HFC Friends Women's Auxiliary Valentine's Dinner

On February 15th, HFC Friends Women's Auxiliary held the 2nd Annual Valentine's Dinner at Northwood Country Club. The Valentine's Dinner is a date night for families that HFC has helped in the past year. It's a special treat for parents to have an initimate dinner for two, while their children are watched by professional nannies from Mom's Best Friend.

Each Mom received a rose at check-in and then once the families were checked in by the nanny service Mom’s Best Friend, they had their portraits taken by Sugar Photography. Then the children and parents parted ways!

-Children to the child care room with crafts, chicken nuggets, french fries, and juice :)

- Parents to the banquet hall with a plated three course meal and fabulous door prizes (all prizes donated by generous HFC Friends members).

Throughout the meal a few students from Hockaday provided the parents with beautiful piano music. And between the courses, we drew names for the great door prizes. Meanwhile, the children were entertained by Zoe the clown, a few high school cheerleaders to teach cheers, and crafts from Mom’s Best Friend.

As each family departed they received a favor bag of items filled to the brim with goodies for the parents and children. All in all it was a fantastic evening for all involved. HFC received much praise from families about how great the evening was and how happy they are to see their children having so much fun!

A special thanks to Northwood Country Club, Sugar Photography, Hockaday piano students, Mom’s Best Friend, Megan Williamson for chairing the event, and all HFC Friends members who donated their time and resources.

Sound bites from the event!

“The night is like Make-A-Wish for grown-ups!”

“From the moment we arrived, we were treated like royalty and greeted with the enthusiasm one would expect as if a soldier was returning from war. The founders of Heroes for Children certainly understand the battle and war we fight on a daily basis as they had their own struggle with their own children suffering from childhood cancer. The memory of their fallen children did not fade into annals of tragic childhood dramas. No, their legacy lives on.”

“The night out with our boys having such a memorable and exciting experience while with us...yet not with us...was truly remarkable and appreciated more than we can ever express to Heroes for Children, Moms Best Friend, Northwood Country Club, Sugar Photography and everyone else who was associated in making our night so wonderful. Thank you.”

See how much fun these children are having!!!

February Volunteer of the Month

It's time for our monthly segment of Volunteer of the Month. I love featuring these volunteers. I always learn something new about the volunteer reading the questionnaire answer they provide. For example, I didn't know that Judie, our February Volunteer, participated in the Taylor's Angels (Heroes for Children's original name) 5K years ago!

We're so lucky that Judie decided to spend more time volunteering with Heroes for Children. She has made a tremendous impact on our office and her volunteer work. Judie is another one of those volunteers that we know we can count on. She's available to help with the Valentine's Dinner we held last night for cancer parents (Christi will blog about that later this week--it was amazing!) to get involved with the mission of the organization. She willingly accepts the position of helping increase membership in Collin County for our women's auxiliary HFC Friends, but she also doesn't shy away from hand addressing 300 invitations for an upcoming cocktail party for Heroes and Handbags! Hopefully, now that she's volunteering with us, we'll have her involved for years to come. We're so grateful for volunteers like Judie!

Name, Occupation:
Judie Eggl, Happily Unemployed due to the economy, debating what I will do next!


How did you get involved with HFC?
I ran Taylor’s Angels 5K years ago and then had my second son do the Superheroes Birthday Club for his first birthday. Just last year I decided to get more involved and join HFC Friends.


Do you have any kids and/or pets?
Jack – 3.5
Cooper – 23M


From looking at you, no one would guess that…..
I have completed 9 triathlons and counting!


Favorite place to eat:
Mexican, right now I love Mattito’s


What’s on your book shelf?
The Shack
3 ?’s for a Frantic Family


What’s in your iPod/CD changer?
Everything and anything my husband updates it with :) !


Who’s your hero?
My parents, you don’t realize everything they have done for you until you have kids of your own!!

Ways to get involved this spring!

