Blown Away by Generosity.

Recently, we gifted an Upsee to a young boy named Jacob. I had posted several times in various facebook groups about Benjamin and our foundation. One post in particular of a video of Ben in an Upsee prompted a local mom to reach out wanting to purchase one for another kid. She saw Ben’s smile and was moved by his smile and joy.

It turns out that she has a sister with Down Syndrome and would notice how meaningful people's gifts or acts were to her family growing up. She makes it a point to give back and do something good for someone regularly. 

The Upsee definitely made Jacob smile. I can't take credit for the gift - but I'm thankful that my posts were in the right spot at the right time and that this mom saw them and responded. 

Three weeks and counting … til Ben’s Bowl-A-Thon.

So I looked at the calendar today and realized that Ben’s Bowl-A-Thon is just a short 3 weeks away, creating a little bit of panic. That’s okay. We’ve been blessed with many generous companies/people in the community donating to our raffle and auction. We have a fair number of registrations so far and I imagine many will decide to come as the date gets closer. It’ll be a fun event – featuring pizza, bowling, raffles, family, friends and face-painting!

If you don’t have your registration yet, please go ahead and do so – and don’t worry about bringing a bowling team of four! We have a few individuals that have registered so will be assembling teams as needed. Here’s the link: http://cffrv.gives/bowlathon

The complete list of raffle prizes includes:

1. Synergy Kettlebell - two 3-month memberships
2. Goldfish Swim School – one month free lessons
3. Arcada concert tickets – passes for two on April 28
4. Errand Up – 10 free deliveries
5. St Charles Gymnastics Academy – 10 Open Gym Passes
6. Bent Dog Yoga – two $25 gift cards for you and a friend PLUS two Bent Dog tanks
7. Fun Republic – two day passes ($25 value)
8. Kimmers – two $10 gift cards
9. 41 North Chiropractic – new patient exam and three free sessons, plus oils and soap
10. Tranquility spa - $100 gift card
11. Epic Air – free jump passes, water bottle, value $45
12. Juice Plus Basket – courtesy of Allison Earl
13. Rodan & Fields gift bag – courtesy of Heather Tran
14. Rodan & Fields gift bag – courtesy of Misty Feiza
15. Nothing Bundt Cakes  - Bowling theme cake
16. Family Night Game Basket
17. Fishers Peanuts Gift Basket
18. St Charles Bowl Party Package
19. Starbucks Gift Basket
20. All Around Office Cleaning – two hours of residential cleaning
21. Barnwood reclaimers – barnwood art
22. Dot Dot Baby Smile by Justyna Carlson – little girl dress
23. Sarah’s Fade N flow – haircut package and products
24. Club Fusion Volleyball - $200 certificate for classes/clinic

In addition to the raffles, we also have a few generous donations for the silent auction featuring a wine tasting for 10 at Aspen Lane Winery (Aurora), family photo package from Jennifer Mock Photography, dinner cruise for four on Odyssey Cruises (Chicago), family photo package from Mode de Vie Photography and a kids karate party at National Karate (South Elgin).

Don’t hold off – go ahead and reserve your spot! Those that reserve prior to the event will get the official event t-shirt! Get your tickets here - http://cffrv.gives/bowlathon

I hope to see you there!

Elizabeth

RE-Energized for the New Year

So it’s been a few weeks (the entire holiday season!) since I’ve written a post – we had a pretty busy fall and I needed to take a break. Step back. Evaluate what we accomplished. Think about what we could improve. Identify new opportunities. And also become re-motivated and re-energized for this new year. Our primary goals are the same.

I hope to continue pushing Ben’s Toy Closet, the giving program where we gift adapted toys and switches to kids with motor impairment. I intend to expand our reach and get new toys to new kids! And have reached out to local media to promote our message and mission to help us do just that.

I hope to identify new event opportunities such as the first annual Ben’s Bowl-A-Thon coming up on March 11 at St Charles Bowl. This will be a fun family-friendly bowling event with food, raffles and prizes. You can find more information here. And if you’re able to donate a raffle prize, click here. That would be awesome and much appreciated!

I’d like to get more service groups together and get out in the community like we did with the dinner service at Ronald McDonald House. You can expect to see another one of these this spring/summer, but at the Winfield location so it’s more convenient!

I’m also working on some more exciting things for this year! And hopefully will have an announcement soon as it becomes more final.

The bottom line – I want to continue to support families with kids who are like Ben was. I want to continue to do acts of service in his name, and represent him well. I’d like to provide monetary donations to organizations that supported us in Ben’s journey. I’d like to re-engage with the community and increase volunteer involvement in our events/initiatives ... growing Ben's Team!

Thank you all for your support last year. And here's to a strong 2018!

Elizabeth G

Being Thankful

Entering this time of year is hard for me -- Once Halloween is here, life rolls on through Thanksgiving and then right into the Christmas season without even slowing down. Last year happened to be our ‘year of firsts’…the first birthday, the first Halloween, the first Thanksgiving…all without my beautiful Ben. So this year, I kind of know what to expect.

Last Thanksgiving 2016 probably hit me the hardest because it landed on the actual day that Ben came home from the NICU back in 2012. November 24. It completely knocked the wind out of me when I saw my Facebook memory “on this day” and how we were celebrating Ben’s departure from the hospital. He  was well enough and strong enough to come home to live with us on that day. I ending up writing a post about how we should all remember to be thankful for what we have – thankful that he was my son, that we had him on Earth for almost four years, thankful he brought certain people and communities into our lives.

So this year, instead of wallowing in my grief (which I could easily do every day by the way), I still find myself feeling thankful.

My two sidekicks ... may they always be as excited and enthusiastic about Ben Smiles as they are now. 

And this month has highlighted our mission of giving back, spreading positivity and giving gifts and hopefully creating some smiles along the way. We started with a dinner night at Ronald McDonald House in Chicago. Then we delivered gift bags to be distributed to kids in the hospital at Central Dupage Hospital. We participated in an Adapt a Toy event at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital. We (as a family) took sweet treats to the Pediatrics/PICU nurses/doctors on Thanksgiving.

Then the final event this month was another Adapt A Toy in partner with Kmart and Easter Seals, allowing us to give new adapted toys and switches to eight children and their families. Every event or appearance we do allows me to talk about Ben, show off his photos/beautiful smile, connect with others that are like him and share a bit about his story. Today was no different.

I met and chatted with some really wonderful parents. I connected with a couple of additional moms with special kids who just happened to be shopping at Kmart, wondering what we were doing. Some shoppers were curious about switch toys, how they work, and why they are needed. I had a man so generously hand me a few dollars as a donation, after he ate one of the free sandwiches…hey, whatever it takes! It was a really good day.  

Jack and Lola are buddies at Easter Seals. 

This sweet one Precious holds a special place in my heart as she was the first toy recipient from Ben’s Toy Closet. 

Abby with her brand new Moana doll!