Saturday, May 24, 2014

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Tonight's picture was taken on May 6 of 2009. "Super Mattie" was created by Mattie's art therapists, Jenny and Jessie. They created this decal of Mattie and ironed it onto a cape. So literally Mattie had his own Super Mattie Cape. The photo of Mattie featured him wearing his circus glasses from his night at the circus in March of 2009. 


Quote of the day: Who doesn't want to know that we notice them and value them? And who might respond to us better when they feel that they matter? It probably cannot be overstated – it matters...that people matter. ~ Steve Goodier

Tonight's photos capture the excitement and energy of the Kids Trots from the fifth anniversary Mattie Miracle Walk. I love this particular photo! One of our high school student volunteers was escorting one of our youngest trotters to the track. However, I want to put this cute trotter into context. 

This year's Walk was dedicated in the memory of Jocelyn Sweet. Jocelyn was a good buddy of Mattie's and an avid supporter of the Foundation. Jocelyn also battled osteosarcoma and on April 2, she lost her 9 year battle with the disease. This little one headed to the track is Jocelyn's niece! Jocelyn practically attended every Foundation Walk, and though she wasn't physically with us this year, her spirit was very much present!

There were FIVE kid trots in total: 1) 3 and under, 2) 4 and 5 year olds, 3) 6 and 7 year olds, 4) 8 and 9 year olds, and 5) 10-12 year olds.

This photo captures the 4 and 5 year old trot! The adult walking beside them is our Foundation board member, Ann, who runs the trots on the day of the event.  

Though each trot has a top prize winner, each child receives a medal for participating! As you can see in this photo, the kids were wearing their medals after the race!

As the age of the trotter increases, the kids get into the competition of the race! These 6 and 7 year old racers started by stretching!

This was the 6 and 7 year old trot! We use an orange streamer as our finish line and it was adorable to watch the kids hit the finish line. Many of the kids did not want to tear the streamer. It was a riot to watch! We actually had to tell them to run through it! Once we instructed them to do so the rest of the racers got it immediately!

This was the 8 and 9 year old racers flying down the track!!!

By the time we got to the 10 to 12 year olds, they probably had enough energy to sprint around the entire track!

These were the top winners of each of the trots! The top winners received not only a medal to wear but the following:

(1) the 3 and under winner received 4 passes to play mini golf
(2) the 4 to 5 year old winner received a certificate for one week of junior day camp at St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School
(3) the 6 to 7 year old winner received a certificate for one week of traditional day camp at St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School
(4) the 8 to 9 year old winner received a certificate for one week of sports camp at St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School
(5) the 10 to 12 year old winner received a certificate for two day passes to Six Flags Amusement Park