Did you know that we support inpatient pediatric cancer families at CHOP by providing them with nutritious meals via the Ronald McDonald House Family Oncology Room? Well, it's true! We've feed 250 families in the past four weeks! When Amy Martin, Student Council Advisor at West Broad Street Elementary School asked us how their "Hat Day" fundraiser could do the most good, we responded with let's feed cancer families at CHOP! January 29th, the West Broad Street Bears paid $1 to wear hats to school. They collected enough money for us to provide breakfast to 100 families. We're already on the schedule for a hot lunch from Chick-fil-A, Lansdale in March and now we will add two catered breakfasts as well. Well done, Bears! Thank you for supporting our efforts to make a difference in the lives of kids (and their families) with cancer!
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So, on February 4, 2004, we walked out of the second opinion appointment with the understanding the Peter had just two months left to live. We had his first birthday pictures taken and we headed home to give him his birthday present. Dennis and I purchased a small Little Tikes play set with a swing, climber and slide. Through tears we tried to assemble it but we couldn’t. My brother-in-law put it together for us and Peter quickly climbed in. In the next days we moved quickly to plan his funeral, burial and birthday party. Burial plots were available for the three of us at Franconia Mennonite Church, my grandparents were buried there and it was close to home so we’d be able to visit there often. Dennis was in contact with Williams-Bergey-Koffel Funeral Home, they are next to the church and oddly enough I had to drive past both of them to order and pick-up his birthday cake at the Family Heritage Bakery. February 7th we held his first birthday party at our home. Everyone knew it was the only party we thought he’d have. There were rules. Number one - no one could cry on the first floor, we were celebrating his life and there would be other days for tears. Crying stations were set-up on the second floor and on the front porch. Number two – do NOT sing happy birthday, we know that would be too painful. Millie Figueroa Photography spent the day documenting the party for us. She made an amazing video and took hundreds of beautiful pictures. We had the support of a loving family and many friends that day. Peter had so much fun and the rest of us survived. It seems impossible now that our sick baby will celebrate his thirteenth birthday tomorrow morning at 9:00am. From what I understand teenagers can drive you crazy, there’s a whole new set of cares and worries, I’ll take it! I’m beyond grateful for the cares and worries. We’ve journeyed so long and so far to get to this point. We been told the unimaginable, we’ve witnessed fourteen surgeries and two code-blues. I held him through fifty-one blood transfusions and picked out his funeral clothes, every weekend for months, while doing his laundry. Sadly, Peter has attended the funerals of his friends. He knows many people that would give all that they own for one more day with their child and none of us take that lightly. Childhood cancer is ugly; no one should know how this feels! Please say a pray tonight for all of the families that face it’s harsh realities each day. Pray for a cure, pray for an end to the suffering, and pray that Peter through his Peter Powerhouse Foundation will be able to carryout his mission to improve the lives of kids with cancer and to bring comfort to childhood cancer families. Please view Peter’s video, listen to his inspiring story and join his virtual birthday party with a donation of $13 or more. Thank you for your support! Peter’s first birthday was one for the history books. We traveled that morning for a second opinion that our oncologist had arranged. We certainly weren’t getting any glowing reports or treatment opportunities where we were so we figured, why not? It was his first birthday, right? I’m sure God’s plan includes a birthday miracle for our little boy, we had, after all, waited so long to become parents. A terminal diagnosis can’t be part of the plan. Dennis’ sister, Sandy, joined us to be an extra set of ears. We had two appointments scheduled for that day and we were a little apprehensive when both doctors walked into the exam room together. How efficient I thought or is it? Turns out that they had nothing to offer Peter and they combined the appointments so we wouldn’t have to hear the painful news twice. “There are no life-saving treatment options available for your son, in fact he has two-months to live.” “Take him home and enjoy the time you have left.” What a devastating moment in time! We all heard more than we could handle, February 4, 2004 was the day that I cried more than I had ever cried in my life, more than the day of diagnosis and more than all of the difficult days and nights leading up to it. We collected Peter and ourselves and drove to the King of Prussia Mall. We parked the car and headed to the Picture People. We were in search of his first and only birthday photos. Dennis and I were barely able to force a smile but Peter smiled, laughed, and charmed in his little blue hat and big brown eyes. When the photographer said she had all of the