Saturday, May 30, 2015

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Tonight's picture was taken in September of 2002. Mattie was five months old and just introduced to "tot wheels" or his walker. Mattie loved it because it gave him freedom and mobility! Things he craved and needed right from the beginning. I remember Mattie following me all over our home in tot wheels and he did not move slowly in it either. He would zoom around in it, and would even turn corners in it like a race car driver. I have scratches on our furniture and the floors as evidence!


Quote of the day: We must not wish for the disappearance of our troubles but for the grace to transform them. ~ Simone Weil

Tonight's Foundation Walk photos feature the wonderful food at our event. Since 2011, Becca Fischer, the Executive Chef at Clyde's at Tyson's Corner has been donating the food, cooking at our event, and freely giving of her time to the Foundation. This is her fifth year with us and she now brings her family as well as her sous chef from Clyde's to assist her. Pictured here from left to right are Greg (Becca's husband), Heather (a sous chef at Clyde's), and Becca. Who isn't pictured is Rachel (Becca and Greg's daughter). But Rachel was also on site helping at the event!

The food area is always a popular site at the Walk! What you aren't seeing however is set up! In order to have food at the Walk, we have to fill out an extensive health permit application with the City of Alexandria a month before the Walk. I complete this process and hand walk the application to the Health Department myself! This is my biggest joke with Becca, because I tell her it is the one day of the year in which I manage an executive chef!

Then on the day of the Walk, an hour before the event opens, an inspector from the City comes to inspect the site. The inspector checks EVERYTHING from where the food comes from, how it has been stored, how it is cooked, how it will be served, who is cooking it, how utensils are cleaned, how hands are cleaned and the list goes on! Behind this food area in the photo are two cleaning stations, one for hands and the other for utensils! It is thanks to Becca that we are able to manage this on-site inspection with ease because if we do not pass inspection, the EVENT IS SHUT down to the public! This is one of three inspections we undergo the morning of the Walk, the other two are for fire safety and building safety (because we offer "carnival type rides").

Next to where Becca cooks and serves the food is this food truck. Within this food truck, are our two dedicated volunteers, Patricia and Bernie. They have been in charge of the food area for seven years! They started before we had a Foundation! In fact, they served pizza in 2009, during the Mattie March, which was the Walk our care community hosted in honor of Mattie to show their support and love for him. Over time, this food area has evolved! So Patricia and Bernie no longer serve pizza, but oversee drinks, chips, and candy! Of course they also manage all the money in the food area. They are an incredible duo who also brings their children to the event, and all three children (Zachary, Maddy, and Tyson) work very hard each year at the event. Not only did Zachary, Maddy, and Tyson work at the Walk this year, but they also raised funds for their Walk teams! It doesn't get better than that.... they are the model volunteer. 

The Food Area! What you may or may not notice while at our event or in the photos are two things. We cover all our tables! Color is important to me. We put table cloths on all the tables. The table cloths are either orange, yellow, or red. These are the three Foundation colors, and colors that Mattie loved! In addition, on top of the picnic tables are always placed flowers. This is not in memory of Mattie, but in memory of my friend, Margaret. Margaret used to bring flowers to our Walk every year and decorate our tables. Like me, Margaret loved flowers. Each year I am on overload with managing the operations of Walk and usually can't get to setting up flowers, but my friend Ann knows about this tradition, and helps to keep it alive. Which I am thankful for. So when I see flowers on the table.... I think of Margaret! 

Pictured here are Marisa and Colton! Marisa runs our bake sale at the Walk. Marisa has been doing this for six years now. Marisa got to know Mattie when she was in high school, and she would assist me when I was home from the hospital between treatments with trying to entertain Mattie and keeping his spirits up. Marisa is dedicated to helping the Foundation, and though she lives in Pennsylvania, raises funds for the bake sale, and runs it each year at the Walk. 

At one time our bake sale used to involve home made products, but thanks to the City of Alexandria and their regulations, home baked goods are NO LONGER allowed to be sold at a public event. Therefore we are only allowed to sell store bought items. I get the liability associated with this, and the safety concerns, but it does take away from the tastiness of buying something that came right out of someone's oven!