Cystic Fibrosis Walk 2019

On Sunday, May 19, 2019 we participated in our 12th annual Great Strides walk to benefit Cystic Fibrosis research, in San Jose. The walk is put on by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ("CFF") - but most of my donors make a contribution to the Tara K. Telford fund for Cystic Fibrosis Research at UC Davis.

We walk in memory of my friend, Tara. She was amazing - positive, and fun, and strong - and she passed away in November 2017 from CF. I guarantee that if you knew her, you'd want to walk in her memory too.

Thank you to everyone that donated this year. This year there were 12 donations to CFF and 11 to Tara's fund at UC Davis. Here is a list of donors, along with the "honor roll of donors."

http://someonechristina.blogspot.com/2019/01/thank-you-for-your-cf-donation-2019.html

Before the walk - we lucked out with the weather - it stopped raining as we were driving there, and started raining when we got in the car to leave.

The kids having fun playing hand games before the walk

Almost every year, we see baby ducks

And almost every year, Thomas wants to get close to the baby ducks

And Thomas wants to explore by the water

Two sweet kids walking with their mom for a cause she believes in

Thomas really liked this bird with the red head and white hair

Thomas wanted to get close to the bird, but when it started coming towards him, he bolted

Sweet treat for the end of the walk

I'm turning 40!

I am turning 40 years old in a couple of weeks. I'm not coy or embarrassed about it. I'm grateful for it. I'm grateful for my 40 years which have been full of amazing friends, incredible adventures, loving family, meaningful life lessons, and tons of fun. Sure, there's been some crummy stuff thrown in there too - disappointment, frustration and sadness - but I choose to look at the big picture. I'm 40! And I'm healthy and have healthy kids and am happy to be alive!

A lot of people have asked me how I want to celebrate this milestone birthday. You may have, in fact, been one of those people. In celebration of life, I'd like to donate blood, and possibly save 3 lives. And I'd like you to consider doing it too.

I was in the habit of donating every few months, but because of our India trip I had to pause for the past year. I'm ready to do it again and this seems like the perfect occasion!

If you haven't done it before, it's really not as bad as it sounds. It takes a little over an hour and, to me, the finger prick (to check iron levels) is much worse than the blood donation itself. You lay in a chair, the American Red Cross staff is friendly and reassuring, and once you've given your bag of blood, you get cookies and juice. You also get the knowledge that you have helped someone you don't even know, so that they can live. And some day, you may need blood yourself.

Here's my goal .... I'd love it if 40 of you donated blood! Send me a picture, text me, post to one of my social media accounts ... let's see if we can get 40 blood donations!

If you're local, I'd be happy to go with you. I know that some of you can't donate - because of health or travel issues - so encourage one of your friends or family to do it in your place. If you have the Blood Donor app you can even see your "blood journey" and see where it ends up being used.

Below is a message I got about blood donation just yesterday. To donate, you can go to: https://www.redcross.org/give-blood.html

Thanks, in advance, for helping me celebrate 40 years of living!!

Annual Fundraising for CF Research - 2019

Hello friends and family!

This is my 12th year raising money to help find a cure for cystic fibrosis. I do this in memory of my friend, Tara, who passed away on November 18, 2017. 

Tara was full of positivity, throughout her life - throughout her illnesses, hospital stays, medications, pain and discomfort. She made the world feel a little brighter - a little more full of hope. When really great things happen in my day, I feel her presence. It's her reminder that life is precious - life is short - and everything is going to be OK ... have hope.

Thank you for those that have made generous donations in the past! None of you have ever met Tara. But she knew about you. She appreciated that my friends, who didn't know her, wanted to help her. She appreciated that you cared about her.

Today I am asking for:

1) Please consider making a donation to the Tara K Telford Graduate Student Award for Cystic Fibrosis Research at UC Davis (this is where I donate every year). You can do this online from the following link. Please let me know that you have donated to this fund so I can properly thank you. I will not receive a notification that you donated.      

https://give.ucdavis.edu/GRAD/150006

                     or        Consider donating to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation through our Great Strides walk (my 12th year participating - will take place in San Jose on May 19) using this link (I will get a notification). You can also sign up to walk with us from this link. It would be great to have some company this year.   

http://fightcf.cff.org/site/TR/GreatStrides/98_Northern_California_San_Francisco?px=1388364&pg=personal&fr_id=7188

2) Become an organ donor. Become a blood donor. Save a life. Who knows .... it could be yours one day.

3) If you are healthy, and I hope you are, make good choices about your body. We owe it to those who can't control their health to appreciate ours.

4) LIVE, LOVE, ENJOY life, LAUGH, SMILE and be KIND.

