For most of you coordinating or
involved in a Shinerama Committee, your Shine Day is only a few weeks away. This
likely also means you are starting to feel a bit (or a lot) of pressure and
stress to get everything organized so that you can meet your fundraising goals.
Of course, your goals are extremely important and we want you and your team to
do all that you can to meet them and kick cystic fibrosis to the curb.
However, I wanted to take a
minute and share an experience I had while coordinating a Shinerama campaign
last September. The experience, although seemingly small, was THE most
significant thing that happened to me during my involvement with the campaign,
because it showed me exactly why it is we do what we do for Shinerama.
At this point, the weather is
calling for rain and thundershowers. I was extremely disheartened by this to
say the least. Our Shinerama committee still had yet to meet our online
fundraising goal and although we had had some successful secondary fundraisers,
we were counting on Shine Day to really boost our total dollars raised. This
was the first year Shinerama was happening at SMU in over a decade, and I was
worried now more than ever that no one would show up to participate the
following morning. The only things going through my head were numbers and rain,
when my phone buzzed and a Facebook notification popped up on my screen.
I opened Facebook on my phone
to find a message from a SMU student named Alexandria, whom at this point, I
had only met briefly once or twice. Attached to the message was a photo of a
woman holding a baby. The message read:
“I wanted to send you this picture to show you how thankful I am
that SMU is participating in Shinerama. I’m extremely thankful to all the
students around Canada who take part, but it’s nice when it’s happening at the
place you call home. Without the support of the students, my life may be
completely different. I know for a fact that my grandmother’s would.”
The photo attached was of
Alexandria’s Grandmother holding Alexandria as a
newborn baby. Alexandria's Grandmother has cystic fibrosis.
After reading the message I was
immediately overwhelmed by what all of this meant. I started crying and it was at this point that I came
to several important realizations.
The first was that when you ball
your eyes out while sitting front and centre at a live comedy show, people stare.
And they think you are crazy. And it is awkward.
The second and arguably more
significant realization was that regardless of bad weather, or how much money
we raised, or how many volunteers we got out, we had affected someone’s life in
a positive way. In the previous months, it had become too easy to get caught up
with numbers and goals and weather reports, to the point that why it is we do
what we do for Shinerama had been moved to a back shelf in my mind and stayed
there. Alexandria’s personal story was a wake-up call for me. She and her
grandmother are exactly why it is we do what we do and exactly why we work so
hard so that one day CF can stand for ‘Cure Found’.
The next day it poured rain
just as the weather forecast had presumed, but it didn’t matter. SMU shined and
by the end of our campaign we surpassed our overall fundraising goal.
I wanted to share this experience
as a reminder that every single one of your efforts towards this cause makes a
difference. I was lucky enough to encounter someone who reminded me of this at
a time when it was needed most. Alexandria, thank you for sharing your story. I
will never again forget why it is we do what we do.
In the words of Emerson, “to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived - that is to have succeeded”.
In the words of Emerson, “to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived - that is to have succeeded”.
Shine on.
Justine Stacey
Campaign Advisor, Atlantic Canada
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| Alexandria and her Grandmother |
For all CF families, we thank you for your energy and your hard work on our behalf. You ARE making a huge contribution to those living with CF.
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