Day 341: "Belle of the Ball"; Thanks Anton Cleaners!

 Patricia here. Prom memories are so special for most girls. The dress, the hair, the nails, the friends, the limos, the pictures, the venue, the menu, the party after. I still remember my high school proms, especially the dresses....and how they were saved for about 18 years and then cut/redesigned in a home spun effort to assist the twins in their "be a princess" dress-up play.  I remember loving those gowns....but not as much as the twins did!!   And then....flash forward.....how quickly the time flies..... and soon enough, Bianca and Olivia went off to their own high school proms, looking nothing less than GORGEOUS!!  Indeed, the prom is a very special occasion that should be enjoyed by every young girl that desires it.  But sadly, the prom is not an event that every young lady has the opportunity to experience.  Which is why it is absolutely wonderful that Anton Cleaners has been organizing a program that is now eight years old that collects gently used prom dresses, both long and short, to be given to young ladies that would otherwise be unable to attend the prom in fussy, elegant attire.  Today I was able to donate a couple of dresses to the cause (and don't worry, Bianca and Olivia, I did not give away the dresses shown here!)  The info below shares the press release that announces the event.  Hopefully I can dig through more closets and find additional donations.  

More very interesting information is at www.antons.com/belle

 

 Anton's Cleaners kicks off its 8th Annual
Belle of the Ball

Sponsored by Anton's Cleaners, a family-owned chain of 43 stores in Eastern Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire, Belle of the Ball cleans and distributes prom dresses to high school junior and senior girls who would otherwise not have the opportunity to attend their school's prom. Since the program began in 2005, over 1,900 girls have received beautiful dresses.
Belle of the Ball needs good quality, prom-appropriate dresses and can be dropped off at all 43 2Anton's Cleaners locations, as well as all Jordan's locations from Feb. 1-April 1. This program culminates with a day-long invite only boutique staffed by volunteers to provide a magical shopping experience for qualified girls.

Day 340: AseraCare Volunteer

Patricia here.  Today was my first day of "officially volunteering" with the AseraCare Hospice team.  I went to their offices in Wellesley for a few hours this morning where I met the administrative support staff, the bereavement coordinator, some healthcare managers and a team nurse.  All lovely people!  After learning the whereabouts of supplies and resources, I was put right to work answering phones and updating files with the absolute TON of paperwork that follows every hospice case.  It sounds easy...and really, it was..... but the patient files are so incredibly thick with at least a dozen various tabs for all the categories of paperwork, all held together with some weird but functional plastic wire system that I had never used (or seen!) before, so the most challenging part was keeping all the paperwork threaded in the four inch thick, individual folders! Comical, really.
The handful of staff members I worked with all made me feel so welcome and appreciated with their flowing compliments.  It became the office joke as to whom I would help the most!  Very cute.  I also scheduled my first visit with a hospice patient, which will happen next week.  It looks like Wednesday will become my "Hospice Day" when I combine a few hours of office volunteer work with nearby  patient visits for a full day of AseraCare.  To be continued next Wednesday......
And P.S....I came home with a lovely note for Sophia, thanking her for the delicious cupcakes that she made for the patients last week!

Day 339: Regina Cleri Contribution

Nana and BUppa here.  Our dear friend's Dad, Philip Barrett, died suddenly last week and the family's request was for contributions to be given to Regina Cleri Residence. This is a home in Boston for retired and/or ill priests where his late brother-in-law, Rev. James Curtin lived for the last few years. After seeing 5 Bishops and over 30 priests at Father Jim's funeral, we were happy to send a donation there for the care of these older priests, some of whom are not as fortunate to have a kind loving family as that of Philip Barrett.

Day 338: Special Olympics

Another great day coaching Special Olympics.  I think I've mentioned before, each day brings new twists.  With my co-coach there, I was able to really push 2 swimmers to their maximum effort, while making sure the other swimmers were pushed according to their capabilities.  It's not easy to do when I am by myself, and I'm always challenged to make sure each swimmer is given a workout that pushes them while trying to keep practice fun.  Everyone had a great attitude and worked very hard.
I'll be traveling on business next week, so I'll miss working with the team.

Day 337: New Neighbors in Town!

