July 25, 2011

To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.

- Johannes A. Gaertner


That is exactly how we felt this weekend, like we have touched Heaven.  What an amazing weekend we had!  Our fundraisers definitely surpassed our expectations. Between the Centennial garage sale, car wash, bake sale,Kassidy's Army Golf Tournament & Smiths booth we raised $33,000.  Just amazing! That will cover 4 months of Kassidy's treatments.


On Thursday, Smiths on N Durango allowed us to take part of their community outreach program. Kyle, Kass & I setup a booth inside Smiths to sell the Kassidy Army t-shirts & bracelets.  When we got there the firefighters were outside, identa-kid (fingerprint service for kids) & Girls Scouts.  Unfortunately we got there a little later than I wanted and we didn't get such a great spot, the first half hour nobody even gave us a look.  But I had made flyers with Kassidy's picture and a very small paragraph about her, so my friend Lisa had an idea to stand up front of the store and handout flyers and point them towards our booth.  It worked!! Many people stopped at the booth to ask Kassidy about her treatments and offer their kind words, especially from cancer survivors.  Several bought bracelets and/or t-shirts. There were many, many people that simply donated.  It seems like almost everyone knows someone who is fighting or has had to fight cancer and they were very generous.  In the four hours we were at Smiths, we were able to raise $1600.  We were very excited and want to again thank any and all that helped to make this fundraiser a success.  After the fundraiser, Jenniffer, (the Smiths manager) came by the house and donated a beautiful oil painting for our auction at the golf course.  Thank you again Jenniffer!! 

Kyle, Kass & the girls scouts in the fire engine at Smiths.

That night we went up to Centennial to help organize all the donations and help with the new donations coming in.  As we walked in thru the doors of the school, it was an overwhelming site,  donations scattered from the front of the school all the way to the back and a very tired coach Spencer & Vicky trying to sort it all.  We stayed and helped until the sun set and we could not see anymore to work, but we got a lot done to prepare for the 1st day of the sale.

Kass found a donated bed to crash at while we organized donations at the school.  

When we got home we had to stay up and make signs for the sale and since it was already to late to go to bed and have to wake up again in an hour and half to change Kassidy's medication bag, we just stayed up.  By the time we were done with changing her medication bag and reprogramming the pump it was 1:30am before we went to bed and had to wake up at 4:30am to be back to set things up for the sale.  As we approached the school, we noticed the Channel 5 News van parked in front of the school.  We were so happy to see that the media was going to cover the event.  They initially interviewed Ryan first and then they hung around till I could go back home and get Kassidy so they could ask her a couple questions.  Here is one of the videos they shot for the news:


Centennial High School hosts fundraiser for cancer victim: "Kassidy Merritt suffers from a rare form of cancer and her treatments cost $7,600 per month."

Card & Bracelet from a 5 & 6 year old boy.  Cute!

As the day went on, we would see shoppers that had watched the news and wanted to either meet Kass, buy a shirt/band, support her by shopping, car wash or just came to give a donation.  Our favorite that day was when a mother brought 2 cards and bracelet made by her sons who are 5 & 6 years old.  How cute!  Another was a mother who wanted to buy shirts and have Kassidy sign them for her and her children.  All throughout the day we experienced the true meaning of giving and good works.  Not only from the shoppers, but from all the volunteers, like the football team who stood out in the heat washing cars, National Honor Society kids, Student Council kids, Centennial High School staff, friends and family.  I hope we didn't forget anyone,  We appreciated you all!

Some of the signs the kids held up at the corner of Centennial & Durango

Kids working hard!

One of the cakes at the bake sale, great message!

Unfortunately, Kass paid a price being out there for a bit too long in the sun.  We tried to have her at the garage sale in spurts so she wouldn't miss too much, but by the night she was exhausted and couldn't quench her thirst which made her sick from drinking so much water at once.  This brought us back to her and I sitting on the bathroom floor because she felt like she was going throw up.  This made her upset and then caused what we think was a focal point seizure (spasms of the left side of her face), it only lasted a couple seconds, but it was the first time we've ever seen her do that which scared us a bit.  She finally calmed down and everything was ok.  Doctor said we just have to watch and hope it doesn't happen again or she will have to take anti-seizure medication.  Ugh!

Boulder Creek Golf Course

On Saturday, we decided that we should go to the golf tournament to meet all the golfers and be part of this event.  Kass was really sad that she couldn't be at the garage sale as well, but unfortunately we all can't be cloned just yet.  When we got to Boulder Creek golf course, the golfers were being given their rules, Ryan said a couple words to everyone, and Kass was introduced which caused a standing ovation from all the golfers.  And they were off! 

Kass and her personal golf cart for the tournament!

Jacob, Nick & Kyle volunteering!

Kass was given her own golf cart, which she shared with our friend Don Laczi, our friend who's an amazing sports photographer.  He took some great pictures of the tournament.  Don went around with Kass and took pictures with each of the foursomes that were playing that day.  After the golfers were done, they were treated to a very good dunch (lunch/dinner).  Sam Myers, Kirk Hartle, Ryan & I said a couple words to thank everyone for coming.  Of course, I couldn't say my words without tearing up which brought some to tears.  We raffled and auctioned some great prizes and all the prize money won from each of the foursomes was donated back to Kassidy's cause.  Another amazing act of kindness!  

Our Xtreme Softball Family & are amazing Tournament Directors!

It was so great to also see our Xtreme Sofball team family out there supporting.  The parents & girls volunteered at some of the holes to keep track of the different competitions,register all the golfers, sell raffle tickets and sell mulligans tickets. All in all, we had 96 golfers participate, which for only 5 weeks planning the event, we think it was an awesome turnout.  They golfed and volunteered on a pretty hot day!  Thank you, because I know many just did it for the cause.  We hope to make this an annual event and it will be called the Kassidy's Army Golf Tournament, we just hope to be able to do it in the spring when it's not so hot outside.

Kass and her new best friend at the golf tournament.  Sweetest girl ever!

Cox Family & Kass one of the many foursomes who competed.

Dave Dreibelbis group

As we got home that evening, we all were in bed by 7pm, we really even didn't have the energy to do anything on Sunday.  But we are now rested up and ready to tackle this week's goals.  We hope to see you all at Macayos on Tuesday, Dance Party at the Purcel's on Friday, and Buffalo Wild Wings on Saturday.  All info is on the left side! Make sure you take the flyer!

Thank you all for your love & support!

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
-- Melody Beattie