A message from Frosty!

Happy Holidays!

Frosty & Elf Rita are busy preparing for their
Annual Kyrie Christmas Trip to Wesley Hospital
Pediatric & PICU Floor...to delivery bags FULL of
goodies to the kiddos who are stuck in the hospital
over Christmas weekend.

They will be frolicking down the hallways on
Friday, December 23 with Jordan, Lacie, and
some good-deed-doer volunteers!!

Luckily this year, there is
an overabundance of toys for each child.

However, we are short on cash donations,
which are used to purchase:

Teen Items
McDonalds Gift Cards
Spangles Gift Cards
Quik-Trip Gas Cards
Last minute age/gender-appropriate items

If anyone is interested in donating,
please mail your contribution to:

Susan Jae Eckel
"Frosty"
3738 S. Dugan
Wichita, KS 67215

We need ALL donations
no later than: 12/19/2011

Thank you so much for your support!
It is so-very-appreciated!!

Snowflakes & Hugs,
"Frosty"

Heart of America Men's Chorus Concert Benefitting The Annual Kyrie Foundation Hospital Trip

Don't Forget!!!

This weekend, treat yourself to some great signing from some great guys, all while helping benefit the annual hospital trip by Frosty, Elf Rita and The Kyrie Foundation. Bring a toy and/or book with you and it will be delivered to a child on our annual hospital trip and mean more to someone than you can ever imagine.

Please note the Sunday time of 4:30pm!

Kids under 12 are free with an adult paid admission

$18 tickets available at the door or by calling 708.4837 or

by stopping by Creative Awards, 2801 E Central

during business hours

De Mattias Fine Arts Center
Newman University - Wichita, KS

This WEEKEND!!

7:00 p.m. SATURDAY NIGHT, 12/3
4:30 p.m. SUNDAY AFTERNOON, 12/4

The big toy drive Christmas concert with Heart of America Men's Choir! WOO-HOOO!!! And if you tell the ticket peoplet that your buying your ticket in support of the Kyrie Foundation, they'll donate $3 for each of those people--back to the Kyrie Foundation!

There are already two 8' tables set up outside the concert hall at Newman University's De Mattias Fine Arts Center to collect the toys.

If you haven't been to a performance there, you'll find it to be a terrific venue. Deanne Zogleman, the choral director and head of the music department, is the Guest Conductor and is hosting this HOAMC concert in her terrific facility: Newman University's De Mattias Fine Arts Center.

The perfect way to put yourself in the holiday mood!!

Fishing for a Cure SNEAK PEEK!

T-Minus One Week

That's right!  We are one week away from the 2011 Kyrie Foundation Art & Gift Auction where we will be 'Fishing for a Cure'.  Join us at Studio 2131 in the Crossroads District of Kansas City on Saturday night, November 12 for an evening filled with live music, great food & drink and some of the best silent and live auction items around.  The best thing is that you can enjoy all of this while joining in the fight against pediatric brain cancer.  We would love to see you there.

Click here to purchase advance tickets to the 2011 Kyrie Foundation Art & Gift Auction

To whet your whistle as you Fish for a Cure!

So excited to have a host of fabulous artists who have donated pieces to the big event! Take a peek at a couple of our artist and some of their style ...

Aardark on the Sea

Aardvark is the brainchild of Lesley and Pea, artist and designer, of St.Leonards on Sea: a veritable Bohemia and creative epicentre on the South Coast.

We delight in the particular and the vernacular: handmade signs, typography, village halls, fruit cake, tweed overcoats and twice-fried chips. Other inspirations include Edwardian picaresques, English Modernism and cheesy tunes of yesteryear. We champion the handmade and homemade. The broadsides are made with traditional wood and metal type and are printed on a vintage Heidelberg press in Rye.

Our linocuts are lovingly carved and printed in our ramshackle studio using only FSC certified/recycled papers and environmentally friendly inks.

