Great News to Share!

Saturday night (June 20th) at Sammy’s BBQ was a HUGE success…thanks to the many of you who donated to Children’s to make it so incredible!

To recap, we’ve been raising money for Team Holmes at Children’s since a couple months after Gage was diagnosed in the summer of 2007. Blake, along with a couple friends, have met often since then with the leadership at Children’s to better understand the needs of the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders (CCBD), where Gage is treated. Our goal?  To make life better for families battling childhood cancer at Children’s.

As you may know, Children’s is a private, not-for-profit academic pediatric medical center, and it relies on the generosity of the community to help fulfill its mission to make life better for children. And, some of the things that “make life better for children” are things that definitely need private funding if they’re going to happen.

So, we decided to raise money to support the Childlife department at the CCBD.

First, we raised funds to cover three years of salary for the first, full-time Childlife Specialist on the inpatient oncology floor . So, for the last year or more, Lindsay (pictured below in red) has been caring for and loving the kids and families on the oncology floor 40 hours a week in a way the doctors and nurses don’t have the time or training to do. You can read more here if you want to learn more about what she does.

Now, we’re also raising money for other things that support Lindsay and the other Childlife Specialists who care for the CCBD kids:

* General budget support that gives them freedom to plan events & activities for the inpatient kids

* Funds to stock the prize closet, where the kids go at the end of their day to get a “prize” for each “poke” they received. If you can imagine, they go through at least 100 prizes/small toys each day…all year long. And, the small reward at the end of a long day means a lot to all the kids.

* The salary for one of the clowns who visits weekly. Click here to see a post from this Spring with Gage playing with the clowns.

* Two new mobile Wii/DVD fun stations that kids on the floor can use in their rooms (especially important for those on isolation who can’t even leave their rooms)

* And, having a more fully staffed Childlife team also allows them to pursue other projects, such as the recent addition of Beads of Courage at Children’s. (You can scroll to the bottom of our April 15 post to learn more). They’ve also been able to extend the hours of the playroom on the floor…a huge difference maker for the 10th floor kids who can’t leave the floor during their stay (days/weeks/months at a time) because of their suppressed immune systems, among other reasons.

And, because of your generosity, Children’s allowed us to officially name the Prize Closet as a recognition of the money that’s been raised through Team Holmes. So, on Saturday night, we made two big announcements:

* Team Holmes raised $40,000+ for Children’s through our event at Sammy’s BBQ (ticket sales & donations)…and, to date, we’ve now raised about $190,000 total!

* The prize closet will be named in honor of Laurren Smith, whose story many of you have faithfully followed. The plaque outside the prize closet will read:

Generously donated by Team Holmes
In honor of Laurren Smith

Here’s Blake surprising the Smith’s with a framed copy of the plaque…

As you can imagine, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room at that point…and you can read about if from the Smith’s perspective on their June 24th blog entry. Blake and I agreed that it’s not often you get to give a gift that meaningful…and it was so special to honor Laurren and her family for the kind generosity they’ve shown to others during her fight with cancer.

So, we’re thrilled with all that happened Saturday night. It’s not really an anniversary we enjoy celebrating, but it certainly makes it better to spend the evening with family and friends. And, we certainly plan to continue raising money for Children’s…both on the anniversary of Gage’s diagnosis and throughout the year. Once you have personally seen the immense needs that families are facing, it’s hard not to be moved to action. Thanks for joining us in giving back.

And…here are a few more pictures from the night…

The kids before the night began (sorry…we left Wesley with a sitter!)…

A room filled with family and friends…

Laurren…

Gage standing by Blake while he spoke…

Smiles from everyone at the end of the night…

Gage and the girls continue to enjoy their summer. Please pray that this week would be smooth, as it is our last week before we begin steroids again next Monday at clinic. It’s amazing how fast every four weeks comes around…and how slowly it seems that the steroids work their way out of his body.

Thanks, as always, for your support.

RH