Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2009. By this point, Mattie had undergone 8 months of chemotherapy, along with two major surgeries. I remember taking several photos like this to highlight the enormous IV pole connected to Mattie. You may notice this RED colored IV going into Mattie. Though red may have been Mattie's favorite color, this was doxorubicin, one of 5 chemo drugs Mattie endured on a regular basis. Since Mattie was dressed in clothes in this picture, I can deduce this was an admission's day to the hospital. Why? Because it was only then that Mattie wore regular clothes. When Mattie was living in the hospital, he only wanted to wear pajamas. Nonetheless, despite getting chemo, Mattie looks very calm and peaceful. But photos can be deceiving. 


Quote of the day: Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together. ~ Woodrow T. Wilson

Last night we held our annual volunteer appreciation dinner at the Morrison House in Alexandria, VA. The hotel was built in the style of a Federalist mansion that blends seamlessly into the surrounding historic Old Town neighborhood. It is a charming setting which gets fantastic reviews. However, the property recently changed hands to the Marriott. 


We loved the two assigned wait staff to our event, Romil and Griselda. They both worked very hard to set up the space as we requested and they couldn't do enough to make us happy. They truly made the night special, which was good because right after the event, I filed a formal complaint about the food. The food was served luke warm, and if food could look tired, WELL THEN IT LOOKED TIRED. They also had a dessert mishap in the kitchen, and two of us had to have a completely different dessert. I expect a lot better form a boutique hotel run by the Marriott. 


We had 17 guests, plus Peter and me at the dinner. Romil snapped a few photos of all of us. This core group of volunteers have been with us for every Foundation walk, and several helped plan the Mattie March in 2009, when Mattie was alive. So imagine service to us for ten years! An incredible group of people! 

Pictured Seated (left to right): Jane Pisano, Mary Doane, Carolyn McFadden, and Ali Goldwater

Pictured Standing (left to right): Christine Cooper, Tina Lytle, Jennifer Connors, Marisa Tordella, Peggy Elkind, Denise Tordella, Patricia Tilch, Bernie Tilch, Debbie Keefe, Dawnee Giammittorio, Ann Henshaw, Dave Tordella, Katie Magnuson, and Peter, and me.  

 At past dinners, we always had handouts! This time we got rid of paper at the table and showed a power point presentation. I think the visual made communicating so much easier. We also showed the group our Walk video from last year. I really think that energized us! Here is one of the slides we shared with our core team last night. It truly shows the great progression we have made in fundraising over the years. None of which could be done with this core team!

As of this date, we have 16 corporate sponsors who in total have donated $21,500 to our $85,000 walk goal! I would say that we are officially in Walk planning mode now.