lil sugar beanes' things: houston's curesearch walk for children's cancer

team everyday matters

whoo hoo, today is the day i've been waiting for months to celebrate... houston's curesearch walk for children's cancer!!! i was so happy to wake up to see the sun shining & not rain pouring down like a few weeks ago. livi was so funny she was running around the house yelling "good morning! wake up it's the morning of the walk!" we all got our "team everyday matters" shirts on & then we all wore orange handkerchiefs in support of jing. as soon as we got to the walk site kelly greeted me with a huge hug & showed me where to get my "team everyday matters" sign. mommy got the whole team checked in & since our team raised so much money we were all able to get everyone a official curesearch walk t-shirt. i was also given a very special pin to wear since i was the team captain. i was so excited to see my team & hug their necks as hard as i could because we couldn't have done everything we did without them. our team raised a whopping $2,191.50, isn't that absolutely awesome?! before the opening ceremony there was face painting, a balloon artist, snacks & a very special banner to sign the reason why we were walking! then it was time for the opening ceremony where we learned about all the things curesearch was doing to help find a cure for children's cancer. then all the mother's who have lost their children to cancer came up to get a white balloon to release in the sky in honor of their children & we had a moment of silence for them, that was very sad. after that it was time to celebrate the curesearch champions who are in treatment or are survivors with a champion medal, it was so awesome seeing all the children take the stage to receive their medal. ms. christie (my small group leader), is a survivor of childhood cancer & is in her twenties & she got to go up to receive her medal. it was so cool, i think it gave everyone hope to to see an adult up there who had been through all this & was fine. i was called up there to accept jing's medal on her behalf, i didn't feel right being up there because i'm not a champion but i felt so, so, so special getting to share the stage with all of them. i even got to stand with them when they took the champion photo with the "these are the reasons we walk" banner... it was an amazing moment i'll never forget. when all the photos had been taken it was off to walk, walk, walk. we all either walked, danced, hopped or skipped in joy around a baseball field twice, it was so much fun seeing everyone having a wonderful time. after the walk it was time for the closing ceremony where we celebrated the top teams & individuals who raised the most in donations. there is a 7 yr old boy who has heart cancer, he is one of 14 known cases worldwide & possibly the youngest one & his team raised over $13,000.00. i got to meet him, he is so sweet & happy, he always had a smile on his face! the most exciting news of the day was when they announced how much houston had raised for curesearch. this was houston's first year hosting a curesearch for children's cancer walk & our goal was to raise $40,000.00. we raised $71,000.00, that is a record breaking amount for a city's first walk... isn't that awesome!!! i'm so happy i was able to participate in this amazing day, all day hugs of love & thanks were given around to perfect strangers because for that day we were all family. i told mommy i want to do this every year because i believe one day they will find a cure for childhood cancer & i want to be a part of that! i want to say thank you again so much to everyone for always supporting & loving me, it means the world to me! i also want to send a huge thank you to "team everyday matters"; dana, marshall, dawn, scott, lance, zach, heather, olivia, lucy, croline, katie, justin, tianna, carl, & christie... i couldn't have done any of this without you guys & you all are rockin' superstars! i can't wait to give jing her medal & t-shirt with a huge hug & tell her what a champion she is to me & that she is the best friend i could ever have!