A Day for Hanna (WOW)

Something told me that the town would turn out for the fundraising event that the community worked so hard on for Hanna. I was not wrong, despite the weather there were a great deal of people that were not from the neighborhood. The event was beautifully organized. There was a blood drive, which had to be moved to an alternate location due to the heat as well as the BBQ itself. There was a ton of food and drink, which were all donated (Lions Club, The J.I.M.M.Y. Foundation, and Stephanie's Mission) so that 100% of the funds would go to the Monte's.

While Chris, Anna and I helped set up for the event, Kenny and Justin went to donate blood. Mikey? Well, he was at the beach with some of the neighborhood kids. By 2:30 the place was in full swing and continued on until about 8PM.

As the day wore on, we reminisced on how old the kids were getting. We looked at pictures from 10 years ago, marveling on how cute the neighborhood kids were. I spent the day trying to get some candid shots of those same kids.

I haven't been to a party at the lake in a very long time. I think what we have in this community is pretty special. Our neighbors generally like each other and often join together to celebrate the community we live in. Now that my kids are so much older, I find myself down there less but there are so many new families with little kids in the position I was in 15 years ago. What I found fascinating is that these families, who don't know Hanna, and haven't witnessed her growing up into the wonderful young lady she is, were there pitching in as if she was their own.

The turnout from outside this tiny lake community was incredible as well. There were so many people, including some of the district's teachers. It was pretty special. All in all the day raised about 7,000 for uncovered medical expenses for Hanna. If you missed the BBQ but would like to donate to HANNA'S FUND you may do so online.