Hello, this is Sophia. Recently, new neighbors have moved in on Everett Street. They are our direct neighbors down on the right, but there are trees in between us so we aren't that close. Anyways, today I baked applesauce muffins, a family favorite, put them in a basket and walked them over. It turns out that there are two little boys that live there that are 4 and 7 years old.  The mother was very nice and we also got to meet her friend who had children who were playing with the boys. They really appreciated the visit saying that so far, they have gotten wine, brownies, and a coffee cake from th other neighbors! The mother's friend was even saying, " I wish I had neighbors as nice as this!" We hope that we get to know the family, and I might even have a chance to be a "mother's helper" and have my first job!!!

Day 336: Horizons for Homeless Children

Patricia here.  Today is the last week day of school vacation week, and Sophia and her ever-so-blessed Mom  have had a wonderful week filled with so many fun activities.  We are so fortunate to have the resources of family, food, shelter and financial security.  As we buzzed about planning our days of relaxation, adventure and discovery, it was shocking to read in the newspaper that there are over 100,000 homeless children in Massachusetts who are just trying to plan on where to eat or sleep. Deserving children who might never know the joy of a spontaneous train trip, or the thrill of the theater, or the wonder of eating in a fancy new restaurant, or the excitement of a high school hockey game, or the satisfaction of trying a new dinner recipe in the kitchen, or the simple pleasure of sitting comfortably on the coach and reading a book by the warmth of the fire.  It is these children who are supported by the organization "Horizons For Homeless Children".  And it is today that we feel especially drawn to making a donation to this cause.  Our contribution will be directed to the running team who will enter the 2012 Boston Marathon to raise funds for the many programs offered by Horizons For Homeless Children.  We generally support runners for a cause, and this one is clearly most deserving.  There are also many other ways to support HFHC, as they regularly train volunteers to work as Activity Leaders in their community play-spaces (which are all over the state but who knew are as close to us as Framingham, Waltham and Newton!), and they are always accepting donations of toys and books for the children.  Check it out at http://www.horizonsforhomelesschildren.org/

Day 335: Bristol Lodge

Here we are again on the 4th Thursday of the month which means cooking for Bristol Lodge for many of us at St. Jude's. This month, my group was lined up for dessert, but I received a call from another participant asking if I would swap with her and do potatoes! So, it has been a busy day in the kitchen--making a coffee cake for Diane's family, cooking potatoes, and then attending a church service for Diane's uncle, Fr. James Curtin who was kind to our Marie, visiting her in the hospital, remembering her in his prayers and being with us at her wake. It has been a day of "reaching out."

Day 334: Captain's Meeting; Relay For Life at UPenn

Bianca here.  Just got home from running a very successful Relay for Life team captains meeting! Each team registered for the event has a team captain, and the Fundraising Chair and I are responsible for coordinating three team captain meetings. Tonight was the first, and we spoke for about 10-15 minutes about the event and their responsibilities as team captains. We put together a slide show as well. At the end, we had a lineup of people asking us questions- we felt so popular! We got a lot of people to sign up for team fundraisers too, which is great support for reaching our $125,000 goal. It is exciting to see our long-awaited event finally pulling together! It was also nice to see captains who were really interested in Relay for Life and asking us if they could go above and beyond their required duties. All in all, we were quite impressed with the meeting and look forward to developing our ideas for the next one!

Day 333: Cupcakes for Hospice Center!

Hi! It is Sophia. As you know, my mom is starting as a volunteer at the AseraCare Hospice Center. She told me about a chance to be a baker for the patients and families of the program, to help make them happy and to offer them something fun to eat. My job was to make cupcakes for the patients' birthdays, special events or just as a surprise treat! I thought this was great because I could incorporate my love for baking into a service opportunity. So, today I made my first batch. My sister Olivia got me this really jazzy battery powered frosting pen. You simply insert the frosting into the cartridges and slide them onto the pen. Then you press a button/lever and the frosting comes out of your chosen tip. It is really fun and a lot less messy than a piping bag! I chose to fill the pen with white frosting but then cover the cupcakes in either blue, yellow or green. I used the corresponding color sprinkles and put some chocolate chips on them because, who doesn't like a little chocolate?! Anyway, mom drove me to AseraCare Hospice where I delivered the box of cupcakes to the office lady who manages all the volunteers. I hope my cupcakes will bring a smile to someone's face on a special day!!