This is an update that Tara wrote two years ago. I think it makes sense to share it again.

To say we had a challenging year in this household could be an understatement.  It started off with so much hope as I got the call for my double lung transplant on January 1, 2016. What was supposed to be a 2-3 week recovery turned into months of hard work and uncertainty. I survived 5 months on life support followed by battles of viruses, lung infections, lung rejection, heart failure and now kidney failure. By my side through it all has been my family.

My donor’s name was Becky. She was 29 years old and she had an 8 year old daughter. Without her family’s selfless gift I wouldn’t be here writing to you today. Becky and her family will forever be my heroes as they saved my life this last year. 

Cystic Fibrosis still affects many parts of my body, but I am breathing clear, free of CF in my lungs. Professor Kurth and his team at UC Davis are still providing important research for Cystic Fibrosis. With your help they can continue this important research year after year.  Please consider making a donation so they can continue to fight CF. 

Thank you to all of my donors - and especially to my "Honor Roll of Donors."

11 years			Vivian Hui
	Erin Haley		Gina Piper
10 years			Marilyn Perry
	Corey McIntyre		Annie Chang
	Julie and Joe Pierron		Michelle and Fran Coen
	Joy and Jared Goor	6 years
9 years			Kristin Perkins
	Jean Kelley		Loy and Marge Hayes
	Bill and Sharon McKee		Rick Long
	Hassan Mahmoud		Raul Tiansay
8 years			John and Janine Loconsolo
	Ryan Long	5 years
7 years			Becky and Cordell Baanhofman
	Bhaskar and Veera Mantha		Michelle Nystrom
	Lauren and Tom Mensch		Aruna Paritala
	Audrey and Bryan Gillette

A list of this year's donors can be found here (thanks to Hassan for already donating):

https://someonechristina.blogspot.com/2019/01/thank-you-for-your-cf-donation-2019.html

What is CF? 

Cystic Fibrosis is a hereditary disorder that causes the production of abnormally thick mucous that leads to blockage and severe infection of the lungs. It also affects the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down food and absorb vital nutrients. In the 1950s, children with CF rarely lived long enough to attend elementary school. Today, because of advances in research and care the median predicted age of survival is about 40.

• More than 30,000 people are living with cystic fibrosis (70,000 worldwide).
• CF causes persistent lung infections and complications to other organs.
• Some people with CF say it feels like breathing through a straw.
• About one in every 30 Americans are symptomless carriers of the defective CF gene.

THANK YOU for your continued support and donations! After the walk I'll send our donors some pictures of us walking, thanks to your support. 

Christina

Post with list of last year's donors

https://someonechristina.blogspot.com/2018/03/thank-you-for-your-cf-donation-2018.html

Post from last year's walk

https://someonechristina.blogspot.com/2018/06/cystic-fibrosis-walk-2018.html

More information about CF

https://www.cff.org/What-is-CF/About-Cystic-Fibrosis/

Thank you for your CF donation - 2019

Thank you to the following individuals for making donations in 2019 (our 12th year of fundraising) to either the Tara K Telford Graduate Student Award at UC Davis or the Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides event. Your generosity is appreciated!

If you make a donation to Tara's fund (and I hope you do - that is where I donate every year), please let me know so I can properly thank you - I won't get a notification.

CFF = Cystic Fibrosis Foundation donation

UCD = Tara K. Telford Graduate Student Award at UC Davis donation

1. Hassan Mahmoud - UCD
2. Pam Ott - UCD
3. Ryan Long - CFF
4. Michelle Ford and Fran Coen - CFF
5. Maureen Doherty - CFF
6. Alex Breen and Shelby Ferrari - UCD
7. Michael Kan - CFF
8. Shannon DeCola - CFF
9. Annie Chang - CFF
10. Erin Haley - CFF - 12 years of donations!!!
11. Julie and Joe Pierron - 11 years of donations!!
12. Joy and Jared Goor - 11 years of donations!!
13. Maria Lim - CFF
14. Manal Assal - CFF
15. Michelle Nystrom - UCD
16. Marilyn Perry - UCD
17. Loy and Marge Hayes - UCD
18. Bill and Sharon McKee - UCD
19. Gloria Nystrom - UCD
20. Clara Gu - UCD
21. Gina Piper - CFF
22. Barbara Steinfeld - UCD
23. Christine Butler - CFF
24. John and Janine Loconsolo - UCD

