kind of special evening. So fortunate that we were allowed to host the walk with Bishop Carroll.
Love how it says "Family Stadium" there.We had a phenomenal group of volunteers who unloaded and set up tables, tents, games and details in a flash. Thank you Mike, Mitchell, Brad, Nate, Lisa, Shelby & Craig! The McConnell Air Force Base Honor Guard presented the colors beautifully. Great merchandise and good deals at the silent auction. Fabulous tension-taming relief at the Heritage College Massage for the Cause tent. Upbeat tunes from Accent Mobile Music punctuated with the smooth style of Tony Brueski. The burgers and hot dogs and pizza slices were delish!
I watched plenty of kiddos leave with precious bags of prizes and goodies from the games! (Thank you, game volunteers!) Dorothy was a lovely hostess and was able to visit with Miss Anna, a brave fighter against pediatric brain cancer.
Face painting was a HUGE hit!
And the family races! Oh, man-that's one of my favorite parts! It is so fun to see families playing together. Like here in the 3-legged race:
There were two special presentations that night, one to acknowledge our super-generous fundraising challenge teams. And the winner is ... Kyrie's Fighters!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This team of courageous and giving souls raised over $1,200 for the cause! We are humbled by their willingness to undertake the task of raising funds for The Kyrie Foundation Research Grant. We know it isn't easy and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your extraordinary efforts!
And if that weren't enough, the first and second place runners up were teams of brothers and sisters! We are AMAZED and a little emotional when children help other children, which is exactly what The Gorilla Gerbils and Maddie & Mason did! Thank you small and mighty cancer fighters! And thank you to all of our fundraising teams! The Carrie Turner Team, Moon Family Team, Farmer Family Team, Kyler's Krew, The Johnson Ladies, Team Finn, the OZ-some Team and the Christy Coleman Team!
The second special presentation came from Coach Rita Frakes and the Andover Central Girls Softball Team. Not only did they volunteer to run the kids games, but they came to present their fundraising from the Hit for the Cure game they played in early this summer. These sweet & strong ladies donated over $1,300 to The Kyrie Foundation! Can you believe that?! Thank you, team, for being on our team, too!
Our friendly hospitality team of volunteers passed out the balloons ...
just in time for Kyrie's balloon launch that kicked off the walk.
It was so moving to see dads with kids on their shoulders and moms pushing strollers around the track. I could hear families keeping count of which lap they were on, so dedicated to walking each one for a child somewhere that day who received a brain tumor diagnosis. It was a time to just be together, to let the little ones run off their spirited energy and to take stock of what we're thankful for and what we can do with our time here together on earth.
And, once again, thanks to you, we hit our goal for this event!!! More photos to come! And a special announcement later this week!
1 comment:
An awe-inspiring amount of good there that night, that is for sure.
So thankful in so many ways...
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