Friday, March 23, 2018

Friday, March 23, 2018

Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2006. Mattie was almost four years old. That day he was invited to his preschool friend's birthday party. It was one neat party, that involved pony rides. Mattie absolutely loved it, as he was intrigued by all animals. 

My friend, Carolyn, sent me this photo. Apparently Shutterfly sent it to her today, as a photo memory of the day. I absolutely loved receiving this surprise, and what photos do is they give us an opportunity to talk and reflect on Mattie and his life. Which is also a gift!


Quote of the day: You don’t have to say everything to be a light. Sometimes a fire built on a hill will bring interested people to your campfire. ~ Shannon L. Alder

My day started off at Alexandria City Hall. For my faithful readers, you may remember I head to City Hall every spring to secure permits for the Foundation's annual Walk. We have had to get permits since 2012. Prior to that, we weren't required to have permits on private property in Alexandria, VA. But that all changed six years ago. I will never forget my first permitting experience in 2012. It was a NIGHTMARE of grand proportion. Mainly because the permitting office seemed able to help those who were building homes and things like that, but ill equipped to help someone like me who needed permits to host an event. They were as confused as I was and I also had to deal with surly attitudes, which I really didn't appreciate. 

In fact, in 2012, I spent hours in the permitting office and got so frustrated that I wrote to an Alexandria City council member, who connected me with the management of the permitting office. Ever since that connection, things have changed for me. I have been assigned to a lovely staff member who helps me every year. I tell her about our event and she then completes the paperwork for me and applies for all the permits on my behalf. Once the documents are assembled and approved by the office, I then come to City Hall to pay for the permits. 

So for example, today, I only spent thirty minutes total in the office, unlike in past years. When I tell you permitting isn't intuitive, I mean it! To have moon bounces at our event, I need a building permit. Correct, you read that right... a BUILDING permit. Which to me makes NO sense, but it is considered a raised structure. When all is said and done, we need the following permits: (1) building, (2) fire, (3) noise, and (4) food permits. Permitting is not inexpensive too, try close to $400, of which we use our own personal finances to cover this cost.  

Meanwhile later in the day, Peter and I were walking through the George Washington University campus. On the side of the road I spotted a Dunkin Donuts truck. So I commented to Peter.... wouldn't this be great to have at the Walk? So many of our attendees are looking for the coffee on the morning of the Walk. So we went over to talk to the lady inside the truck. Peter connected with Marti immediately and he did a great job pitching Mattie Miracle to her. 

Marti works inside the Community Cruiser. The Dunkin’ Donuts Community Cruiser is a mobile coffee truck that distributes free samples of Hot and Iced Coffee to the community! This truck can be found everywhere from sporting events and charity walks to college campuses and community parades.

This evening, I learned that Dunkin Donut's Foundation (Joy in Childhood Foundation), directly supports children with illnesses. So really we would be a good match for this truck. Marti gave us free samples, gift cards, and then told us how to request the truck for our Walk on May 20th. So we shall see, but the notion of a truck roaming around our DC community and giving out free samples is LOVELY! 

To learn more about the Community Cruiser, go to:

http://ddcommunitycruiser.com/dcbalt/