Monday, April 21, 2008

Proud

Volunteering in our community is important to all of us. From working with an all-breed dog and cat rescue group, to taking on leaderships roles in organizations we believe in, to working on community jobs at our community garden, to just picking up trash on the street, giving of ourselves feels good.

As you have all mostly likely gleaned by now (unless you are a new reader in which case scroll through some back posts), Evie LOVES log rolling. She loves the sport, she loves the competition, she loves practice and, more than anything she loves her teacher. As a mother, I couldn't ask for a better role model for my daughter than Shana Martin--she is strong, generous, witty, caring, dynamic and dedicated to making the world a better place. Shana's mother has Huntington's Disease. Each year Shana, being a champion log roller herself, puts on the Midwest Log Rolling Championships as a fundraiser for the Huntington's Disease Society of America. Both amateurs and professionals pay to compete and all fundraise for this great event. The prize to the top fundraiser in a #4 size log to that roller's club--that is a huge deal in the log rolling world.

Evie wanted to fundraise for a cause that is so dear to the heart of someone she so admires. We set up a wesbite, she set a HUGE goal and she wrote a paragraph asking people to donate. Already friends have made enormous financial donations and Evie is over the moon. She has been reading about HD on the HDSA website, she understands Shana has 50% chance of developing it and she wants to do something.

I am so proud of her.

2 comments:

denise said...

That is awesome!

We volunteer a lot too - it is so important to give back to community and to things that mean a lot to us. My boys are young still, but as they get older I look forward to seeing what excites and motivates them. It is so awesome to see kids jazzed about things like that!

Good for her. :)

Shana Verstegen said...

For some reason I just now saw this entry, and I cannot thank you guys for the kind things you said. I also cannot thank Evie enough for how hard she worked with the fundraising!