Angels Among Us

Sorry I haven't posted anything, I have been doing other things!!

This weekend was a big and exciting weekend for our family. On Saturday we attended a benefit in Omaha for "Angels Among Us", called 'Calling All Angels'. It was a great night. We were fortunate to have about 13 people there to support not only us but the organization. Those who were able to attend were: Sandra (my mom), Bob & Jody (Chad's dad), Deb (Chad's mom) and our sisters - Amanda & Brad, Vicki & Aaron, Kara, Rachelle & Shawn. Dad got sick and was not able to go:-(

The evening began with several silent auction items, I would say 100+ items were available for bid. Our group came home with several, such as a fondue basket, chocolate lovers basket, Crayola coloring basket, picnic basket, angel bracelet, husker basket, flower arrangements, and a fishing cooler! Also, Preister Excavating purchased a vacation package for Winter Park, CO from the live auction.

It was absolutely amazing to see people there willing to give their time, money and support for this group. As a recap, Angels Among Us is a non-profit organization based out of Omaha that helps families with children who are fighting cancer in the state of Nebraska. They hope to be nationwide. They help the families by paying $500 of bills (each month) , paying the bills directly. This money has gone for mortgage/rent payments, property taxes, vehicle payments, etc. The service is greatly needed, and appreciated even more. I urge all of you to check out their site to learn more about the group and the wonderful people who are a part of it. http://www.myangelsamongus.org/. We were fortunate enough to meet several people who are envolved with this group this weekend. Let me tell you first hand, these are the best people in the world - with the biggest hearts. These people truly are the angels among us, and deserve to have this organization be successful for eternity.

Miss Nebraska was there for the evening and helped throughout the night. Actually, her and her boyfriend (mr. Nebraska as I called him!) were sitting at the table of my sisters. They seemed to have a great time and enjoyed the night with them!

During the live auction the auctioneers would randomly auction off shots of Crown Royal (alcohol) to anyone who got the high bid. Generally these went for $25-45. However, at one point they offered Miss Nebraska to pour the drink with them, this happened twice. Those shots went for $1,200 and $800! It was fun to see people enjoying giving their money to this great group!

There was great music and touching slide-shows. Charli had two pictures in one of the shows - all of the kids are just too adorable to have gone through so much pain. There was also a tribute show for a child who earned his wings last May. His mother is part of this great group.

At the end of the event I spoke for about 10 minutes. I talked about some childhood cancer statistics, including the fact that every 16 hours a child with Neuroblastoma dies. I also did a recap of Charli's journey and how truly blessed we are with not only her presence but also her love for us. At the end I shared a poem written by a mother whose son was diagnosed with NB.

I left the event feeling great. It was just heartwarming to see so many people there who care, and who were willing to donate their money. It was wonderful to share this with our family too. I know that so many of them have been looking for a way that they could help...and this was a good outlet for them. It was amazing to see the items that were donated for auction. Included in the silent auction was artwork created by the kids. Charli sent in artwork of her hand prints...this is a sore spot for my family! It went for $150 I believe, but there was a bidding war between my mom and my sister - with my sister ultimately winning. I felt bad for mom, because she already had the spot picked out. But, in Rachelle's defence - Charli is her only "BORG" niece. Mom...I will make sure Charli makes you a picture!!

I would like to thank Angels Among Us for hosting this event, and giving everyone the opportunity to see how important this group is. I would also like to thank you for asking me to speak, as a parent of a child who battled cancer - it is easy to feel helpless in this big world who doesn't seem to know much about their fight. Getting the word out 400+ people at a time, is a great way to start!

Thank you to everyone who attended that evening. Your presence was overwhelming for me, and often brought tears to my eyes...good tears! No child should have to go through the fight of their life so young. However, it is a fact of life. Now...we need to raise awareness about it and help those who are in need because of it.

Happy Holidays everyone. I pray that this Thanksgiving you truly sit down and realize how blessed you truly are, amongst all the things that maybe aren't going your way. I know that heartache comes in all shapes and sizes, but there is always an abundance to be thankful for.

PS -Happy Anniversary Chad! Thank you for the beautiful flowers :-)