Copy of my email sent to all my GLF supporters

Here it is, a whole month after the GoodLooking Foundation Strides event and I am only just now writing my formal thank you letter! Please accept my apologies for the delay as our family has been experiencing both lingering illnesses as well as a lot of transitioning between preschools for Miranda who has finally moved in to her new digs in the Mt. Laurel Township Pre-School Disabled program at Springville Elementary (just down the hallway from Alex-yeah!) only last week.

I am a little embarrassed to admit that I didn’t read the fine print when I signed up for the 5K in May after the inspiring speech from the leaders of GLF, Joe Ciampoli and Penny Page: the traditional 5K in similar fundraising events is for RUNNERS and boy, am I a WALKER. I spent the summer working up to 5K walks in our neighborhood (being mostly confined with Alex and Miranda has left me without the opportunity to exercise, so the walks did double duty). I felt great during this training for having turned the kids over to someone else for the evening and gone out to prepare myself for this event, knowing that all of you had contributed so generously to this cause.

So, imagine my surprise on that Sunday morning, October 4th, to learn that I was expected to be running the 5K (many people do it in about 20 minutes--Yikes!) instead of walking. Running (briefly) and walking, I did the 5K in about an hour, finishing about half an hour after everyone else. (And re-aggravating knee injuries suffered in high-school.)

What I have since discovered about traditional 5K fundraising events is that many running enthusiasts will pay the $25 fee toward the organization as their primary contribution, show up for 20-30 minutes to run, and go home. That barely covers the cost of the event for the organizers.

So while I played tortoise to everyone else’s hare, with your help and overwhelming generosity, I was able to raise $3,535 for GLF, the event’s largest single contribution towards the $45,850 raised by the entire event. Thank you so much!!

I'm also very grateful to my father-in-law, Rick Webber, who counts a wheelchair as his primary transportation, for coming to the event itself and encouraging me even as I fell farther and farther behind the pack. You can see pictures that he took of the event here: http://tinyurl.com/yl59p7g

In addition to my deep gratitude to all who contributed financially to Alex's Angels and The GoodLooking Foundation, and the many more who prayed for my efforts, I am deeply thankful for my husband and my mother who watched Alex and Miranda for me and did bed-time duties, night after night, while I was out in the neighborhood walking my three miles. Without their constant graciousness and encouragement, I don't think I could have managed this at all.