Honor Roll of Donors - updated on 8/8/2019

12 years Lauren and Tom Mensch Erin Haley Vivian Hui 11 years Loy and Marge Hayes Julie and Joe Pierron Annie Chang Joy and Jared Goor Audrey and Bryan Gillette 10 years 6 years Corey McIntyre Kristin Perkins Bill and Sharon McKee Rick Long 9 years Raul Tiansay Jean Kelley Michelle Nystrom Hassan Mahmoud 5 years Ryan Long Becky and Cordell Baanhofman 8 years Aruna Paritala Michelle and Fran Coen Shannon DeCola Annie Chang Christine Butler Marilyn Perry Gina Piper 7 years Bhaskar and Veera Mantha John and Janine Loconsolo

Cystic Fibrosis Walk 2018

On Sunday, May 6, 2018 we participated in our 11th annual Great Strides walk to benefit Cystic Fibrosis research, in San Jose. The walk is put on by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ("CFF") - but most of my donors make a contribution to the Tara K. Telford fund for Cystic Fibrosis Research at UC Davis.

We walk because of my friend, Tara. Every other year, I have said we walk in "honor" of her. But this year, we walked in "memory" of her. She was amazing - positive, and fun, and strong - and she passed away in November 2017. She had a double lung transplant in January 2016 and she fought hard - to stay alive, make memories with her family, bring others up, and enjoy the life she had. I guarantee that if you knew her, you'd want to walk in her memory too.

This year the CFF asked me to participate in an interview before the walk. I talked about Tara, how she inspired me to make good choices and how she lived life to the fullest. I'll let you know once the interview is online.

Thank you to everyone that donated this year. This year there were 14 donations to CFF and 11 to Tara's fund at UC Davis. Here is a list of donors, along with the "honor roll of donors."

http://someonechristina.blogspot.com/2018/03/thank-you-for-your-cf-donation-2018.html

This was before the walk - after we were interviewed. We were wearing our "Think Pink Lungs #TeamTelford" shirts, which were made when Tara was on the waiting list for a lung transplant.

A big highlight were the cookies and snacks available before the walk.

Like every other year, I made a sign with our team name "Friends of Tara" and put the names of all of the "honor roll donors" on it. Erin Haley (whom I went to Georgetown with) has donated EVERY year that I have raised money - she's a rock star!

Here are Ashley and Thomas leading the pack - holding our sign to represent why we were there.

We saw some interesting insects along the way. :-)

We did it - another successful year of fundraising for cystic fibrosis research. We'd love to have some company on the walk next year ... hint, hint. :-)

Thank you for your CF donation - 2018

Thank you to the following individuals for making donations in 2018 to either the Tara K Telford Graduate Student Award at UC Davis or the Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides event. Your generosity is appreciated!

If you make a donation to Tara's fund (and I hope you do - that is where I donate every year), please let me know so I can properly thank you - I won't get a notification.

CFF = Cystic Fibrosis Foundation donation

UCD = Tara K. Telford Graduate Student Award at UC Davis donation

1. Christine McKee Deelo - UCD
2. Ryan Long - CFF
3. Betsy McClellan - CFF
4. Michelle Nystrom - CFF
5. Corey McIntyre - CFF
6. Shannon deCola - CFF ** she donated twice this year!!
7. Jennifer Bell - UCD
8. Molly Obert - CFF
9. Pamela Ott - UCD
10. Vivian Hui - CFF
11. Dana and David Ritter - UCD
12. Marilyn Perry - UCD
13. Annie Chang - CFF
14. Michael Kan - CFF
15. John and Janine Loconsolo - UCD
16. Manal Assal - CFF
17. Michelle and Fran Coen - UCD
18. Aruna Paritala - CFF
19. Alex and Shelby Breen - UCD
20. Hassan Mahmoud - UCD
21. Julie and Joe Pierron - CFF
22. Joy and Jared Goor - UCD
23. Christine Butler - CFF
24. Erin Haley - CFF - 11th year of donating (!!)
25. Louise McGeown - UCD

Honor Roll of Donors - updated on 5/4/2018

11 years			Vivian Hui
	Erin Haley		Gina Piper
10 years			Marilyn Perry
	Corey McIntyre		Annie Chang
	Julie and Joe Pierron		Michelle and Fran Coen
	Joy and Jared Goor	6 years
9 years			Kristin Perkins
	Jean Kelley		Loy and Marge Hayes
	Bill and Sharon McKee		Rick Long
8 years			Raul Tiansay
	Ryan Long		John and Janine Loconsolo
	Hassan Mahmoud	5 years
7 years			Becky and Cordell Baanhofman
	Bhaskar and Veera Mantha		Michelle Nystrom
	Lauren and Tom Mensch		Aruna Paritala
	Audrey and Bryan Gillette