Monday, May 16, 2016

Monday, May 16, 2016

Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2007. Mattie was outside on our deck and being his usual creative self. Fishing for toys on the lid of his sandbox. Mattie loved to fish with Peter on the Potomac River, and with some imagination the top of his frog sandbox served as a boat, the deck was the ocean, and the toys were his fish. Mattie is no longer with us, but his frog sandbox remains. It no longer sits on our deck but in our commons area. I do not have the heart to part with it, and now all the children in the complex come by and play with it. 





Quote of the day: Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. ~ W. Clement Stone

Herman, our Walk photographer, sent us his photos from yesterday's walk. We were so surprised to get them back already. I love the way Herman captures the energy and rhythm of our walk. 

Peter and I gave a short greet on the track before the Walk began! As you can see people were beginning to line up.

Herman was standing up on a ladder to capture this photo. He asked us all to lift our hands up and wave. I just love this photo!

Then IBC, our Mattie Miracle Level Sponsor sounded the cow bells and the walk began!

This helps you get a feeling for the large number of people and walkers present. 

Around the track we have 26 Faces of Hope posters. Each photo is of a child or teen who is battling cancer or is a cancer survivor. Our goal is to remind participants why they are walking and not to forget that childhood cancer is not just about the medicine! That there are long term psychological, social, and emotional consequences that continue after the treatment ends.

There were 13 walk teams this year. This is the SSSAS 2020 walk team, captained by Mattie "girlfriend," Charlotte. The team is comprised of children in Mattie's graduating class. Charlotte's team raised over $3,000.

This is a photo of the RCC Moms Rock walk team, captained by Ann Henshaw. This team won the TOP ADULT team fundraising award two years in a row. This year they raised over $6,000. Many of the women on this team were fellow moms with me at Mattie's preschool. 

This is a photo of the Blessed Sacrament Bullfrogs walk team. This team has been a part of our event two years in a row and they come to the walk energized to meet the walk challenge. 

Mattie's grandparents (both sets) sponsored the Challenge Wall this year. If walkers could fill the wall with cups, then Mattie's grandparents would donate $3,000 to the Foundation to launch a second snack/item cart, in a brand new location...... Children's Hospital at Sinai in Baltimore. 

THE CHALLENGE WAS SUCCESSFUL MET!

A photo of Peter, my mom, and me by the cup wall!

We had a cup tally scoreboard by the Wall this year. The SAINTS walk team won the challenge because they were the first team to use up their supply of green cups. What this means is that the group collectively walked 240 laps, or in essence 60 miles. 

How do I know this? Well there are 240 cups in a box. A walker earns one cup per lap. Therefore 240 cups = 240 laps. We know that four laps around the track is equivalent to one mile. So 240 divided by 4, gives us 60 miles.  

Top Walk Teams by laps:

SAINTS (456 laps, they finished their color and started on another cup color altogether)

Blessed Sacrament Bullfrogs (235 laps)

SSSAS 2020 (161 laps)

RCC Moms Rock (160 laps)