photos, Dennis, in tears, swept Peter into his arms and left the room. The poor photographer had no idea what was going on and looked at me bewildered. I shared our morning news with her and she walked, crying and speechless from the room. The manager had the entire photo-shoot developed for us and we left the mall with the saddest set of first birthday photos you’ve ever laid eyes on. Please take a moment to view Peter’s virtual birthday party video, below, and join the celebration by donating $13 or more to the Peter Powerhouse Foundation, so he can continue to improve the lives of kids with cancer. Thank you! In late October we received the following message on our website: I am very pleased to let you know that Peter has been selected as one of Healthy NewsWorks' health leaders for our fifth student-written and -illustrated book, Leading Healthy Change In Our Communities, which will be published next spring. We would like to schedule a time when our student reporters can interview him about his book and other efforts to help children. Today we traveled to the Gotwals Elementary School in Norristown PA, we met Mrs Katie Ogoussan, a third grade teacher and her delightful student reporters. The children had spent much time preparing questions about Peter's journey with cancer, his foundation and his future plans and dreams. Marian Uhlman, Director of Healthy NewsWorks was present for the interview and we learned that Peter is the youngest "change maker" to be chosen for inclusion in the book. It will be published in the spring and their will be a book signing that will include the health leaders and the student journalists. We're looking forward to reading the finished story and, perhaps, visiting this classroom again someday to talk further.
Today is Veteran’s Day - a holiday dedicated to the cause of world peace and originally celebrated and known as "Armistice Day." Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II and the war in Korea, Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting in its place the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
The flag pictured above was flown on Christmas Day 2003; it flew during a combat mission in Afghanistan. My brother was one of the pilots. He mailed the flag and certificate to my father along with a brief letter. He acknowledges to Pop that he’s not home with his family for Christmas, that Peter is ill and that we are in his prayers. Battles were being fought everywhere that year. All the way around the world our brave servicemen and women were facing the battles of military conflict. In Ohio my sister-in-law was facing Christmas with three young girls and no husband. In Delaware Dennis and I were sleeping on a small bed in Peter’s room, he was diagnosed the day before, news we had not yet shared with our families. In Pennsylvania my parents were celebrating with just three of their five children. I’m sure their hearts were heavy with concern. My father died from cancer in May 2009, prior to his death he went into his room and brought out the flag. He handed me the letter and said, “This belongs to Peter, he fought his own battle that day.” We both cried. I reflect, flag in hand, each Veteran’s Day and share my thoughts and feeling about the many battles that took place during those days with Peter. I can’t help but feel heartache and pride for all the families that celebrated without loved ones because they were protecting the liberty of our country or some other, I am deeply moved that a man would lay down his life for another. I have unwavering pride in the American soldier. Thank you for your service, Colonel Freed, and for the many years that your wife and daughters bravely served. Happy Veteran’s Day! Today we learned that we are the recipients of the Joy Maker Challenge!
The Joy Maker Challenge is a meaningful, hands-on service project for kids. It runs during the holiday season (Nov 23 – Dec 23). Sponsored by generationOn with generous support from Hasbro, the month-long challenge doubles the impact of kids and teens engaged in service by donating a Hasbro toy or game to Toys for Tots for each act of service completed. Ambassadors are required to host a service project at which the toys can be donated and are called upon to spread the word about the campaign in order to get more kids and teens engaged. We have been selected to receive 100 toys to donate locally; our toys will be shared between the cancer kids at CHOP and AI duPont! We’d like to host a drive to collect additional toys. The more children involved and the more toys we collect the more toys Hasbro will donate to Toys for Tots. It’s a win-win. If your youth group, school or scout group is looking for a holiday service project please contact us at dawn@peterpowerhouse.org or 215-421-0764. We can make Christmas bright for cancer kids and support Toys For Tots at the same time! Stay tuned for donation sites and ways to support this project. Let's spread some joy!! Peter Powerhouse is growing so rapidly and as I work through different scenarios about how and when to grow, hiring help, utilizing interns, and where do I house these talented people? I find myself falling behind in my blog posts. Tonight was special for Peter and I on many levels so I wanted to post before the moment faded.
