I'm a big fan of hindsight. I advocate self-reflection and celebrate how all the pieces of life's great puzzle fit together. This is particularly true when it come to this work. We have all brought so many gifts into this medley of divine-directed goodness—goodness that would have gone undone had we all not stepped forward into this leap of faith.
Looking back over the landscape of 2011, I'm flabbergasted by all the we accomplished. This was truly a breakthrough year!
• We delivered our FIRST $50,000 research grant to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, which launched The Kyrie Foundation Tissue Bank Fund! This is precisely what we had set forth to do. Get more research going to cure cancer? Check!
• We welcomed Wendy Wilkinson to our hardworking board of directors! She has been a much appreciated addition to all of the fundraising that our merry band of do-gooders offers to the world.
• Our third annual scrapbooking krop was a sell-out and then some! We also presented our very first Kyrie Foundation awards to several special souls who have initiated even more cancer-curing fundraising and awareness on our behalf.
• We welcomed Amy Nelson to our hardworking board of directors! Amy has been such an enthusiastic inspiration and a well-spring of great ideas for the foundation's future success!
• Never before had I seen such a magnificent work of craftsmanship: The Kyrie Foundation wood-fired grill! Courtesy of Danny Schneider and Kruse Corporation, this thing is smokin'--literally. And now we have so many options for fundraising that wouldn't be possible otherwise.
• We added yet ANOTHER fundraiser to our repertoire: the Kyrie Klassic golf tournament! It was a great morning at Sierra Hills and a happy birthday for one of our most devoted volunteers, Andi.
• In addition to our beautiful bracelets, cookbooks and designer tees, we now have reusable totes, water bottles and hooded sweatshirts!
• Two of our youngest and most loyal supporters swept the Fundraising Challenge at this year's Twilight Walk! Sister-and-brother duo Madison and Mason showed us all how amazing it is when kids help other kids and ... this was our largest grossing Twilight Walk yet!
• We met, shared information and found solidarity with the founder of the new Texas-based Layla Grace Foundation.
• We made it into Pepsi's October Refresh Everything grant contest! A whirlwind of support—everything from school assemblies to new friends at St. Micheal's to a parade float!—catapulted us into the #4 spot! Stay tuned for more info on another chance in 2011!
• Our third-annual Metamorphosis art+gift auction proved to be our highest yielding fundraising EVER! And ... we auctioned off a trip to the 2011 Grammy's!!
• We were graciously chosen as the beneficiaries of the incredible Heart of America Men's Chorus Christmas concert! Which led to ...
• Frosty & Elf Rita had more toys than ever for their annual Christmas visit to Wesley hospital's pediatric floor! And more volunteers than ever, too!
WOW, right? I mean, isn't it amazing how much we can accomplish when we work together? Stunning, absolutely stunning. Another round of heartfelt thanks to all of you who support this endeavor, continue to read this blog, spread the word, boost enthusiasm, make the phone calls, send the e-mails and so much more.
And this being New Year's Eve, a toast to our supporters and especially to my fellow board members: I know this work isn't easy. It doesn't easily fit into schedules. Donations don't come easily. Volunteers are sometimes hard to find. It's isn't easy plowing ahead when none of us have done this before. We have great expectations from ourselves, an attribute born of integrity. We dare to do when the world barely cares. Yet we have all acknowledged at one time or another that those who step forward to care about this cause aren't chosen by us but rather called by Him.
Thank you for being part of the solution, part of the cure. Thank you for putting up with me. Thank you for caring about children you've never met. Thank you for showing how everyone that miracles are made of a million minutes of hard work. Thank you for bringing your best to the table.
Here's to 2011 with The Kyrie Foundation! Cheers!
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