Variety, the Children’s Charity, had invited us to speak at a fundraising event being hosted at the Grand Geneva resort. We stayed in a room the night prior, nervous and excited — nervicited is a word, right? — to have the chance once again to speak to others about Namine.
We’re no strangers to public speaking, having done so at Marquette University and the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin medical college (in-person and virtually) numerous times. This would be somewhat different, however; rather than having an hour or more, this would be a five-minute “elevator speech” that focused on what Variety has done for Namine.
Starting off the golfers
Our speech wouldn’t be until the evening, however. Since the charity event was a golf event, Namine also got to signal the golf carts to start. We had brought Namine’s bike, intending on having her lead the way for a short while. However, I had hurt my back the day before, preventing me from being able to help her transfer. As an alternative, Namine held her bike flag and waved them off.
Charity dinner and auction
For Variety’s annual charity dinner, they invite a family to come and speak about how their involvement with Variety has affected their (or their child’s) life. Namine is a very social person; she loves to meet new people and make new friends. Have you ever heard the expression, “a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met”? I’m pretty sure that’s Namine’s philosophy on life.
So whenever we ask her, do you want to go to X event? The answer is invariably, yes. And Variety has quite a, well, variety! In our speech, we had only a few minutes but we packed a lot in. We talked about all those different events Namine has attended, courtesy of Variety: the circus, picnics, holiday parties & movies, trick or treating, baseball games, and museums. That’s a lot — but that’s not even everything. Variety is partnered with our local chapter of the Miracle League, and they sponsored Namine’s team last season. (She’s on a different team this year, but Variety continues to sponsor the Angels.)
Aside from all those events and activities, Variety has helped Namine even more: they helped her get a hand-pedal bike. And by “helped,” I mean “paid for at no cost to us.” That was four years ago, as of this writing, and she still uses it regularly.
We are honored to have been given the opportunity to speak at this charity auction. It was amazing to see the attending organizations donating such large amounts of money to a great cause. (And we know firsthand how expensive equipment can be.) We’re always excited at the chance to advocate for Namine and the programs that help her and others.
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