Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2007. It is funny that I should come across this photo tonight since Peter and I just saw Luray Caverns advertised on TV the other night. Of course when we saw the ad, all we could think of was our one time trip there with Mattie when he was five years old. It left a lasting impression on us, for many reasons. Of course the natural wonders of the caverns themselves, but also because of Mattie's reaction to what he was seeing and his inquisitiveness and desire to explore. Yet as you can see Mattie also had a healthy cautious side and when he deemed something as eerie (as part of the caverns clearly were!) up he went!
Quote of the day: The keys to brand success are self-definition, transparency, authenticity and accountability. ~ Simon Mainwaring
I can safely say that permits are successfully filed for the Foundation's Walk! That is always a massive relief. I went to visit the health department today to file our application for the food permit for our Walk. Then from that point on, it was just non-stop Walk activities. Later on in the afternoon, I went to Peter's office because we had to take a conference call with the Alliance for Childhood Cancer. In January, we applied to the Alliance to become a member organization. The Alliance for Childhood Cancer represents more than twenty national patient advocacy groups and professional medical and scientific organizations. The Alliance was created in 2001 to advocate on behalf of children with cancer. Patient advocates, many of whom are either cancer survivors themselves or are parents of children with cancer, are joined by health care professionals in a unique alliance that brings concerned parties together to advance the interests of children with cancer. Specifically the mission is to advance research and policies to prevent cancer, and improve public education, and the diagnosis, treatment, supportive care and survivorship of children and adolescents with cancer.
Based on Mattie Miracle's national psychosocial agenda, we have felt that it has been important to join forces with the Alliance and have a unified voice. However, joining the Alliance is not a simple process. The application is rigorous and I would say we as a Foundation have reached a certain point in our development where we were now ready to make the leap to apply. But just because one applies doesn't mean, one will get accepted. However, at 2:15pm the phone rang in Peter's office and Matt (the membership chair of the Alliance) let me know the good news. Mattie Miracle was unanimously voted into the alliance as an organization! We are deeply honored and thrilled. For more information on the Alliance for Childhood Cancer:
http://www.allianceforchildhoodcancer.org/
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