January 23rd we went to the Brighton High School winter assembly.
Millie's Princess Foundation posted this on Facebook:
THEY DID IT!!! Brighton High School met their goal and raised $30,000!!! These kids did the most amazing job. I have never seen more creative or enthusiastic fundraising!
The student body pledged different things should they reach their goal. Noses got waxed, a teacher was tased, the juniors got covered in syrup and feathers, one student sat in a bucket of ice water and salt, another ate a worm, another waxed his chest. Another shaved his head like an old man: bald on top with hair on the sides, another will wear a dog cone for three days and on and on and on. These kids were more than willing to put themselves through ultimate torture in order to encourage the students to participate and donate.
What was also clear was their love for Emma Reeder, Grady Lynch, Ethan Vanleuven and their families. Our hats are off to you Brighton High School. You were AMAZING. Thank you for all your hard work, for all your love, and all your support!
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| Josie ate a worm because the student body reached their goal. |
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| This bold fellow had his head shaved old-man style. Shaved on top with a fringe around the sides. |
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| The Studentbody President had his chest waxed right there in the assembly. This was Emma's favorite. |
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| I think it was the sophomore class officers who were drizzled in a gallon of syrup each and then covered in feathers. |
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| These officers got a spray tan. |
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| This guy has been so cute from the beginning. Here he is fitted with the dog "cone of shame" that he would wear at school for an entire week. |
This was from Amanda Flamm, the incredible supermama who runs Millie's Princess Foundation in memory of her daughter, Millie, who passed away after a second relapse of ALL the summer before Emma was diagnosed.
Such an awesome morning at Brighton High School! They worked so hard for Millie's Princess Foundation and were able to raise $30,000 that will go straight to helping 3 incredible families battling with childhood cancer. THANK YOU Brighton! It was an honor to work with you and an honor to get to know these three families. I am grateful to now call them all my friends.
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Carrie Lynch said:
We are so honored to know these people and to call them our friends. Thank you Brighton High School and thank you Millie's Princess Foundation. What a humbling, awesome and emotional experience.
And this was Jennifer Van Leuven's comment:
We were blessed to be a part of Brighton High School's fund raiser for the year. They teamed with Millie's Princess Foundation and raised $30,000! Truly amazing! We spent the morning at the assembly watching the student body officers do fun things like eats worms, sit in ice water, wear the "cone of shame" for 3 days, and get syruped and feathered because they reached their goal smile emoticon We were honored to share the morning with the Merinda Reeder and Carrie Butterfield Lynch families! Good, good people
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| Brady Flamm does most of the speaking and a whole lot of the work for Millie's. He said to us one day that Millie's Princess Foundation is what gets them out of bed many mornings. He has a full-time job besides the foundation; but he and his family have unending energy and enthusiasm for this. |
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| Emma and Brady |
I am honored to have shared a bench with these families. They are amazing people and we are glad to have the chance to become friends.
I am incredibly grateful to Millie's Princess Foundation and to the Brighton High School students and community that combined forces to raise so much for us.
$10,000 is a lot of money, and somebody might be interested in what we do with it, so I'll tell you. Our family's out of pocket maximum is $10,000.00. As of February 19th, the insurance company has processed our 2015 claims to date and we have met our responsibility. The insurance is now picking up the rest of our in-network covered medical expenses. When we get the full pile of bills from January, it will total $10,000.
I can't say enough how scary and how daunting it would be to find 10K right now. I can't even begin to say how big a deal it is for us to know that we can pay our bills this year. It is huge knowing that we shouldn't see more bills, provided Emma doesn't need a transfusion.
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| Grady Lynch is such a darling boy. |
We collect statements, still, for sure. In our world, though, $10K is more than the replacement cost of everything that lives in our driveway. It is a year of keeping Emma alive and fighting for her future.
Thanks from the bottom of our hearts to Brighton High School and Millie's Princess Foundation.