Rita Blitt

Painter/sculptor Rita Blitt celebrates her love of nature, music, and dance in drawings, paintings, film and sculpture. She has installed over 45 monumental sculptures up to 60 feet in height, had 74 solo exhibitions and participated in many group shows. Her works have been shown and installed in Australia, France, Germany, Israel, Italy (including an award in the Florence Biennale), Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States. Rabbi Brad Hirschfield recently wrote, Blitt's work "affirms life and inspires joy". Commenting on Blitt's work in a 2003 NYC exhibition David Cleveland reviewer and novelist wrote, "Translating intimate gesture of line…Blitt has created sculptures which invoke her signature sensuous curves and ethereal harmonies of form, mirroring in compelling ways the human figure in motion."

Jeremy Collins

Whether your journey is from east to west, or from ground to summit, don't miss the path from heart to head. Between these two destinations we find our voice.

Lorrie Boydston

As a native of Suburban Kansas City, I am a product of suburbia and continue to live and raise my own family on the edge of civilization.  Amongst the fabricated, redundant landscape I find myself capturing what I see as little glimpses of life or a moment of redemption in an otherwise mundane and whitewashed environment.  My work explores the dichotomy of suburban life as it relates to our personal ideas of what is private and public.  My use of both photography and painting echoes the conceptual nature of the suburban subject matter and speaks of the tension between illusion and reality.  

Daniel Swartz

I have a simple philosophy when it comes to illustration:  Do something INCREDIBLE.

There are only so many hours in the day, years in a life…why waste them on something I’m not proud of?  I want every piece I do to be something incredible in three ways: First that the piece would clearly stand out to the public as something different and something great; Second that the creative process between myself and the client would lead us to an awesome solution, to excel in the collaborative component of illustration; and Third that I could push myself conceptually and technically and won’t settle for trite solutions.

Maura Cluthe

I integrate text + photography + drawing + painting with all sorts of stuff. I collect postcards, old photographs, and remnants off the street; fragments from other people's lives that live on within my paintings.

More artist peeks to come!!!

You are enthusiastically invited to attend our fourth-annual Kansas City fundraiser, a silent art+gift auction to benefit the Kyrie Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit raising research funds to fight pediatric brain cancer!

$40 per ticket in advance
$50 at the door

Studio 2131
Kansas City Crossroads District

7:00 p.m. Event Opens

7:30 p.m. Bidding Begins

10:00 p.m. Bidding Closes

 

Includes deliciousness from Westside Local, BRGR, Sunset Grill, Whole Foods Market, Cabot Cheese, Kansas City Steak Company, 3 Women & an Oven, handcrafted beer by Free State Brewing Company, Red Door wine, soda, meet & greet with donating artists and your name entered into our drawing for prizes!

                               

specialty cocktail presented by

Live music by Blue Sea Fishermen's Union

Hurry! Tickets are limited!    

Brain cancer is the #1 cancer-killer of children, with a 10% diagnoses increase since The Kyrie Foundation began just four years ago. We are committed to funding and finding a cure. All proceeds from this event will go to support the Kyrie Foundation Tissue Bank Fund, which supports the only tissue bank of its kind in conjunction with PBTF.

Fantastic Mini LIVE Auction Items:

Two round-trip tickets on Southwest Airlines
Autographed baseball from George Brett
Happy hour party for up to 100 people at Howl at the Moon Piano Bar
Custom built playhouse from Legacy Custom Homes

Painting created LIVE by artist Mike Debus
Private party for 35 at Boulevard Brewery Company's Tasting Room
Trip to Orlando including airfare, lodging, and passes to Seaworld!

Generously sponsored by:

  

Save The Date! 2011 Kyrie Foundation Art & Gift Auction in Kansas City

Saturday, November 12, 2011, we'll invade the gracious, spacious Studio 2131 in the Crossroads District of Kansas City, MO to hold the 4th Annual Art & Gift Auction.  We are excited at how this event is coming together, thanks to the absolutely, fantastic people paving the way for a great opportunity to raise funds for pediatric brain cancer.  If you are in the area or can make the trip to Kansas City, we'd love for you to spend the evening listening to great music, partaking in fabulous food & drink, bidding on top-notch art and gift items, all while helping The Kyrie Foundation march towards another $50,000 research grant!  You can also register online now by using the link below:

http://kyriefoundation-eorg.eventbrite.com/ 

Twilight Walk Recap

Whew! What a whirlwind the past two weeks have been! So many details and so much goodness pouring into last Saturday's big event.

