NAMIWalk

Hello all!

I am writing you today to tell you about an upcoming event that I am participating in that is both very important and very exciting to me. It is NAMIWalks for the Mind of America, NAMI’s signature walkathon event that is being held in Denver, CO at Chessman Park on May 16, 2009.


As most of you know my youngest brother Quincy, has been battling his own mental illness for the last 7 years. Quincy has been in and out of hospitals (private and public), involved with the court system, and even homeless at times. I have learned from this experience that there is a need to raise awareness for mental illness in this country. Quincy deserves equal treatment and humane, quality care for his illness. I have decided to form a team, 'Carecrows, and walk in honor of Quincy.


I would like to ask you to come and walk with me or to donate to support my participation in this great event. Visit my personal walker page to sign up: http://www.nami.org/namiwalks09/DCO/sheilah. It features a link to my team's page where you can see who else is walking with me or sign up to be a walker with my team (and get a T-Shirt to walk in)! There is also a link so you can donate directly to me online. Donating online is fast and secure, and I'll get immediate notification via e-mail of your donation.


NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the largest education, support and advocacy organization that serves the needs of all those whose lives are touched by these illnesses. This includes persons with mental illness, their families, friends, employers, the law enforcement community and policy makers. The NAMI organization is composed of approximately 1100 local affiliates, 50 state offices and a national office.


The goals of the NAMIWalks program are: to fight the stigma that surrounds mental illness, to build awareness of the fact that the mental health system in this country needs to be improved, and to raise funds for NAMI so that they can continue their mission.


NAMI is a 501(c)3 charity and any donation you make to support my participation in this event is tax deductible. NAMI has been rated by Worth magazine as among the top 100 charities "most likely to save the world" and has been given an "A" rating by The American Institute of Philanthropy for efficient and effective use of charitable dollars.Thank you in advance for your support and please forward this on to anyone you think would be interested in participating.


Many Thanks,


Sheilah Crough Martinez

Quincy Crough, with his now 3 year old Koby

Fairy Godparents

I couldn't resist posting this picture from Rylie's baptism on December 21st.
Ryan and I take our titles seriously....and plan on spoiling her any chance we get.

Rylie Ashlynn Maguire, daughter of John and Bobbi
Alyssa and Ryan Shriver, children of Cindy (Crough) Shriver

Hello, Dahling......

Great-great-grandma Faye's hat
+
Great-great-grandma Irene's jewels
+
a day with Grandma Pammy
=

Serena Ocean Wilson, daughter of James & Kari

JER WILSON'S "MIRACLES AT CHRISTMAS" UPDATE

Hello All:
Just wanted to pass along an update about our 2008 Jer's Fund recipient. Over $1600.00 was collected for William Bohrer and his family—way to go, Croughs!
William is 2 years old and was diagnosed with retinoblastoma (an uncommon tumor of the eye) at birth. He has received a prosthetic eye, but continues to undergo chemotherapy and various other treatments.
Here is the thank you letter from William's mother, as well as a recent family picture.

Dear Wilsons & Family,

I would like to start off by saying thank you all so much. You have blessed us more than you know! Also, I would like to apologize for not writing sooner, but I wanted to make sure to send a family picture. Since we have found out about William’s cancer so many people have helped us and I feel like I can’t say thank you enough.

It’s almost been a year since we found out and they removed the cancer. After they removed the eye we thought that everything would be over. Unfortunately they found that the tumor was so far advanced that there was a chance the cancer may have spread. Needless to say, chemo treatment was the next step. He had four rounds of treatment—his last one was July 1st. He did great through the treatment; the only effect it had on him was hair loss. You would never tell by looking at him now that he has been through so much. He hasn’t slowed down one bit through everything. Honestly, I don’t think I would have made it through this if it wasn’t for his little spirit. Which sounds backwards, but he kept smiling which kept us smiling.

My husband joined the Army in June and things are finally looking up for us. We are finally settled in Virginia as a family. They have fantastic medical and doctors that are familiar with William’s treatments and are setting up home health to come and check on William and flush his port so that we don’t have to go anywhere, seeing as we only have one vehicle. We have been so blessed to have everybody through all of this. It’s amazing and unbelievable how people come out of nowhere and bless you for the rest of your life.

You all are amazing and what your family is doing is more of a blessing than you will ever imagine. Thank you again and again and again. You made our holidays better than we could have dreamed of!

Bless you all, The Bohrers