finer than frog hair: Making Great Strides

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Making Great Strides

Many of you may not know that my neice, Breanna, has cystic fibrosis. As well as being an excellent student and very active in extracurriculars at her high school, Breanna is extremely committed to the fight against CF. I am excited that I was able to go to Toledo and walk with her this year at the 2008 Toledo, OH - Ottawa Park GREAT STRIDES walk.

GREAT STRIDES is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's largest and most successful national fund-raising event. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a devastating genetic disease that affects tens of thousands of children and young adults in the United States. Research and care supported by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is making a huge difference in extending the quality of life for those with CF. However, we continue to lose precious lives to CF every day. To learn more about CF and the CF Foundation, visit cff.org. Here I am with Miss Breanna. Our Team name is Breanna's Bunch - you can spot us next year, we're in the awesome green shirts! My sister Diana is Bre's mom. She and our mom Gloria set up a booth at the walk to help with the fundraising... we've got CF Beanies, BREATH bracelets, and dish scrubbers for your shopping pleasure! I helped a wee bit with the over flow customers. We really did walk! A total of 3.2 miles through the park. Diana, Jack and good friend Libby walking anchor in this shot. Following the kids was rather entertaining... several choruses of The Ants Go Marching... a few Christmas Carols ... yup! entertaining is maybe not the right word! It had threatened to rain, but the day turned out quite lovely. The trees were in blossom and I couldn't resist a shot or too! The turn out was great and over all I believe the total money raised exceeded $210,000.00 Watch where you step! Other creatures walking too! Or wait... maybe they are marching! Do you see him? Here's (almost) the whole bunch... Bre's big sister Amanda was there with her boyfriend Scott - both are graduating seniors at Sylvania Northview this year. Of course Mom and Dad were present and accounted for! If you are interested in making a donation to be credited to Breanna's Bunch, you can do so through my web page for the walk HERE. I would truly like to thank those of you who have already donated - you are a blessing!