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Thank you to EVERYONE!
Thanks to the dedication and hardwork of some amazing family members and friends, Madison had two
very successful fundraisers. Because of these fundraisers, Madison's entire summer therapy program in Michigan has been
paid for - and then some! Maddie and her mom are currently in Michigan attending an intensive therapy "summer
camp" for toddlers with Cerebral Palsy. This therapy, called Conductive Education, is helping Maddie learn how
to use her body better and become more independent. It is also teaching her family how to help her accomplish these
things.
We are very, very grateful to all of the people who came together to help our little girl and our
family. We feel very blessed and supported in this adventure.
We had two great fundraisers - a massive garage sale, and a beautiful dinner. Below are pictures
from each:
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Fundraiser #1: Maddie's Had a Garage Sale!
Our dear friends, Stephanie and Craig, sacrificed their home, their front yard, and their
garage for a huge, amazing garage sale at the end of April. Friends, family, and strangers donated truckloads of items
to sell. We had so much stuff! From cribs to bikes to shoes (100+ pair!) to crazy knick knacks... We even
had a raffle, thanks to some pretty significant donations of "big ticket" items (thanks Asa!) We had an amazing
work crew - Ivy, Stephanie, Marianne, and Krista worked until the wee hours of the morning the night before and
camped out with me in front of the house to protect our "stuff". It was a very fun night. They were
there the entire next day during the sale workin' it and making some great sales! Miss Phyllis (one of Maddie's teachers) also came for
the entire day and worked the crazy clothes pile. The amount of work this day entailed was overwhelming and exhilerating.
We even decided to come out for one more day in an effort to get rid of everything. We sold almost everything (we were
very generous in our sales on the last day.)
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| Look at all of those shoppers! |
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| The star of the day - with mom, dad, sister, and cousin "Nannny" Karinna |
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| Look at all of that "stuff"! |
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| We had some great raffle items... |
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| Maddie and Teacher Phyllis |
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| Maddie's dear friend, Keith. He's not for sale! |
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| There were just a few strollers to be sold! |
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| These two were, by far our favorite customers! |
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| The hardest workers in the world - Steph, Krista & Ivy - figuring out the day's profit! |
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Besides the people who participated and attended these fundraisers, we also had
many, many people contribute to our trip through Maddie's Wells Fargo account. We are flabergasted at eveyone's generosity!
Enterprise Rent-a-Car donated half of our car rental (and that was hefty since we needed a van - thank you, Simon!), and the
Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Fighters Union made a gigantic contribution. Members of the Church of Christ in Turlock
made endless, extremely generous donations. Derek's sister's family paid for Derek and Savannah to fly out to visit
us, and both sets of Maddie's grandparents and Uncle Ray and Aunt Myrna contributed to Madison's "camp fund" very
significantly.
Thank you to everyone who helped us in this way. We were touched beyond words
by everyone's generosity. Our family, friends, acquaintances, and even complete strangers got us to Michigan and are
giving Madison the opportunity of a lifetime.
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Fundraiser #2: Dinner with Madison
In the beginning of June, our cousins, Paul and Kate, hosted a fabulous pasta dinner for us.
It was an amazing evening, and everyone seemed to have a great time (including Madison!) Again, so many, many people
came together to plan this event, and so many family and friends showed their support by coming to our dinner.
Our dear friend, Jennie, put together an amazing slide show about Madison and presented it
at the dinner. It added such a special touch and we are very grateful for such a great momento.
Our other dear friend, Jill, who is also a speech therapist, put together a table and a presentation.
In doing so, she explained and demonstrated the types of therapy toys and equipment Madison needs to help in her every day
life. Through this, people donated money to help pay for some of these items. Amazing!
We had a great silent auction, in which so many people donated some really great items.
This part of the dinner was a huge boost to our fundraising efforts. Thanks to all of the quilters, and the many other
people who donated items.
We had live music by our favorite pianist in the whole world, Matt Smart. Sandy and
Tom donated all of the food, and Mr. Pelligrini cooked an amazing dinner. Grandma and Grandpa Keller did tons of work
to make the evening possible, and Maddie's amazing Uncle Michael, Aunt Kimmi, and Uncle Tyson contributed their effort and
hard work.
Thank you to everyone for such a special evening!
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| A very proud Madison, with Dad, Mom, and Sister Savannah. |
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| Maddie with Grandpa and Grandma Keller |
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| Maddie with Papa and Nana Gustafson |
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| Our cousin, Kate, explaining the evening to the crowd. |
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| Our dear friend, Jill, giving a wonderful talk about Maddie and CP |
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| Maddie giving her momma a little love... |
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