Some preliminary numbers, and other odds and ends

As the tallies from the cities we walked in begin to trickle into my inbox, I wanted to share the impact that we (as in you and me, dear reader) made in the fight against CF this year. Our South Carolina team walked first this year, and that walk raised over $120,000. New London, Connecticut walked the same day as Charleston, raising $28,000. Next up was Philadelphia, raising close to $200,000, San Francisco, raising just shy of $200,000, Chicago with $161,00, and finally Cincinnati with a running total currently at $370,000!!!!! Team Doin' It For Drew is walking in Honolulu next weekend. There are hundreds of Great Strides walks across the country still going on, but I'm so proud to say that Team Doin' It For Drew walked in walks raising over $1,000,000 for Cystic Fibrosis Research. To be clear, our team didn't raise a hot mil - we're just over $20K. But the walks that we all walked in raised over ONE MILLION DOLLARS. Thank you to everyone who participated by donating, by fundraising, by walking with us. Drew's got a chance at a long and healthy life because of you.

This weekend we're having a yard sale and that will be our last big donation to this years walk. We've received a ton of donations from friends and neighbors and strangers hearing about our yard sale and we have it all piled up in our garage. I'm hoping for great weather and a big success. I think i'm going to bake some of my special choco chip cookies (not to toot my own horn, but if you haven't had them you'd love them, seriously) and brew some coffee and sell that too. After Saturday, I'm going to plot our fundraising activities out for the next year, take a break, and focus on my advocacy efforts. I'm still looking for people to help me advocate - for their own kids, for all kids, for Drew - and its really something small and simple that can have a huge impact.

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned that shortly after we found out that Drew had CF, we learned that our neighbors sister also has CF. Well, his sister, Rosie, will be turning 50 this year. Isn't that amazing!! Her mom lives next door and is always stopping by to tell me about how hard she works to keep healthy. I know Rosie is proud of her mom for helping her to live the life that she is, and I know her mom is equally as proud of Rosie for managing her disease with a positive attitude. I hope that some day I can write that about Drew. Right now, i'm proud that he is 1 and that he sits through his breathing treatments every day without complaining, and that he takes all of his meds all day everyday with easy. I'm one proud mama and I'm hellbent on finding a cure.

Here are some pictures from our walks...