And ... then there was the weather. Despite the thundershowers early Saturday morning, we were VERY blessed to have a cloudy but dry set-up. So grateful that our silent auction was under tents (Thanks, Coleman!). However, the threat of rain was ever-looming. We had everyone checking on their phones, watching the weather maps (Thanks, Andi!) and trying to figure out what to do. Luckily, we had use of the old Bishop Carroll gym (Thanks, Larry!). It's not a large space; we couldn't all fit and do our laps in there by any means. What to do?

Around 4:30 p.m., we could see the skies lighten and the sun warm over the track. You could see the bright spot coming from the south-west. And according to Andi's phone, you could also expect a big blob of rain right behind the clear spot. So, 20 minutes before the event was to start, we moved the entire silent auction--something that had taken hours to set up (Thanks, Andover Central Girls Softball Team, Andi, Candy, Steph, Fred, Anissa, Amy, Wendy, Lacie, Susan, Britany, Robin, Ryan, Nate, Mandi, Manny, Jordan, Gary, JR and BCHS NHS!) into the old gym! And while it wasn't our first choice, it turn out to be the right choice. We also moved the projector and video show to the gym.

We went to plan B with Accent Mobile Music (Thanks, Cathy!) where the board was set up in the gym and music was played outside from the PA in the press box. That meant that our KZSN emcee (Thanks, Chase!) had to announce from the press box, and that our live music by Logan Sorenson (Thanks, Logan!) had to play in the press box, too. Logan sounded GREAT!!! It actually turned out to be fun to hear "official" play-by-play announcing during the kids' races. ;)

The games were busy (Thanks, Rita and team!),

the massage tent was busy (Thanks, Jodi and Heritage College! I'll try again next year!),

Dorothy was a delight (Thanks, Susan!),

registration was busy (Thanks, Robin, Terry and Samantha!),

concessions were busy (Thanks, Leah, Derek, Darcie, Branigan, Andrea, Todd, Gary, Donna, Norma, Susan, Farmland, Cargill, Pepsi Bottling Company, Art's & Mary's and Dillon's!)

Along with the Wilkinson family, the top fundraising team also led the big crowd around the track: M&M Kids for Kyrie!!!!!!! The brother & sister power team raised over $800 in the fundraising challenge--talk about an inspiration to the rest of us!!! (Thanks, Madison & Mason!)

The balloons and star were distributed to our mighty walkers (Thanks, Tamera and the Riggs-Judd-Sabala-Gearhardt families!)

As the walk began, you wouldn't believe how the skies open up in one spot just in time to see this amazing--I mean, AMAZING!--sunset! Seriously! It was such a beautiful gift to see everything lit up as it there were a million candles gently lighting the sky and our way. It's something I'll never forget.

Kendra did a wonderful job speaking on behalf of 7-year-old survivor Anna Jo! (Thanks, Kendra!)

Another inspiration? Seeing the Marine Corp. run their 11 laps for the kids! It was so cool to see their team run together--reminds me what we're all trying to do against this cancer.

Our friend, Alli, chose the walk to celebrate her son's 3rd birthday! Brilliant and benevolent!!

After the laps, we all headed into the old gym, just as the clouds were rolling in. We had volunteer photographers catch it all, too! (Thanks, Shannon, Chele and Rachel!)

The silent auction looked incredible! So many compliments on how the auction had grown this year. (Thanks, Fred, Candy, Steph, Jordan, Lacie, Rubbermaid, Best Buy, Material Girls, Firefly Yoga Studios and so, so, so many more!) Plus, our own Kyrie Foundation Style Shop (Thanks, Kenzie!)

The Kyrie Foundation was presented with a wonderful check of over $1,700 from the Andover Central Girls Softball Team Hit for the Cure fundraiser! We love these girls for their courageous and generous hearts!

