2009 - COURTNEY'S CHALLENGE PROVED TO BE A BIG SUCCESS!!!
We all were so proud of Courtney and her family, and how hard they worked for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation - in their walk on Saturday, September 19th. The Ellis Family, along with their Huff 'n Puff Family, had the largest walk team. Courtney and her family, along with you all, raised $3,500 for juvenile diabetes. (Courtney's goal had been $500.00.) Courtney had over 128 participants sign up for the walk and over 100 were able to make it. And the group was very noticeable due to the large number of walkers who were wearing their bright blue t-shirts.
Courtney and her family and Huff 'n Puff wish to thank each and every one of you who participated in the walk - and a very special thanks goes out to the sponsors of the t-shirt: The T-Shirt Shop (NLR); Eric Hodson State Farm Insurance; Barger's Painting; Cooper Insurance Agency; Central Arkansas Fitness Group; Ellis Family--Courtney, Sherwood, (diagnosed May 2009); Sloane Zimmerman, Mountain Home, (diagnosed May 1998); and Huff 'n Puff.
For some great Democrat Gazette photos, click on this link:
http://focus.arkansasonline.com/photos/index.php?id=2369063&page=1
Courtney's Challenge
Most of you probably know Courtney Ellis - she is thirteen-year-old Level Nine Gymnast on our Jacksonville Gymnastics Team, is a member of Jacksonville Dance Company, and is the daughter of John and Christy Ellis (Christy is Level Three-Four-Five Coach). What you may not know about Courtney is that she was discovered to have Juvenile Onset Diabetes on May 8th of this year. This came as a complete surprise to Courtney and her family, as her only symptoms were being tired and thirsty. Courtney has not let this slow her down in her gymnastics, dance or school. We are so proud of her!!!!!! Courtney is inviting you to walk with her and team gymnasts in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk for a Cure that is being held in Little Rock in an effort to not only raise awareness about diabetes but to also raise funds to help in the research of this disease. Nearly 100 of Courtney's friends and parents are walking with the Ellis Family on Saturday, September 19th at 8:00. The walk is three miles and begins at Murray Park/Big Dam Bridge (on the Little Rock side).
If you would like to register for the walk or donate, please
go to www.jdrf.org and go to walk central (where the green tennis shoe is) and click on register - then there will be a place for you to locate a walker and you can either put in Courtney Ellis or Courtney's Challenge - when you get to her team, click her name and it will give you a prompt to register for the walk and/or donate.
All walkers and any donations are sincerely appreciated. If you need more information, please leave word for Ms. Christy at the gym - 985-1818 - and she will get back with you. We need to know who else might be interested in walking as soon as possible, so Ms. Christy can get your t-shirt size. Huff 'n Puff and others are sponsoring the t-shirts and they will be blue with the green writing and we want to be sure that we have a t-shirt for each of our walkers. Think I heard Ms. Christy say that there is special recognition for the group with the most walkers. A group is meeting at Huff 'n Puff Saturday morning (earlier) and then going to Murray Park. One of the organizers sent Christy this message:
Probably the easiest way to tell you to get to Murray Park is to take I67 South, get off on the Cantrell exit and go west. You’ll turn right on Riverfront Drive (which will be past the Episcopal School, over the bridge and to the light), then follow it all the way to Murray Park . It is quite a way; so keep going! If you get there around 8 am, that will give you plenty of time to park, find your other team members and look around. There is a kid’s area, plus we’ll have vendors from different medical companies. There will be food and a band, too.
With the pretty t-shirts, our group will easily be seen. We want to thank each of you ahead of time for your assistance with this worthy, worthy cause (my own oldest granddaughter, Sloane, was diagnosed at age eight in 1998.)
Over the Big Dam Bridge
Presented by Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Mission: The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research.
When: September 19, 2009, 8:00 a.m.
Where: Murray Park/Big Dam Bridge