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Walk Week

Hi everyone! Wow! We are less than one week from walk day and I wanted to let everyone know all that has been going on these past few weeks! First, our t-shirts are in! Yeah! They look awesome and we are so proud to wear them with our wonderful sponsors on the back! If you ordered a t-shirt or were told you were receiving one, I am hoping to make local deliveries this week. For those not local, we will have them for you at the walk! I will probably be placing another order after the walk, so if you didn't get one and still want one, just let me know! They are $12.00 each!

As of right now, our team has raised over $4,400! You guys are awesome! We are overwhelmed with the donations and the hard work our team put in for bringing in these contributions! We have had a wonderful photographer, Chalice Leaman, donate a portion of her October proceeds. We have received United Way money from the Banner Hosptial in Page, thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law, Tracy French! My other wonderful sister-in-law Tavi held a poker night in Washington and brought in over $350.00. Michelle German rasied over $500.00 through her scrap for a cure fundraiser! And we have had a tremondous amount of support from friends who took time to read our emails and facebook posts! Honestly, I know there are so many different charities out there, and so little money in these ecomonic times! Every single dollar that was donated to our team is so so appreicated- from my family and my team!!! I have had wonderful friends beg people to be sponsors for our shirts. They took their own time to run letters around town! Thank you- you know who you are! My friends and team are wonderful! Your support means the world to me!

This week is so important to our family and those who are walking with us! JDRF does so many wonderful things for our kids with diabetes. Not only are we raising money to find a cure, but the money also goes to improving technology that takes care of people with Type 1! Improving their lives so they may live longer and healthier! I have recently learned of a 13 year old who passed away from Type 1 Diabetes this week. What a week to hear that. This is why this walk is so important to me! Many of you know Luke and how active he is! He is involved with so many things. He loves playing football, soccer and baseball. He goes to school like all other kids. You may look at him and say, "he looks just fine to me"! What you don't see is the behind the scenes. Checking his blood sugar every two hours, careful preparation of his 2 snacks for school and lunch, bags taken everywhere with meters, insulin, pump supplies, snacks ( fast and slow acting carbohydrates), careful calculations for his pump to supply just the right amount of insulin, careful calculations of all items he eats, site changes every two to three days, 2-3 times us as his parents checking his sugars in the middle of the night and correcting him if he is too high, or shoving juice and crackers down his mouth if he is too low, sleeping with one eye and one ear open to make sure he doesn't go low when he sleeps, feeling relief and joy each and every morning as he comes out of his room for breakfast knowing he made it through that night, and me having my cell phone attached to my hip waiting for an emergency call from the school!

THIS IS WHY WE WALK! THIS IS WHY WE RAISE MONEY! THIS IS WHY I APPRECIATE EACH OF YOU WHO HAS DONATED, JOINED OUR TEAM, OR PRAYED FOR OUR TEAM!

So- let's get ready to walk and have a good time! Walk team details! October 30th- Tempe Town Lakes. Please go to this post and you can get all the information on parking etc.

http://jdrfdsw.org/events_tempe_walk.html

We are hoping to meet as a team at 8:45 for a team picture. So, that would mean.. please plan to arrive early enough to find parking and to find us. We will have a sign for our team near the finish line where the teams meet. If you walked with us last year, that is where we should be again. We will take a team picture in that same spot. We are a team wearing gray shirts with navy blue writing.. and there should be a bunch of us ( around 100)! Registration begins at 7:30, but if you have registered online, or sent me your information already, than you can bypass this. If you have money to turn in, you can bring it to me or the registraiton. Just make sure it counts for our team! There should be free breakfast and lunch! Come early and enjoy all the vendors and fun kid stuff! There are two walks- a 1.5 mile and a 5K. Last year as a team we all did the 5K! This year, many of us with young kids will only be doing the 1.5. You can do either one! We will just meet as a team for pictures at 8:45 and then when the walk is over whoever wants to meet afterwards can.. at our same meeting location!

Thanks again for coming out and joining us! If you still have questions feel free to email me! Hopefully I answered all the last minute walk details!

God Bless,

Tara, Barry, Wyatt, Luke and Reese!

Our Wonderful Sponsors

WOW! We feel loved! We have some wonderful sponsors that have stepped up to the plate for Team Luke and the Jedi Knights! I want to take this opportunity to thank them for donating to our team. So, a big thank you is sent out to:

Taco Bell
Baker Family Electric Inc
Rodd's Auto Sales
Border States Supply Chain Solutions
Kids Incorporated Learning Centers
Weekend Warrior Landscaping
E &S Orthodontics
Sunstate Builders
NFL Youth Experience- Mesa, AZ
J&J Special Teez

We are so excited to have them on board!

We also have my wonderful photographer and friend Chalice Leaman who is donating 20% of her photo session profits to JDRF in the month of October. You can schedule an apt. with her through her website at
www.chaliceleamanphotography.blogspot.com

Please support the business listed above! Just today my Wyatt and Luke played football through the NFL Youth Experience league and then we headed to Taco Bell afterwards:) Thanks everyone!!!

Join our Team!

Okay, everyone.. We are less than 60 days away from walk day. I have been busy getting businesses to sponsor our t-shirts. With that in mind, I am needing a head count as to how many of you plan to join us for the walk this year. If you have never been, you are missing out if you don't come! There is live entertainment, free food, bouncers for the kids, contests, face painting and some good ol' fashion exercise! It is a 5k or you can just do the 1 mile run/walk. Last year, our team had over 65 walkers with an age range of 6 months to 76 years! The kids had a blast walking together and rolling down hills! Please consider joining us if you can. You can go to www.walk.jdrf.org . From there go to register for a walk, go to Arizona and choose the Tempe walk. You can then fill in your information and when it asks for a team name.. select our team ( Luke and the Jedi Knights) and register that way. Or you can just email me your name, address and how much you plan on raising so I register you myself. There is no set amount that has to be raised to participate in the walk. We just ask for you to give what you can! We would love to have your support either at the walk or through a donation! Thanks

Fundraisers

Oh My! Have we had some good fundraisers lately. We 1st had one at The Bounz House and raised over $163.00 with 59 bouncers! What a blast we had! We had such a great turnout to support Luke and JDRF. Then, my sister-in-law had a poker night in Washington and raised over $350.00. Thank you Tavi and Rod for supporting Luke from so far away. You and your friends are amazing! Lastly, my good friend Michelle German hosted a Scrap and Shop fundraiser. We had so much fun scrapbooking and buying custom watches and clothes!!! With all her support she raised over $450.00. WOW!!! Thank you everyone who came out and supported these events.

Want to advertise on our t-shirts?

Last year, we had such wonderful support for our t-shirts. We were able to provide almost all our team members (65 in all) with a t-shirt free of charge. With that help, each team member was able to provide more money to JDRF out of their own pockets! Here is a sample of our shirts from last year! We are hoping once again to have some wonderful donors contribute! Last year there were more than 20,000 participants at the JDRF walk. Can you say.. lots of exposure! If you have a business and would be willing to help, we would love your support. If you would like your business advertised on our shirt, or know someone who would, please contact me at BearTT27@cox.net. All we ask for is a donation of $50- $100. Thank you!