The Kyrie Foundation was also presented with wonderful check of $32,000 from the HawkerBeechcraft golf tournament! We are honored to be their recipient and inspired by their call to the community to do show similar support for the cause.

The foundation, in turn, presented award to the girls and to HawkerBeechcraft as well as to Kruse Corporation for their generosity and creativity (Thanks, Danny!) with the incredible Kyrie Foundation grill!

We debuted the first-ever Kyrie Foundation public service announcement (Thanks, JustinMcClureTV!), which was absolutely beautiful! And then our tribute video to you and to the children for whom we are fighting this disease.

And just as the silent auction closed and check-out began, you could hear the downpour outside. Perfect timing. ;)

We deeply and truly thank everyone who came to walk with us! And to all of our sponsors: AirTight Insulation, Pratt Industries, Midwest Mechanical, The Mattress Hub, American Family Insurance/Brad Woody Agency, Wired-Rite Electric, Jayhawk Oil Supply, Kirk & Becky Rundle Family, Asset Insurance Consultants, Jordan Chiropractic, KLM Photography, West Acres Bowling Center, Bishop Carroll High School, Accent Mobile Music, Kruse Corporation, Art's & Mary's, Heritage College, Cargill, Farmland, Firefly Yoga, Rubbermaid, Justin McClure TV, Material Girls Quilt Shoppe, Coleman Company, E-GrafX, Best Buy, KZSN 102.1, Overhead Door Company and Dillon's.

Together, we raised over $20,000 last Saturday for pediatric brain cancer research!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!! A new record!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

One More Thing

Kyrie Foundation PSA video

Please watch and share this video with your family and friends.  We would like to thank Justin McClureTV for the making of this video and for sharing your time and talents with us. 

Have a blessed day!
Kyrie Foundation
Board of Directors

JOIN US!!!

One more day!  Today is the last day you can register online!  We are so looking forward to spending the evening with you in memory of Kyrie.  This event is so very important to us and we want to share it with as many people as we possibly can. 

We gather to remember.

We pledge to raise funds.

We walk in memory and in honor.

We do all of this...to save the lives of children.

There won't be a dry eye in the place when we get to the heart of the matter.  And really, we are just so thankful for people coming out to do good...just to do good. 

Not for recognition.  Not for any reward. 

Just being there to do good for the sake of doing good. 

We as a board, love to bask in the goodness that comes through the gate with each and every one of you.

So to those of you who have registered, donated, volunteered or are praying for the success of our event...

THANK YOU.

To register for the walk, please click here .

Sincerely,
The Kyrie Foundation
Board of Directors

TUNE IN!

Tomorrow!

KZSN 102.1 FM at 8:45 a.m. tomorrow morning to hear us on the air with Chase Locke talking about the Twilight Walk and the foundation's work!

AND ...

KAKE-ABC Channel 10 during the 11:30 news show to see us talking about the Twilight Walk and the foundation's work!

It's been a whirlwind of a week as we're in the home stretch. BUSY, BUSY and looking forward to celebrating with you all on Saturday. So hard to ask for this given the summer that the area has had this summer, but please, please, please pray for no rain on Saturday! So much to set-up that would be a sad, soggy mess by the time you and your family arrived at 5 p.m. Ugh!

6.

Is it possible that 6 years have flown by?

Last week, I discovered a few photos from six years ago this time. What a feeling of joy to see this tiny pink bundle named Kyrie! Jordan and Lacie look so young in these photos. I can see time now when I look through these images. Sometimes that feels okay, sometimes not.

In each breath today, gratitude for her existence. Such deep gratitude that she brought all of you here into this crusade to save children. Gratitude for growth, for fortitude, for courage. Gratitude that this is not the end. Gratitude that love never dies.

Let's celebrate 6 together. I hope you'll come September 17 to celebrate this journey with us.

Happy 6th birthday, sweet baby Kyrie! You are still the gift with each birthday that arrives—the gift to your parents, your family, your community and your friends all over the world who are fighting brain cancer. Know that we miss you so much. We hope that furry, little Moe, made it to you last week in time for your birthday today. He missed you a lot, too. We love you always.

