Jerod and I went on a mission trip this weekend to Camp Wilderness. We helped with a lot of different projects, ate way too much food, and experienced great fellowship with our church friends and their kids. I power washed until I was sore … and Jerod cut down a few trees … just to name a couple projects. We may have missed a lot of the Labor Day weekend festivities, but I feel like we couldn’t have been in a better place this weekend.
Did you know one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime? And one in three women, and one in two men will be diagnosed with some type of cancer. Yesterday morning was the 3rd annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer kick-off breakfast in Kansas City. The American Cancer Society holds a huge breakfast for all of those interested in forming a team for the 5k Strides walk in October. If you’re passionate about breast cancer, you can get involved in this walk in Kansas City or in many other cities across the U.S. makingstrideskansascity.org.
This weekend Jerod and I went on a mission trip to Joplin, Mo. to help with tornado cleanup. I hope these photos give you a glimpse of what a tornado can do. I have seen so many tornado destruction pictures in my lifetime, but none of them prepared me for how it looked in person. I know these photos don’t even begin to show the trauma these people went through. Yet talking to the Joplin residents, it’s amazing to see how resilient and grateful they all are. The rest of my photos are posted on facebook.
Yesterday I helped out with a photography project for the upcoming Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event in Kansas City. One of my coworkers brought her adorable daughters to work for a mini photo shoot. I pray that my job at the American Cancer Society will eventually lead us to a world where these girls will never have to worry about cancer.
I’m so proud of my Relay For Life team – almost everyone stayed from 7 p.m. Friday evening to 7 a.m. Saturday morning, taking turns walking the track and helping with fundraisers to fight back against cancer. If my calculations are correct, our team raised $4806 – just shy of our $5000 goal! (If you’d still like to support us with a donation, please visit http://main.acsevents.org/goto/dukes.) From the extreme heat; to the touching survivor lap; to ice cream, water balloons, s’mores, glow bracelets, and more; we definitely had an eventful night!
Just one week from today is Relay For Life, so you may see several Relay-related posts in the next few days. I have to show off this beautiful purple ribbon quilt that Jerod’s grandma hand-stitched just for Relay. It’s going to be one of the featured items in the live auction. If you want to bid on it, come out to Relay For Life of the Northland (Gladstone, MO) at Oak Park High School around 8 p.m. 😉
Yesterday we celebrated the kick-off to Plant It Pink in my office – an American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network initiative for people to join ACS CAN and order pink tulip bulbs. ACS CAN is the Society’s sister advocacy organization, and if you join you get the opportunity to email (or call, or visit) your government officials to advocate for more cancer research funding, smoke-free laws, etc. Not surprisingly, the media was about 30 minutes late to the event, so they got some lovely shots of our display table.
I definitely had a full weekend. On Friday my mom and I ran a Relay For Life garage sale, which was a big success! We raised $375 in one day, thanks to several families’ donated items. On Saturday Jerod and I ran the Run For Mercy 10k, which is a fundraiser to improve the lives of South African children affected by HIV/AIDS. Jerod was nice enough to stay with me all 6.4 miles, and we beat our hour goal with a time of 59:19. On Sunday we participated in our church-wide Faith in Action volunteer weekend. We helped repair a fence and clean up shrubs around it. Needless to say, I’m tired! But no time to rest – back to work tomorrow.
My aunt Jill passed away from pancreatic cancer last July. So when my family heard about the first pancreatic cancer PurpleStride 5k in Kansas City, we jumped on board. We ran, walked, raised money, and volunteered at the event. It was a huge success, drawing 1100 participants and raising over $97,000! This photo is what it’s all about – the survivors. Out of 1100 people, there were only eight survivors. Eight. There have been almost no advancements in pancreatic cancer in the last 40 years, and the five-year survival rate is only 4%. Hopefully with passionate people like those we celebrated with Saturday morning, those numbers will start to change.
Canon 60d
1/400 sec., f/4.0, ISO 200
18-200 mm lens (28 mm), natural light
Yesterday Jerod and I helped out with Habitat for Humanity. We started out a little lost and confused, but after several hours of measuring, cutting, nailing, bending over and reaching up, we’d helped put up studs for several walls in the basement. There were quite a few guys sheeting the roof too. It’s so great to see how far you can come with lots of volunteers and a day’s hard work.
1/750, F16, ISO 200
18-55 mm lens (18 mm), no flash fired
Photographic Rhodes 