Day 332: Supporting Local Teens in Chile

Patricia here. When Bianca and Olivia were in the 9th grade, they participated in a St. Theresa's service trip to New Orleans to support the victims of Hurricane Katrina.  We are still enormously grateful for the generosity of the parish in helping us make this opportunity possible for our two children.  The experience, although exhausting and overwhelming at such a tender age of just 14, was also life altering for the twins in the sense that they were able to experience firsthand, not just the devastation and despair, but also the local spirit of faith and hope in life and renewal.  So when we were solicited to financially support a group of teens that are now traveling to Chile with St. Theresa's to work with the poorest "barrios of Antofagasta" ....how could we not agree to help other deserving teens in our parish answer a call-to-service and spend their upcoming April vacation helping build homes and community for the desperate of Chile?  We are still of the philosophy that "every little bit helps" in these grand endeavors.  Glad we can do our "little bit" to support St. Theresa's.

Day 331: A Real Cliff Hanger!

 Today was a real "gift family day" for the three of us as Paul's Special Olympics coaching commitment was cancelled due to the holiday weekend.  We had no other must-do plans (after church, of course, Nana,) so we decided to make it a day-trip-day...and headed to Newport, RI .  Sophia and Paul (much to his own surprise) had never been to see the mansions or walk along the magnificent Cliff Walk . And I hadn't been since enjoying a weekend there with Nana many Mother's Days ago when we toured the Breakers Mansion.  Since it was a gorgeous day today, there seemed no legitimate reason not to venture off to a famously celebrated New England destination.   And the trip was every bit as wonderful this time around as it was with Nana!  We strolled the cobblestone streets and shops, saw glass being blown in a specialty glassware gift shop, and gazed/gasped/gawked at so many amazing homes.  But a family highlight was walking along the Cliff Walk, which is described by the Newport Friends of the Waterfront as "  a world famous  public access walk that combines the natural beauty of the Newport shore line with the architectural history of Newport's gilded age. "   We absolutely loved the adventure.  And we can't believe that it is entirely FREE!!  Walkers enjoy the beauty of the ocean on one side and the gorgeous mansions/homes on the other.  But of course, we figured there must be some maintenance commitments  involved in keeping this local treasure safe and available, so we were intrigued to do some sleuth work and discovered that a group called the Friends of the Waterfront help to preserve this eastern slope waterfront project.  What a pleasure it was to make a donation that supports the preservation of this New England treasure that gets national recognition. So now we say, "Run, don't walk, to the Cliff Walk!"

www.newportwaterfront.org

Day 330: Peanut butter and Jelly

Nana here. Today, I dropped our donation of peanut butter in the box at the back of St. Luke's Church. Walgreens had a special on peanut butter and jelly all week, but when I went in yesterday, the jelly was all sold out. Had no time to go elsewhere, so bought 2 jars of peanut butter to donate. When I was there on Tuesday, the boxes were quite full and today, it looked like someone emptied them to make room for some more---hopefully the Youth Group is well on it's way to their goal of 250 jars of each---only about 10 days to go!

Day 329: More Girl Scout Cookies!

Hello, it is Sophia here! One girl that goes to my gym participates in Girl Scouts and last month she went around looking for people who wanted to buy Girl Scout cookies. She brought in the form and I GLADLY filled out a purchase. I used to be a Girl Scout and I remember the joy in trying to reach your goal for how many cookie boxes you could sell. I bought "Shortbreads", one of my favorites! Her cookies are finally here to pass out to the people who orderd them. I paid her with my own money, $4.00, which I was happy to do because it was a win-win! This is a picture of me when I was a part of my brownie troop.

Day 328: Battle of the Bands

Bianca here. More Relay For Life!!  Tonight, the UPenn Relay for Life Committee is hosting a Battle of the Bands Concert. We are coordinating this event with surrounding colleges Drexel and Temple, who are both trying to raise money for their Relays as well. Each college entered a couple campus bands to compete against each other. The audience "votes" for the winner by putting money forward for their favorite band. The band that raises the most money wins! I stopped by after water polo practice just to see how it was going. Our committees also made TONS of baked goods to sell. I took a picture before coming home to blog but for some reason my computer is not working properly....for a change!! I am off now to go work the baked good booth (the venue closes at 2am, but I am not planning on staying that late!) Hopefully we are able to fundraise a lot tonight from our baked goods and talented bands!