Sponsors make it possible!

Our Twilight Walkers and our sponsors mean the world to us. It takes a lot of effort, time and ideas to make something like this happen every year. We are 100% volunteer; this is what we all do because we care enough about really, truly making a difference. And the thing is ... we are. We are doing something and that is a 1,000,000% more than doing nothing. We've just sped up the research and shaved time off the wait for a cure. You, your friends, your family, your co-workers, your businesses—you've made the world a better place.

Bishop Carroll High School

To have such a beautiful facility so centrally located is a true blessing for this event and for the foundation. Thank you, BCHS, for making this annual event possible!!

It's really important for companies that turn into corporations to keep a sense of humanity. Pratt certainly does that each year with their much-need sponsorships!

One of the most difficult tasks for any event is getting the word out. We are so grateful to KZSN for their help to spread the word!

We love Bill! He's a wonderful person who has been a true gift to the Twilight Walk each year. If you need someone talented and kind to make the most of your party music, Bill is the one!

We are deeply indebted to Kruse Corp. and the talented Danny Schneider for the stunning Kyrie Foundation grill. Think of them as you dig into a burger or hotdog that night!

We're so happy to have Materials Girls Quilt Shoppe as a new 2011 official sponsor! There is love and creativity put into every stitch of this fabulous fabric venue.

So happy to have Wire-Rite in our camp! And we've heard other business appreciate their good work as well.

Pepsi has made it possible to hydrate hundred and hundreds of Kyrie Foundation supporters over the years. And, of course, the great run we had last fall for the Pepsi Refresh Project!

We've received so many compliments on our volunteers' grillin' skillz, but we're happy to share the love with Cargill, the business that makes it possible to grill anything at all!

This year will be the year I will finally get my time in the massage therapy chair! A round of applause for all the muscles that will be relaxed thanks to Heritage College massage therapy students.

With energy costs climbing and climbing, it's good to know that there's a good company that can help ... and they also care enough to help children and families by sponsoring this year's walk!

New this year! The great people Firefly yoga studio helped sponsor this year's walk and selected the Kyrie Foundation as the beneficiary of their fundraising runway event!

Kirk & Becky Rundle Family

How humbled we are when a family sponsors an event to help other families. A true testament to support and togetherness, huge thanks Rundle family!

What a consistent source of support Art's & Mary's has been to the Kyrie Foundation! We love that these crunchy tater chips are all natural, so when you have a choice for a family snack, this is the one!

 Wonderful thanks to the Brad Woody Agency of American Family Insurance! We, too, believe that families need to be protected from calamity. Thank you, Brad Woody Agency!

Fantastic new sponsor this year! Keeping things cool in the summer and warm in the winter, just how families should be. Thanks, Midwest Mechanical!

If you're looking for a nice place to take a rest, look no further than the Mattress Hub! Supporting the Twilight Walk for years now, we are thrilled to have them as a sponsor this year.

 Once again Rubbermaid has generously donated items that make family life more organized ... and easy to clean! We are so grateful to have them sponsor the Twilight Walk in ways that we could never do by ourselves.

From farm families to your family, we are grateful to Farmland for supplying grillables for the big event. Thank you so much, Farmland!

What wonderful event supplies and a super-fantastic gift package donated by Coleman! We are so grateful for their generosity.

We love it that such a popular place for family fun support keeping families together. Big thanks to West Acres for supporting healthy little brains!

It's so exciting when businesses "get it," when they realize what it is that we're trying to do and help in whatever why they can. Thank you, Best Buy, for your generosity this year!

Jayhawk Oil Supply

We love it when Kansans help Kansans! A big thank you to Jayhawk Oil Supply for their generous sponsorship this year. A true example of why this is called The Heartland.

Asset Insurance Consultants

So grateful to Asset Insurance Consultants, a brand new sponsor for 2011! We agree that all that has value needs extra-special care.

Justin McClure TV

We are profoundly grateful to Justin McClure and his benevolent team for their time and talent donated to make the Kyrie Foundation's first-ever commercial, debuting the night of the Twilight Walk!