Survivor Picnic

If you don't know me very well then you may not know that I am a pediatric nurse at the University of Kentucky Children's Hospital. I work on the 4th floor and I primarily work with children who have cancer. These kids and some young adults hold a very special place in my heart. These children have been given a very difficult hand in life and they have so much to be sad about, but the great thing about kids is that they don't always hold on to the negatives in life. They enjoy the small things that we adults take for granted all the time.

Being diagnosed with cancer as a child is probably one of the worst possible things that I could ever think of for an individual. First and foremost these children are fighting for their life every single day against a disease that is relentless. Due to their disease they are sometimes hospitalized for long periods of time and multiple times a year. Even while at home they cannot live a normal childhood because of the risk of illness from any type of infection that they might acquire. This keeps them from attending school regularly, if at all, and also keeps them from being able to just get out and play and be a kid. Due to the different chemotherapy treatments that they receive the children are sometimes very sick and don't actually feel like playing. This is the part that just breaks my heart. Why? Because children should ever have to endure this horrible diagnosis that ruins part or all of their childhood.

These children and their families become more than just patients to me. They become like my family. I pray regularly for these children to be healed and that they can defeat this disease and be able to live like a child again. Being a nurse for these children can be hard and it definitely takes a toll on your emotional well being, but I think that this is truly my purpose in life. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have met some amazing young people over the last 2 and a half years working on 4 West.

While these children were in the hospital and getting treatments to save their lives, they missed out on birthday parties, field trips, family vacations, school celebrations, high school proms, graduations and the list goes on. Since these children mean so much to my co-workers and myself, we have an annual event that we like to organize for all these special survivors and their families. This event is to celebrate another year that all these children have beat cancer and are a survivor! We try to make it the most over the top celebration that you could ever imagine, because these kids deserve it! Every child that has received treatment at UK is invited to the event and they are allowed to bring their family and siblings. There are huge inflatables, video games, carnival type games, face painting, picture booths, clowns, horse rides, and many other fun activities. A couple of local restaurants donate the food and there is enough candy and snacks, like popcorn and cotton candy, to make everyone happy. We also have some games in which the kids can participate to win some prizes and everyone gets to go home with a present. Overall, it is a huge celebration and the guests of honor are all of our survivors. Each child is called up on stage where they are given a medal to commemorate another year of being a survivor. As our celebration comes to a close every year we pass out balloons to all the families. This is a time to remember all the children who lost their battle to cancer. It is a very emotional moment of the day and it hits home just how horrible of a disease this cancer really is.

I have told you as much as I can about the actual event that we work so hard to put together for the most deserving group of young people that you would ever meet, but sometimes pictures are better than words. Here is a video about the 2013 Survivor Picnic:  http://kchcancersurvivors.weebly.com/videos.html.

This event is very special to all the young children who come and participate in our picnic. I mentioned before that we were a group of nurses that organize the event, but that doesn't even come close to what goes into being on the Pediatric Survivor Picnic Committee. We meet monthly and we raise all the money each year so that we can put on this spectacular event for these amazing children. We have one main fundraising event that we hold each year at the Talon Winery. This is a silent auction, live band, and great food kind of night. The auction items are all donations from local businesses that have been grouped together to make for some amazing gift baskets. Through Talon Winery we are also able to give back to people who make donations.

Donations of:
$15 - we will reward you with a bottle of blackberry wine
$20 - we will reward you with a bottle of Moondance (white wine)
$30 - we will reward you with a bottle of Cabernet (red wine)
$60 - we will reward you with a bottle of all three wines

I think the best part of the bottle of wine is actually the label. The front label is a picture that one of the children has drawn who is currently getting treatment at the hospital. The back label contains a little message about the child. This event is our biggest fundraiser and we would love for you to be able to attend the actual event on June 13th. If you are not able to make this event then we would be very appreciative of your donation and we will reward you with a bottle of wine. 

Here is the link to purchase your tickets to the Talon Winery Fundraiser https://itrulycare.com/events/6th-annual-luau-for-life and the tickets are just $12 if purchased online and $15 at the door. Or if you would just like to make a donation to the Survivor Picnic Fund you can visit our website at https://kchcancersurvivors.weebly.com/.

I hope that you see how much joy this day brings to these kids who have missed out on so many things while they were busy beating cancer. Please let me know if you have any more questions about how you can help or if you would like to help us with a donation. Believe me when I say that these children appreciate it! Thanks for reading and God bless!