Day 327: Fundraising Brainstorm

Bianca here.  Today I held a meeting with the Relay Fundraising Chair and his committee to brainstorm fundraisers for our Relay event. We divided the fundraising categories into "Before," "During," and "After" our Relay event (yes, we still fundraise for the ACS after the actual Relay for Life!) so we could decide which types of fundraisers would be the most viable for each time period. We ended up coming up with a lot of ideas! Before Relay, we are thinking of holding a movie night, karaoke night, or Casino night in which the profits of the event will go towards the ACS. For the "during" Relay fundraisers, we have activities such as an egg toss, relay races, moon bounce, and eating contests to raise money while the event is taking place. We are also thinking of hosting another 5K running event in the Spring so we have some funds in the bank when we start up again for Relay next year. Since I was in class since 11:00am straight until 7:30, and the meeting was at 8, I wanted it to move as efficiently as possible so I could get home for dinner! So, the Fundraising chair and I decided on a "no electronics" policy just for the brief half hour that we were discussing our ideas. We also had another rule: "no putting down other people's ideas, no matter how ridiculous, because they just might work." A lot of our committee members are on the quieter side, so we figured they might not contribute again if one of their ideas was "put down." In the end, we have a lot of great ideas. But there is just so much more to do!

On another note, I registered to run the Philadelphia Broad Street Run in May. It is a 10 mile race and all of the money goes to the ACS. It was $40 to register (yikes! Wich that could have gone to my relay team...) but I am running it with one of my friends from nursing and also a junior that I recently got close to on the water polo team. Should be fun!

Day 326: Rostro de Christo

Olivia here.  This May, my roommate Nicole is going to Ecuador for a service trip, called Rostro de Christo. It is suggested by the program that each participant raises $1,000 to help fund for airfare, room and board during their stay. I was glad to support her and donate some money towards her trip.

Day 325: Donating to MADD

Nana and Buppa here.  Today is the day to renew our annual membership to madd--mothers against drunk driving. We've been members for quite a few years, but can't remember when we joined, but do remember getting the info and lots of calls asking for donations and finally decided to help. How horrible it must be for a parent to lose a child unneccesarily (accident, NOT serious illness of some such, over which we have no control). As hard as it is to understand, 1 in 3 persons will be affected by the horrific crime of drunk driving at some point in their life. As our family has increased with weddings and grandchildren, we have many more loved ones in our immediate circle to worry about and pray that they will never meet with this misfortune. The statistics are unbelievable---if you would like more information, their website is madd.org.

Day 324: Supporting Animal Shelters, Music Progams and Special Olympics

Today was a big day for supporting and volunteering in our family.  Love it when that happens!!

We start with our guest volunteer, Miss Meaghan.  Our blog-honoree-Marie, would be so proud to know that her daughter is a monthly volunteer at the local animal shelter.  Here's what Meaghan has to share of her experience:

"Today I volunteered at Northeast Animal Shelter. This animal shelter is "no kill", so the animals will defintely always be safe. There are both cats and dogs there and I volunteer with the dogs once a month. As a volunteer I have to walk them, clean upafter them, make sure they have clean water, and play with them! If you like animals I would recommend volunteering at your local shelter or even adopting a new pet !

Here is the link to the NEAS site :http://www.northeastanimalshelter.org/

 Michael and Sunny <3

Next:  We also had a big day for supporting the Performing Arts program at the Dover -Sherborn Regional Schools.

  

Sophia was participating in the annual musical fundraiser, The Chocolate Cafe, an event that is dear to our hearts since our drummer-Olivia was once a member of the middle school jazz ensemble. In fact, we were surprised, bit thrilled,  to see the banner that Olivia helped design and sew  (over seven years ago!) still hanging behind the stage!  Sophia mentioned remembering having the banner elements laid out in our living room and helping to choose the colors and placements of the letters and desserts! This major fundraiser is the only concert that guests pay to enjoy....which is totally fair because we not only get to hear great music, but we also indulge in a huge buffet of scruptious chocolate desserts in a festive Valentine-themed atmoshpere.   Sophia made her signature "Chocolate Covered Coconut Truffles" to donate to the buffet...and honestly, they were gone so fast I never even got to snitch one!  Nana and Buppa were the familiar "Champion Supporters" and came to enjoy the music and chocolate.  Paul did get to see Sophia perform, but he had to leave early to get to his volunteer commitment for the Special Olympics; a practice session that he said went really well.....even though one of the female swimmers was having a hard time emotionally.....something Paul is totally familiar with given he lives ina house of estrogen!!

