Seattle Brain Cancer Walk 2011

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead, Anthropologist

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who helped make the SBCW a reality.  That includes our friends who sponsored us, donated gifts for patients and survivors, joined our friend Karen's team- Worthy of Hope, or gave us moral support to 'just keep at it'. 

We're just so proud of how it turned out.  Ten months of planning went into a four-hour event.  It's like a wedding..plan, plan, plan - *POOF* All done!

We are thrilled that the Walkers have raised $465,000, so far.  And with a matching pledge, that number is doubled to $930,000!  We hope to reach $1M by the end of the year.  That would be as much as we raised in the first three years, combined! 

We walk in memory of John Norsworthy.
This year 2,000 people joined the walk and 83 of them were Patients and Survivors.

Nan and Anner - Patient/Survivor Area Co-Chairs
Nan brought the beautiful flowers on the background - giving our area some festive cheer.

Nan and I worked together all year to design the Patient/Survivor Area. 
It's a place where all the Patients are invited to be pampered. 
Our goal is that every Patient feels like King or Queen for a day.

If you're gonna cure cancer, you've gotta get up early in the morning!  My friends know just what kind of commitment that is for me.  Nan picked me up at 5:40 and we arrived at Seattle Center before the sun rose.  Here, the balloon arch for the Patient Area is being unloaded.  We think our arch was hands down the coolest, ever!

This is Arden and she's the coordinator for the event.  This was her first year with the SBCW and she did a tremendous amount of work...all with her trademark smile and cheery disposition.

Our really cool arch in place.  LOVE IT!

(HEY! put down that candy...it's for the patients!)
Our friend Howie who juuust moved to town asked repeatedly, "how can I help...just tell me...I'll be there."  I didn't realize she was serious until the week of the walk when she asked "when am I supposed to arrive?"  I asked her to attend a 1-hour orientation the next day and just like that she was there. How great is that?

She welcomed the Patients and showed them all about the stuff we had for them.   

Here are just four of our volunteers from Northwestern Mutual Financial. Nearly everyone at NWMF volunteers at the Walk. 
They do it with incredible enthusiasm and expertise.  

This is Dana.  She saw my name and number on a poster and called me up out of the blue a few weeks ago and, like Howie, said "when and where...I'm helping!"  Another driven volunteer.  This kind of passion and commitment shows on Walk Day.

These two pictures are the Tent of Honor where we pay tribute to everyone we walk for.  You'll see a bunch of little tiny paper cranes; the colorful stripes on the sides of the tent.  Volunteers spent MONTHS folding 15 THOUSAND cranes.  The tent was breathtaking. 
The picture below includes the tribute to our friend John, Karen's husband.

Say "hello" to the Worthy of Hope Team. 

We had some of the best accessories on the walk.  Note the earrings with John's picture on them. (Thanks Evie!). You could tell where we had been because of the trail of purple feathers we left in our wake.  Sometime you need a trail in case you need to find your way back to the Food and Beverage Area...or the Stage...or the Bathroom. 



Just follow the Purple Feather Trail!

Aaron and I had these vases commissioned. 
The walk was near the Space Needle so that's how we picked that picture.     

Every one of the 2,000 people who walked on Saturday has a story.  I don't know these folks, but if you look at the sign you'll see they are walking in memory of a family member that passed away the week of the walk. 

We walked around the fountain at Seattle Center. 
We picked this venue because it's accessible to everyone.

This man rode in his wheel chair through the walk, but when they got to the finish line he crossed it under his own power. The entire walk stopped behind him and the crowd parted like a sea.  It was apparent that it was a huge personal triumph to take those steps. 
The crowd cheered...and then passed the hankys.  
That will be what I remember most from this walk. 
I talked to him later in the day.  He said that "every day is a gift" and that "we need a cure". 

Here's another fabulous volunteer welcoming a family to the Patient Survivor Area.

As part of our mission to make all Patients feel like king or queen for a day, we collected 102 donated "experiences".  Things like tickets to ball games, movies, dinner, theater, cruises, timeshare, hotel stays...you name it; we had it. 
It's kind of like Make-a-Wish for grown-ups.  The Patients get to pick one thing that they want to do and just like that it's theirs.

We also gave away professional photographs that we took on walk day.  We had special gourmet snacks and even chair massages.  It's so, SO much fun to be in the Patient Area.

Here's someone picking out an experience to take home.

Then all they have to do is have their name on the registration list and sign for their experiences.  They also had the chance to take free tickets to the Seattle Philharmonic or sign up for a cruise.

Happy customers!  This lady was psyched because it was free entry into the Chris Elliott Fund Golf Tourney.  She loves golf and this tournament supports brain cancer services.

Now what?  Well, we take a short break before planning our "thank you event" and then hunker down for another year of planning.  Or maybe they'll just go ahead and cure cancer in the meantime.  We can hope!  :)

Want more information about the Walk? Check out Facebook or the Seattle Brain Cancer Website.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/braincancer

http://www.braincancerwalk.org/