When You Walk The Walk: An Open Letter of Thanks

Dear Friends and Family,

As you know, in October we participated in our sixth JDRF Walk to Cure diabetes.  It's hard to believe we've done this six times!

We know that you may be really tired of getting a letter from us each year!  Please know that we are honored by your generous donations.  We know that there are numerous organizations where you could donate your money and we are honored that you chose JDRF.

It's hard for us to ask year after year for you to support JDRF and our families efforts.  But as much as we hate asking for money, what we hate more is watching our daughter fight this disease 24 hours a day for over half of her life.  It's hard to watch her battle this disease day in and day out and know that there is nothing we can do to take it away. 

So we do whatever we can to work towards a cure. 

The best way we know how is by raising money for JDRF. 

This year our team raised a record breaking amount of money!  With your help, we raised over $21, 700!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?

This is the most we have ever raised...  And to do that in year six when we know that each year raising funds gets harder and harder... It's incredible. 

In our six short years, we have raised over $90,000 for JDRF. 

UNBELIEVABLE

How can we even begin to tell you how much this means to us?  To tell you how much this means to Sweets and her future?

I'll start with walk day...

Walk day to Sweets is almost like a birthday without presents.  She looks forward to this day all year long.  She loves helping design the t-shirts.  She loves thinking up a new team name when the old one seems too babyish.  She loves seeing her friends and family show up wearing her shirt to support her on walk day.

Did you know she eagerly looks forward to seeing each person there?  You may not think she notices.. but she does.  Her eyes light up with excitement each time she sees a new face arrive to walk with us.  Your support means so much.

This year she was thrilled to be able to walk with her friends and enjoy a beautiful fall day.

She was SO EXCITED to find out she won the t-shirt contest! 

She loved dancing and being silly celebrating... even with our canine team members!

Walk day isn't about the money.  Walk day is celebrating our little warrior who fights this disease on a daily basis with no end in sight.

It's after the walk that our focus turns from celebration to motivation and progress. 

We believe in JDRF.  We believe that the research JDRF is funding is going to change the future for Sweets and her life with diabetes. 

And not just one day.  It's changing her life NOW. 

The technology that is rapidly coming on to the market is making living with diabetes safer.  I used to worry about how Sweets would ever be a normal kid and go away to college.  Now... I'm so excited by things like the bionic pancreas and encapsulation that I know I have NO IDEA what life with diabetes is going to be like in ten years. 

We truly believe the each dollar is making a difference.  And so we thank you...

We thank you for making our girl feel so special.
We thank you for celebrating all her.
We thank you for honoring her and all she deals with.
We thank you for giving her the chance to live a long, healthy life.
We thank you for having hope that one day she can live WITHOUT type one.
We thank you for helping not just Sweets but ALL people with diabetes.


These words seem so inadequate. 

Just know that from the bottom of our hearts, we are grateful for your generosity. You may feel like it's just a small amount or just a donation... but it's not.  It's so much more than that. 

It's love. 
It's hope.
It's a brighter future for this girl we love so much.