Day 323: Natick Service Council

Paul here.  It always seems ironic to me that food pantries have collection bins after the checkout at supermarkets.  With all the abundance of food on one side of the registers, the collection bins seem like such a small percentage of the food that passes by each day.   It must be successful because I usually see them full, and today was no exception.  Most donations are directed to a national effort, but it feels good to contribute to such a local cause.  I dropped off some cup-a-soup varieties from our own pantry. I'm sure whoever receives it will be thankful for a hot meal.

Day 322: Girl Scout Cookies--yummy!

  Such a treat!  We all look forward to supporting the local Girl Scouts annual Cookie Drive.  There are a few scouts in our neighborhood and at at Sophia's gymnastics center, so we will have plenty of these perfect little tea treats this year.  Thin Mints and Shortbread Trefoils remain the family favorites.  I can still remember selling these cookies door to door when I was a Girl Scout.  They cost .50 cents a box way back then; inflation has them at $4.00 now!!  Still worth the investment in not just the delicious cookies but the organization's commitment to developing today's young women into the confident and accomplished leaders of tomorrow.       http://www.girlscoutcookies.org/

Day 321: Cookie grams for PAWS

Hey Everyone, Bianca here.

I realize it's been quite a while since my last blog...but luckily I will be redeeming myself within the next couple weeks. The "blog" task I had planned for today actually fell through, but that's okay because I ended up finding something else that I was planning to do all along, blog or not! I had wanted to get all of my roomies and other house friends a little Valentine's day gift, so I was just planning on going to CVS. However my College House has been offering a lot of Valentine's Day fundraisers, so I decided to buy cookie grams for a few of my friends. Each individual cookies can have a personal message, and all of the proceeds go to the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). So I just got a few cookies telling my friends that I loved them, and they will be delivered to their doors on Valentine's Day (and they don't know that I ordered these!) Though I am sure after eating Sophia's cookies that I got in an awesome care package today they will find them to be a little less tasty...can't beat a homemade Cutler cookie (made with love, as Nannie likes to say).

Also, the promotional video for our Relay for Life is now up on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BXXpF0FDnQ

Since the event is Olympic themed, we have my friend running around campus with the olympic torch!

Day 320: Helping the Brownie Troop

Nana here. On the way into St. Jude's Church the other day, I saw a very small poster hanging on the wall about the school Brownie troop collecting things for the less fortunate-----slightly used clothes or toys or new articles. Decided to help the cause (under the heading of Cradles to Crayons) as I believe this is the same troop that our girls (Marie and Patricia) were in at St. Jude's school back in the late 60's-early 70's. Hard to believe it is still going strong, but all the more reason to help them out. Must say they need to do a little more and larger publicity to make more people aware as the box was empty before I dropped in a large package of socks. We wish them well in their endeavor.

Day 319: Dover Sherborn Education Fund

Well it's that time of year again.....early February.....when the Dover-Sherborn Education Fund holds a two day phon-a-thon to raise money for the four schools in Dover and Sherborn.  It's a remarkable campaign that started in 1984 and has since raised over $3,000,000 dollars used to fund grants for the schools.  So many major classroom expenses, especially in the areas of technology, are not covered in the annual school budget.  So the DSEF seeks to support the school staff and curriculum budget through funding special projects, student services and activities, and new equipment.  I believe the DSEF efforts help maintain the outstanding reputation the DS school sytem has earned statewide. And certainly, we have seen the academic benefits in our three daughters.

So when the volunteer callers ring your line.....How can you say anything but YES?

http://www.dsef.com/

Day 318: Spreading the Love

Today I agreed to participate in a wonderful project led by a very talented artist and friend who designed the incredibly adorable birth announcement of Bianca and Olivia.....19 years ago!  Isn't it adorable?!!

Anyways...she's such an amazing artist, and dear person, one who lives a life of giving and loving.  She recently started a program called "You are Loved, Pass it on" and designed little business-sized cards that are intended to "spread the love".  In her own words as seen on her website http://www.youarelovedpassiton.com/ :

"Welcome to the global art happening YOU ARE LOVED - PASS IT ON where you become part of the project by spreading love around the world.

This project began years ago while attending a retreat about relationships. I realized love can be overlooked, viewed as cliche, and not taken seriously. In a fast-paced world, it can be forgotten. As an artist, I envisioned an empty room with only a painting on the wall with the words YOU ARE LOVED on it. I imagined the viewer quietly taking in that message of love. Then, I wondered, if people actually took that feeling in, what else could they do with it? I hoped it could start a chain reaction of love around the world.

