ACE is the Place!!!

Recently, I visited White's ACE Hardware in Carmel, Indiana for my CMN Champions send-off party!! ACE is the sponsor for the big trip coming up next week!! ACE Hardware has been a CMN partner for the past 20 years and in that time has raised more than $45 million dollars for Childrens Miracle Network Hospitals nationwide!!! WOW!! Thanks ACE!! :)

I am very excited to go to Disney World and I am even more excited to go to Washington DC!!! I hope we get to spend a little time at the White House with President Obama!!! There are tons of events planned and there will be many opportunities to share my story with some very influential people. I cannot wait to meet all the Champions from the other states!! They are all incredible kids and I know we will all have a blast together!! I will do my best to represent Riley Hospital for Children & our great state of Indiana!!

We are Royalty

Here I am with Miss America 2009 Katie Stam! She's from Indiana, you know!

HOPE Happens Here

Because of my fantastic & extraordinary (and famous!!!) opthalmologist, along with the other great doctors and nurses who have taken care of me over the past five years at Riley Hospital for Children, I was able to attend my first day of kindergarten at my new school!!! My doctors and nurses at Riley are some of the best ever. My battle against cancer is not over, but when victory comes, I know it will be sweet!! Riley Hospital provides HOPE to each person who walks through its doors. There are doctors, physicians, and researchers working hard every day to find cures for all sorts of childhood diseases. I am living proof that there is HOPE within the walls of Riley Hospital. HOPE HAPPENS HERE is the Riley Hospital motto and it rings true for so many different reasons!! Riley Hospital gave my family HOPE in its darkest hours and today I shine like the sun!! Thanks to all my Riley Family for being a part of my incredible journey.

Check out the video of the song "Hope Happens Here" by the band Telluride (aka Adam Craig Band) that was written just for Riley Hospital for Children.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDmOe07AMME

Thursday, August 11th, I visited my favorite local Dairy Queen to help kick off Miracle Treat Day. I was fortunate to be joined by the district managers Dave & Lee as well as the owner Michelle. This store was literally wallpapered with Childrens Miracle Network (CMN) paper balloons!! They were even draped from the ceiling!! My mom says it was very exciting to see that when all the paper balloons, each representing peoples donations, were all put together that it made such an impact on a much larger scale. To know that all these balloons are helping kids like me get the treatment that they need really means alot. And to think that this DQ is only one of the thousands of stores across the country is really phenomenal!!! I am so thankful for Dairy Queen's great partnership with CMN and for hosting the Miracle Treat Day every year!! Who knew that enjoying a tasty Bizzard treat could be so morally rewarding?!?!?! Thanks to all who came out in support of CMN Hospitals!!! I will give an update when the final numbers are tallied, and I bet it's going to be HUGE!!!! Thanks y'all!!! :)

Here I am with the 2010 Indiana CMN Champion Ramonie Smith. We both did radio interviews for the WIKY radio-athon that took place Monday, August 1st in the atrium of Riley Hospital for Children. It's always great to see friends when visiting Riley!!!

This past week, Riley Hospital for Children and the Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation partnered up for its 10th year to raise money for the pediatric cancer research department at Riley. At this years celebrity bowling tournament, called the "Bowling Ball", over $301,000 was raised to fund continued research to help find cures for kids with cancer. As a gift to my good pal Jeff Gordon, me along with 9 other Riley oncology patients presented Jeff with this bowling ball with all of our names engraved on it as a way of saying thank you for all you do for all the kids at Riley Hospital. Jeff Gordon is a very special person and a great philanthropist. His continued efforts in support of Riley Hospital for Children benefit so many children from all over our great state every day. Jeff Gordon is making a very positive impact in the lives of kids just like me. Thank you Jeff!!! (that's my name next to the Riley wagon!!!)

We are so lucky to live in the best country in the world!!
This truly is the land of the free & the home of the brave!!!
Thanks to all the service men & women who have fought for our freedom!!!
Everyone have a safe & happy 4th of July!!!
GOD bless America!!!