In the past few months I've been feeling more and more that I want to use some of my space here on the internet to make a positive impact on the world. Blogs are already pretty positive and inspiring, but rather than being passively inspiring- simply creating happy feelings and encouragement- I want to create an active inspiration. An inspiration that tangibly and physically gives back to other human beings. One of the easiest ways I can think of do to this is by helping to support foundations and organizations which are already set up to do just that. There are so many amazing organizations out there doing wonderful things, and one of the best ways to support them, besides volunteering, is fundraising. Most organizations doing great things rely on the support of donors and fundraisers. Since blogs and blog readers are spread out all over the world, we can't really all come together to volunteer our time and labor, but we can donate some of our money. I'd like to make this a regular thing, here on the blog, but for now let's just start here: The Make A Wish Foundation's Walk for Wishes and Seattle Children's Hospital's Run of Hope.
This one is a bit short notice because I only just found out about the Walk for Wishes fundraiser yesterday, and it's in two weeks on the 15th. A major reason I'm glad to start this effort with The Make A Wish foundation is that it's close to home. My brother is a Make A Wish kid. If you've been around the blog for a while, you've probably heard some of Ben's story. It's a long, complicated story involving congenital heart defects, genetic disorders, open heart surgery, more experimental surgeries than you can shake a stick at, a moose stomping which revealed an arrhythmia, a jerry-rigged pacemaker, and, well, you get the idea. By all accounts Ben is a miracle. In 2002, at the age of 13, he was granted a wish by the Make A Wish foundation. As a raging Trekkie, his wish was to go visit the set of the TV series, Star Trek Enterprise. Our whole family was able to go, and we met the whole cast and walked on all of the Star Trek sets on Paramount's lot. The movie Star Trek Nemesis had just been released and we also were able to attend the private screening at Paramount's theater along with the crew of the movie and went down to Hollywood to Grauman's Chinese theater to watch all the stars show up for the premier. The Star Trek club in Anchorage even made Ben an exact replica of one of the dress uniforms from Star Trek. The entire club showed up in full regalia (I think the Klingons might have freaked out other travelers at the Anchorage airport) to bid us farewell as we embarked on our journey to LA.
While Make A Wish isn't doing medical research, they are giving kids with life-threatening conditions a chance at living one of their dreams while they still have time and I believe that hope and positivity can be just as important for kids who are dealing with life threatening illnesses. I set my fundraising goal for the Walk for Wishes at $1000, and with only one week of fundraising left, I'm hoping we can reach that goal! If 20 people give $50 or if 100 people give only $10, it's reached!
I'm also running in the Seattle Children's Hospital Run of Hope on the 29th of September on my friend Anna's team in support of Remedy, a lovely 3 year old gal battling brain cancer. Ben has also spent many a time in Seattle Children's getting various surgeries, so Seattle Children's Hospital is also close to my heart. The Run of Hope gives 100% of the money raised directly to support research. One of the reasons Ben is still around is that he received the most cutting edge surgeries, and medicine had advanced just far enough to give him the live-saving treatments that he needed. Had he been born just a few months earlier, the medical knowledge needed to keep him alive may not have even existed. Cutting edge and experimental surgeries are the direct result of brilliant and talented doctors doing research, which needs funding.
If you want to give to the Make A Wish Walk for Wishes, visit my fundraising page here. If you want to sign up, the registration is free, and you can register here.
If you want to give to the Seattle Children's Hospital Run of Hope, visit our fundraising page here. If you'd like to run or walk, you can sign up here. Registration is $30 and your registration is included in the money donated!
I'd love if you would share your own stories if you know someone who got a wish granted by the Make A Wish foundation! I love hearing about other people wishes granted!
If you can't afford to donate, consider sharing this with your friends and family who may be able to donate! I'm super excited to share more fundraising opportunities with organizations that are doing great work. I'm off to go get some new running shoes. I donated my old pair of running shoes that were too big at Warrior Dash, so I have to get some suitable footwear before I can start running again!