We just returned home from a lovely evening with the Special Education Club at Gwynedd Mercy University, they had a generous check to present to The Peter Powerhouse Foundation. Two years ago at their 5K Walk/Run they presented Peter with the first Alex Valeno Hero Award. Peter blow a canned horn to signal the start of the run and then dropped the can and ran the race. Afterward they had some nice things to say about him and some nice gifts for a very inspiring little boy who had been an amputee for less than a year, and just ran their 5K on arm-cuff crutches. That was when we had our first introduction to Alex Valeno, a brave young women with an engaging smile and an infectious zest for learning, teaching, 5K races and life. We didn’t get to meet Alex that day, we met her parents and other education majors that had loved her, sadly, Alex was taken from this world, before she would grace her own classroom, by a congenital heart condition. We returned to Gwynedd for the Alex Valeno Run in April, this time Peter’s foundation was honored to be sharing in the proceeds from the event. We ran, walked and wheel chaired (if that’s a word) through the beautiful course and listened to the kind words that were once again shared about Alex. Tonight I had the opportunity to share a bit about our journey with childhood cancer, some of the highs and lows. Hard things like, just how close we’ve come to saying good-bye to Peter. I was able to address Mrs. Valeno briefly, I’m always struck by the fortitude that it takes to survive the single greatest loss known to man, the loss of a child. I’m grateful that she is willing to share Alex’s life each April during the race named for her daughter and on evenings like this, it is her great love that allows Alex’s life to continue to be a miracle to so many. We at the Peter Powerhouse foundation don’t take miracles lightly, nor do we take lightly the generosity of those that support our mission. Thank you to the students, faculty, and advisors of the Gwynedd Mercy Special Education Club and the Family of Alex Valeno for entrusting us with your generous gift. “Where there is great love, there are always miracles.” ― Willa Cather I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with ZogSports; it's a new organization on my radar. About a week ago we received this message on our Facebook page:
Hey Peter Powerhouse! Our ZogSportsPHL Kickball team chose your organization as the recipient of their charity check for winning the kickball league championship! Donation headed your way! Check them out - ZogSports is the nation's largest charity-focused, co-ed social sports league for young professionals. ZogSports was founded by Robert Herzog in 2002, after his close call on 9/11. Founded on the principles of Sports, Social and Charity, ZogSports has brought together hundreds of thousands of young professionals in New York City, New Jersey, DC, Atlanta, Los Angeles and San Francisco and now, Philadelphia! Every week in Philly, participants get together to play organized sports and hang out at post-game happy hours. The best part is, every team plays for charity! Through ZogSports' sister organization, Play For Your CauseTM, we've donated over $2.5MM to charities selected by winning teams. This season, the winner of our summer kickball league has chosen the Peter Powerhouse foundation as the recipient of their charity check. ZogSports Philly is proud to support Peter and his selfless mission to improve the lives of others. Thank you to ZogSports and the kickball team that helped us to kick childhood cancer in the butt! We are delighted to share that the Peter Powerhouse Foundation will now be supporting the Oncology Family Room at CHOP! This is a great way for us to be involved at the facility level providing food, beverages, miscellaneous items and much needed meals for the inpatient families of cancers youngest heroes.
You can support this endeavor by donating Family Room Wish List items during the Powerhouse Putt on September 19th. We will have a collection station during both the elementary and middle school putt. We will now collect monetary donations at each blood drive with all proceeds used to provided meals to inpatient cancer families. Your next blood drive opportunities are September 24th and December 28th. Don't have your children registered for The Putt? What are you waiting for? Details are on our FB page events tab. Register now for the next blood drive at www.redcrossblood.org and use the code Peter Powerhouse to find our drive. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. What are you doing to improve the lives of kids with cancer? |