Happy Holidays

This is my friend Deborah. She is 12 years old and has a

wonderful spirit. She reminds me a lot of Kelly.

As Christmas approaches it makes us thankful for family and friends. Families of children who have extended illnesses are not always able to spend the holidays with their families. I have been fortunate enough to become a part of many of their extended families.

John and I will be staying in Austin this year and plan on spending Christmas hanging out in the activity room.

We hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday and remember to be thankful for those around you

This week in the playroom we are creating Halloween and fall crafts. We plan to make hand print bats, footprint ghosts, and some yummy Halloween treats. The members of Garrett's Kidstrong will be coming on Halloween to help us make haunted gingerbread houses. Many of the kids have been here for extended stays this time and are looking forward to creating some great artwork. It gives me a great feeling when the kids come in and have fun with us here in the Kelly's Team activity room. Kelly would be so proud of us for all that we are doing.

October Activities Update

Well, after being gone from the playroom for a couple of weeks it is sure good to be back.

October is going to be a busy month. We are participating in several events this month. The LAF Livestrong Challenge, The Hungry Bunch Halloween Party, and the annual Light the Night Event.

Kelly's Team plans to have a booth at the Livestrong Village livestrong.org on October 12 - 14th. Please come by our booth and say hello.

We always have a great time at the annual Hungry Bunch Halloween party. It is usually held at a local hotel. We sponsor the costume contest and give prizes for the scariest, most original, and the funniest costumes. It gives the kids who are no longer on treatment a chance to see and talk to their friends who are still on active treatment. They always have fun.

Light The Night lightthenight.org is an annual Leukemia and Lymphoma Society event to raise funds for cures. It’s the nation’s night to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of patients and their families. Kelly's Team will participate in an inpatient event. We plan to have a pizza party, VIP photos, and crafts. We hope to give all of the patients who are in the hospital a chance to be a part of this great event. We will make signs and have glow sticks to hold up for the walkers to see as they pass the hospital.

Lance Armstrong vists our Activity Room

Lance Armstrong got the chance to see our activity room at Dell Children's Medical Center yesterday. The kids were so excited. After all he had a big part in our foundation being able to sponsor the room.

As he and I stood their watching the kids play, we both had to smile and think that this would be Kelly's dream come true. Kelly's main goal throughout her cancer journey was to just be a kid and have as much fun as possible.

It meant so much to John and I that Lance could see Kelly's vision become a reality. After all he was one of her best buds.

The Dell Children's Medical Center has been open for about a month now. We have already had some great fun in The Kelly's Team Activity Room. Last month we hosted Christmas in July. The children and families had a great time. Santa and his helpers came and gave gifts. We even filled the playroom with bubbles.

We are still hosting our monthly family dinner which we have been doing for several years now. Austin Java will be our dinner sponsor for September's dinner. If you know of a local establishment that would like to get involved with our dinner program please contact our coordinator Liz Kreutz .

We are also working on getting the Austin community more involved with the hospital and also our activity room. If you would like to volunteer, please go to our website kellysteam.org and click on the volunteer link.

Thanks
Jamie Davidson

As the opening of our new activity center becomes a reality, John and I could not be more proud of the progress our foundation has made in such a short time. When we walked into the Kelly's Team activity room for the first time we could feel Kelly's presence as if she had designed the room herself.

Kelly was always well aware of the need for kids to be able to get out of their hospital rooms and have some fun and interact with all of the other children.

We can only hope that by being a part of the new hospital our foundation can give a little something back to the Austin community because they have given us so much. We wouldn't be nearly as successful as we are without the support of the people of Austin.

Thank you - John and Jamie Davidson