Going...going...gone!

I wasn't sure if I should call this one 'Going...going...gone!' or 'We did it'. About three months ago, the Folks at Boone County Fire Station 8 decided to get involved with a fund raiser with the Dream Factory. Tim Bach (a former Station 8 firefighter) was leading an effort to raise funds to grant one 'dream' each to children diagnosed with critical or chronic illnesses who are 3 through 18 years of age. The event was a challenge for local fire, police and EMS folks to help raise funds for the cause. We decided that we would try to raise the $3,000 or so necessary to fund one child's 'dream'. The culmination of fund raising would be an event where the folks raising funds would get their hears shaved, hence the name 'Buzz the Red White and Blue'

We used various methods to raise our funds and I am very glad to say that 'we did it'. In fact, we more than did it. Our group of volunteers raised over $5,000! In fact, we raised more than half of the overall total. Not too bad for a group of volunteers! Even more exciting is the opportunity to meet the child whose dream we'll help fund and get to know him or her and his/her family.

I managed to collect over $1,000, which was my goal. I would love to tell you that that was a great achievement (I had never done this before) but there were a few others that deserve far greater recognition. Gina B., a Station 8 fire fighter, not only raised over $1,300, but she also shaved her had AND gave her beautifully long hair to Locks of Love, a group that provides hair pieces for kids that lose their hair during medical treatments. The top fund raiser was a 6 year old boy that worked over the St. Louis area fire departments to raise money. One of the Dream Factory children wanted to be just like the fire fighters and asked that he have his head shaved too! This was quiet an achievement because he has issues with getting hair cuts. Keeping in mind that this child had some major disabilities, this was quite a sacrifice. I was amazed at how neat the event was and all the generous contributions that folks made.

Thank you to everyone that helped me reach my goal. We plan on doing this again next year, so I'll have to grow my hair back at some point. For now, I am going to enjoy being bald; the ladies seemed to like it.... :) (Except Aimee, hmmm....) I'll pass along an update on the Dream that we help make happen when it does. God bless you for helping others!