Newsflash....

Hello! Just wanted to drop by with some more updates. I met with the Tina and her daughter Kylie from Kelsey's Dream today. Thanks to more generous donations we are taking on the Tomorrow's Children's Institute in Hackensack, NJ with chemo ducks in honor of Derrick Dull and little Hudson Rinker!!!! I still have more ducks left, so I will be looking into another hospital in NJ as well. Tina also mentioned that Kelsey's Dream is collecting blankets for Camp Dost which is a camp for children with cancer and their siblings. Each year Kelsey's Dream provides blankets for these children. Derrick's grandmother and great aunt made a beautiful blanket already, which Tina loved! ( Thanks MA MA). Let me know if anyone is interested in helping make a blanket or two, I know some of you really enjoy doing this as a hobby. Here is some information about Camp Dost
http://www.kelseysdream.org/DreamstoReality/CampDost/tabid/69/Default.aspx

In other news, I found out today that yet another person from my bone marow drive in May got called to be a bone marrow donor ( that brings us up to 5 so far!) so I was really excited to hear about this! Also if anyone didn't have a chance to attend the marathon benefit and would still like to donate you can check out my fundraising page at http://pages.teamintraining.org/cpa/rnr09/mdull I just mailed in the money from the benefit, so that won't be posted on the website for a week or so. I am up to 15 miles now, and I am doing my first half marathon this weekend. Also, check out the Ephrata review tomorrow, there is suppossed to be an article about Derrick in this week's edition or next week! Hope everyone is having a great week, and I can't thank everyone enough for their generosity!!!!!

Mindy :)

Marathon Benefit Update!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!

Thank you so much to everyone who donated and attended the marathon benefit dance. It was more than a success. Thanks to the generosity of all of you, my grand total including the benefit and my online donations brings me to $ 4570!!!!! That means I met my race goal.....BUT.... I am not stopping there, since this is probably my only fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society (since the Foundation will support families with cancer, not organizations), I want to go out with a bang! I am going to try to raise $5,000!!!!! I am running a half marathon on Sunday with my friend from college. This week I am also meeting with the family we purchased furniture for, to take pictures of the man and his family. I talked to his wife today and they love their new furniture. Mike especially like the new recliner, because it is often difficult for him to be comfortable since his leg amputation. Also, please continue to keep praying for Judi Sweigart, but please keep praying for her and her family's strength during her recovery!!!!!! Just finished the bylaws today for the Foundation, so we keep moving forward. I will keep everyone updated on upcoming events. You are all so wonderful!!!!! Lots of Love!

Mindy :)

More updates and prayer request...

Hey everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying the first full week of spring! First, I'd like to ask for your prayers for Judi Sweigart and all the Sweigart family. Judi is a loyal blog reader and a friend of the entire Dull family. She had open heart surgery yesterday, and she is doing well, but needs continued support and prayers. I am so excited to see all those of you who are being called as potential bone marrow matches. Please keep us all posted!!! I can't wait to see some of you at the benefit this weekend!

Bone Marrow Drives

I just wanted to pass along some information that I received about an upcoming bone marrow drive at Lycoming College. Here is the link. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=67100780&ref=mf#/event.php?eid=55439786138&ref=nf

So in addition to Marcy's drive, there is now another one in honor of Derrick! He'd be sooo happy!!

In other news keep your eyes open the next couple of weeks to get information about the first family that we are going to be helping. They are a wonderful family, and I am so excited to get started. We got approved from Hershey Medical Center, and we will be receiving referrals from their social work program for oncology patients who need financial assistance! The date for the golf tournament has been locked in for June 27th! So there are a lot of things happening!!

On the marathon front, I had to take some time off because of a cold, but I have a 15 mile race I am participating in on Saturday, which is apparently an extremely hilly course. So I'll keep you posted on how it goes! Hope everyone has a great week!

Mindy :)

Just a little note...

We just had a really nice meeting to discuss the possibility of having a golf tournament for the foundation again this year. Everyone from the committee was interested in having it again, since it was so much fun last year! I just wanted to let you know that the tournament is tentatively scheduled for June 27th, so mark your calendars if you want to play!!! More details will follow!

Mindy :)

Video...

Thank you to everyone for supporting the chemo duck program. I still continue to be amazed by the wonderful people who support the foundation, Derrick's memory, and all of us everyday! Please watch this video to see how meaningful this program is to children with cancer.

http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=af4da6fde2edadc98978


Thanks!

Mindy :)

Updates...

Sorry I haven't updated lately!!! I just wrapped up my first online class, woo hoo, and just got home from a great weekend visiting Marcy In Ohio for Jim's birthday!!! The four of us had sooo much fun! I have been working really hard getting things organized with the foundation. I have met with the attorney, and she is currently filing all the necessary state and federal paperwork!!! All the details for the dance are pretty well set. I still have more tickets if anyone is interested! We have got some really great donations for the silent auction. I also have some fight on gear still for sale! In marathon news, I got up to 11 miles last week! A big accomplishment for me. I am going to try to up it a little this week, but we will see because I have a cold. As you all know we have covered Delaware and West Virgina with chemo ducks. The foundation is getting a very generous donation from baby Hudson's family towards more chemo ducks in honor of Derrick and Hudson, so with the new donation and some extra ducks left over, we have enough to take on another state!!!!!!!!!! Keep checking out the website, because i n the next few days there will be some new features, including an area where you can post stories about Derrick and an area where you can leave comments. We have recently added a counter so we can tell how many people have visited the site! Also, could everyone pray for a little girl named Sarah L. and a little baby Riley Brilliant. Here are their websites http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/saral http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/babybrilliant

God Bless,

Mindy