 

I am flattered that this special woman chose me to support and contribute to her project.   I was happy to take the time needed to register my twenty cards into her web program, and now I can start spreading the love in my circles around the world!

I wish her lots of loving satisfaction in this inspiring global project.

http://www.youarelovedpassiton.com/

Day 317: Special Olympics on Super Sunday

Another Special Olympics swim practice today.  I thought attendance would be low due to the game, but we had almost our regular crew.  Actually we had to move some swimmers around so I worked with a swimmer I had not been with before.  He is one of the more visibly disabled athletes, so although I had spoken to him before, I had no idea of his swimming ability.  It turns out he was was one the hardest working swimmers in the bunch.  Although obvioulsy limited, he tried his best to absorb everything the coaches asked, and improve his strokes.  It is remarkable how hard it is to define and pinpoint someone's abilities based on how they appear.   As this lesson sinks in, it is just another example of how much I am benefitting from this coaching experience. 
Go Pats!

Day 316: McLean Hospice

Last month, a dear friend of ours, Robin, lost her father to Alzheimers disease.  Robin and her family experienced first hand, all the sad, challenging and difficult stories that we all hear about this much-feared disease.  The extraordinary courage, patience and support needed by the family to journey through the lengthy final stages of patient dimentia is an incredible tribute to love.  Robin shared with me that her family, as loving and devoted as they all were to her father's failing condition, could not have made it through the crisis without the support of McLean Hospice. She couldn't say enough wonderful things about the care, compassion and support given to the whole family by the staff at McLean.  Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the funeral in Connecticut because it was scheduled on the day that I was to begin my training for Asera Hospice!  To have postponed the training would mean that I would have had to wait until the spring to reschedule...which I definitely did not want to do.    Nor did Robin want me to postpone as she knows just how important it is for families to have the support of Hospice Volunteers.  "Go train," she said, "My Dad would be so happy to know that hospice training is the reason you can't come to his funeral."  It's so overwhelming to think that I might someay be the person that follows a family to the finish.  I hope I've got what it takes...

Today, I was finally abe to find her Dad's obituary on line and respond to the request for donations....not surprisingly,  to McLean Hospice in Simsbury, CT.

http://www.mcleanshospice.com/

Day 315: School Bake Sale!

Hi it is Sophia! Today at school there was a bake sale held by the HELP club. The group holds a bake sale once in a while for the monthly cause. I brought in some of my own money and bought a yummy treat. The proceeds this time are going to the local animal shelters to give them food, beds, and warmth in this cold season. The bake sale also offered home-made doggie biscuits. This was different and all the dog owners bought them! (I got a donut... yumm!) It was also Patriots Day today when everyone could wear their Patriots apparel supporting the upcoming game. It was a fun day with celebrations and donations!

Day 314: First Thursdays

Hello,
At Loyola, on the first thursday of every month, the university cooks a homemade dinner and sells it for $10 a plate. (The event is called First Thursdays). Usually the profits benefit Relay for Life, but this month the money went towards the Make a Wish Foundation! My friend and I helped set up the area with balloons, and started the first shift of serving the food. The theme was Italian, so there was Caesar Salad, garlic bread, chicken picatta, rice pilaf, eggplant parm, and green beans being served. Since First Thursdays are in the Student Center and I have food in my apartment, I haven't gone to one yet this year. I was surprised how many people bought food. Within the first 15 minutes of the event, I had already served about 40 plates! I'm sure served many more plates after I had left, so I can't wait to see how much money we raised!

Day 313: Supporting the American Heart Association

Hi! Sophia (and Mom) here. In my gym class, as we are kicking off American Heart month, we are starting our annual fundraising for the American Heart Association. We are given the choice to collect donations from family and neighbors, or to buy a heart t-shirt (or both). I decided to buy the t-shirt that I think is really cool. It says: Saving a Life is a Real Sport.  In the past, the t-shirts just had a list of a bunch of organizations, but I really like this one! Our teachers encouraged us to buy it because later in the year, there is a student vs. faculty basketball game and they want everyone to wear red representing a healthy heart. A lot of people in my grade, including me, know someone with a heart disease, so we are going to try our best to raise  money and support the cause as much as we can.  My Mom wanted to be sure that I bought this T-Shirt to honor all those loved ones that my family has lost to heart disease including my Nana's Mother and Father, my Great Uncle Harvey who my parent's always talked about being a "cool uncle", and my fun neighbor Al.  We miss them all.