On September 1st, 2013 - Gracie's Gowns participated in CureFest for Childhood Cancer on the National Mall in Washington D.C. with 52 other organizations. We banded together for the day and there on out to advocate for pediatric cancer awareness, research, treatments and cures.
The event was co-hosted by Journey 4 A Cure and theTruth365 - both have done amazing things for children battling and surviving cancer. They not only bring awareness and research funding, but they get to you on a personal level - they tell each child's story, I'm sorry I need to rephrase that - they have each child tell THEIR story, each family share their experience in ALL aspects of the cancer world, the successes and even more heartbreaking, the losses. They show the real statistics of the pediatric cancer world and if you read each of them...it will change your life forever.
The event was co-hosted by Journey 4 A Cure and theTruth365 - both have done amazing things for children battling and surviving cancer. They not only bring awareness and research funding, but they get to you on a personal level - they tell each child's story, I'm sorry I need to rephrase that - they have each child tell THEIR story, each family share their experience in ALL aspects of the cancer world, the successes and even more heartbreaking, the losses. They show the real statistics of the pediatric cancer world and if you read each of them...it will change your life forever.
At CureFest they had several speakers - parents, siblings, organization representatives...but the ones that shook you the most were the children.
Gabriella was one of those children - her speech had you laughing at one minutes, inspired throughout and in tears over the reality of what cancer does to children. Her speech was beyond motivational - there was no way you could hear her give "the cold hard facts" without making it your mission to do something to make a difference.
I am posting her here, because this past weekend, Gabriella lost her battle very suddenly to a brain tumor. She was diagnosed in November of 2012 and passed away October 26, 2013. She made the last year of her life a mission, a legacy even...to show Virginia and the world they HAVE to do something to improve the lives of children battling cancer, to "give them their childhood" to not only treat, but cure the cancers and in a way that doesn't rob them of the life they deserve. She raised funding for the Make-A-Wish foundation after she was granted the wish to go to Paris, France with her family - she knew that other children deserved the chance to have that one lasting memory with their families. She helped raise over $250,000 for Make-A-Wish in just one campaign.
Gabriella - know that you are deeply missed, but never forgotten! You have impacted and changed so many lives that can only be counted by God. Your parents will continue your work, those that are touched by you have been inspired to do the same as well. We may never do it as great as you did, but we will always try our hardest.
Gabriella was one of those children - her speech had you laughing at one minutes, inspired throughout and in tears over the reality of what cancer does to children. Her speech was beyond motivational - there was no way you could hear her give "the cold hard facts" without making it your mission to do something to make a difference.
I am posting her here, because this past weekend, Gabriella lost her battle very suddenly to a brain tumor. She was diagnosed in November of 2012 and passed away October 26, 2013. She made the last year of her life a mission, a legacy even...to show Virginia and the world they HAVE to do something to improve the lives of children battling cancer, to "give them their childhood" to not only treat, but cure the cancers and in a way that doesn't rob them of the life they deserve. She raised funding for the Make-A-Wish foundation after she was granted the wish to go to Paris, France with her family - she knew that other children deserved the chance to have that one lasting memory with their families. She helped raise over $250,000 for Make-A-Wish in just one campaign.
Gabriella - know that you are deeply missed, but never forgotten! You have impacted and changed so many lives that can only be counted by God. Your parents will continue your work, those that are touched by you have been inspired to do the same as well. We may never do it as great as you did, but we will always try our hardest.
Throughout the day we gave away 50 goodie bags to those that stopped by our table - here is a collage of the items that were included. Knowing we were headed to this event, simply because it was local enough to us to do so, I invited other organizations and businesses to contribute to our bags and help spread the word about who they are and what they do.
Healing Helpers participated with their Heart Key Chains that they also embroidered a Yellow Ribbon on.
Socks4Surgery participated with their information and magnets.
Pink Door Fabrics sent some quilting bundles of fabric - Chelsea and Charlie have been amazing with donating and letting me purchase fabric at a lesser cost for gowns.
Bee Brave sent their mini stress relievers - which if you remember from our blog on them, they were made from scraps of fabric from our gowns.
We of course included our bracelets and information.
Hollie is a Thirty-One Consultant and contributed her information and nail files from Thirty-One Gifts, she also contributed our raffle item for the day too!
The Hensons contributed their information about Zeal for Life (will update this with their website, once I have it again, it is not with me right now).
Tricia contributed her Pediatric Cancer Awareness bows! One of which was given to Gabriella when we met her. She wanted it so bad and decided it looked great on her dress for the day!
THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to our bags! I know each item was well received!
Healing Helpers participated with their Heart Key Chains that they also embroidered a Yellow Ribbon on.
Socks4Surgery participated with their information and magnets.
Pink Door Fabrics sent some quilting bundles of fabric - Chelsea and Charlie have been amazing with donating and letting me purchase fabric at a lesser cost for gowns.
Bee Brave sent their mini stress relievers - which if you remember from our blog on them, they were made from scraps of fabric from our gowns.
We of course included our bracelets and information.
Hollie is a Thirty-One Consultant and contributed her information and nail files from Thirty-One Gifts, she also contributed our raffle item for the day too!
The Hensons contributed their information about Zeal for Life (will update this with their website, once I have it again, it is not with me right now).
Tricia contributed her Pediatric Cancer Awareness bows! One of which was given to Gabriella when we met her. She wanted it so bad and decided it looked great on her dress for the day!
THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to our bags! I know each item was well received!
One of the best moments was meeting The Beltran family! We had been working on these freckles for his siblings and when I found out that they were going to be at CureFest, I just knew I had to get them done.
Dominic was a local little guy that passed away from cancer - he loved superman so the fabric was made with superman and each one had a different color for the eyes, arms, legs and stomach and then we embroidered his name in gold.
This is the page they created for Dominic on Facebook and they are continuing their efforts for pediatric cancer research, awareness and advocacy!
https://www.facebook.com/Staystrong4dom
Dominic was a local little guy that passed away from cancer - he loved superman so the fabric was made with superman and each one had a different color for the eyes, arms, legs and stomach and then we embroidered his name in gold.
This is the page they created for Dominic on Facebook and they are continuing their efforts for pediatric cancer research, awareness and advocacy!
https://www.facebook.com/Staystrong4dom
Here are the rest of our photos from CureFest for those who want to see some of them. I hope you enjoy them and check out all the amazing pages and organizations we've posted on the blog.
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