Spring is a BUSY, BUSY time at Heroes for Children, with many events and activities planned. In fact, we are pretty sure we have something to match almost every interest! Feel free to browse all of the activities listed in this blog and pick your favorite(s). There are so many ways to get involved, we hope you will join us!

2009 has already been a really tough year for our HFC families. We just funded our 15th funeral since Jan 1st. And in January alone, we provided over $50,000 in financial assistance. The only way we are able to help so many families is through the generosity of YOU. Your involvement with HFC is vital to the families we serve, so let me thank you in advance for choosing one (or more :) spring activity to take part.

Events / Activities in chronological order:

Wednesday, February 18

Laugh it up! SpawMaxwell is hosting a "Night of Comedy" at the Addison Improv to benefit HFC. Tickets are only $10 each, and may be purchased at http://www.improv2.com/addison.html.

Friday, March 6

The Grapevine Colleyville Southlake (GCS) Mom's League's Annual Charity Gala at Timarron Country Club in Southlake. All proceeds benefit Heroes for Children. For more information, please contact Susan Reynolds at suzreynolds@sbcglobal.net.

Wednesday, April 1 - HOUSTON - River Oaks Country Club

Friday, April 3 - DALLAS - The Hilton Anatole

Get your handbags while they are HOT! Heroes and Handbags features a fabulous silent auction of vintage, celebrity and designer handbags followed by brunch. We are expecting tables to be sold out soon for both events. Don't miss your chance to attend this event!

To purchase a table, please click either HOUSTON or DALLAS.

To donate a bag for the event, please click either HOUSTON or DALLAS.

Monday, May 4

HFC Friends is hosting its first coffee in HOUSTON! If you are interested volunteering your time to increase HFC program services in the Greater Houston area, please join us for this event (and bring a friend!). For more information about HFC Friends, please click here. To be included on the invitation list, please email Jenny Scott.

Saturday, May 9

Treat your mother or daughter to tea! The Frisco Women's League Mother's Day Tea will be held at Westin Stonebriar from 2pm - 4pm. The event features a delicious light lunch, a style show modeling the latest fashions for women and girls, a silent auction, crafts and activities for moms and daughters, and professional photography to commemorate the afternoon. All proceeds benefit HFC. To purchase your seats, please click here.

Monday, May 11

Calling all golfers!! Heroes for Children is hosting a golfathon at Twin Creeks Golf Club in Allen. Each golfer will play 50 holes of golf! Golf is free for golfers and lunch is provided. Golfers collect pledges to raise money for HFC and can earn awesome prizes based on $ raised. To register for the golfathon, please email Michelle Peacock to be put on the golfer list. You will be given a fundraising packet and online fundraising page to collect online donations.

Wednesday, May 20

The Communities Foundation of Texas is offering $200,000 in matching donations to local North Texas non-profits for ONE DAY ONLY! On May 20, if you make a donation to Heroes for Children via the following link: http://www.donorbridgetx.org/, HFC will receive a dollar for dollar match. So, your donation of $100 turns into $200. Each charity can get up to $25,000 in matching gifts, but once the $200,000 is gone, it is gone. We would LOVE to get the maximum donation, so we are encouraging anyone who would regularly make a donation to HFC, to make in on May 20 (early in the morning) so we can double your donation.

If you would like to be reminded to donate on May 20, please email Michelle Peacock with subject: DONORBRIDGE. (NOTE: The website will not be active until May 20. And the match is ONLY available on May 20.)

Ongoing Activities

The Little Gym is "Giving Back"

Just stop by a Little Gym to drop off your donation to Heroes for Children, and you will receive an appreciation gift (from t-shirts to gift cards) from The Little Gym! Locations in Dallas and Plano.

Superhero Birthday Club

The SBC is a membership club for kids who want to be heroes by helping families with children with cancer. This kids-helping-kids program incorporates giving through children’s birthday parties, and teaches kids the value of giving to others. In lieu of gifts, collect funds for Heroes for Children for your birthday and be a HERO this year! With tools provided by Heroes for Children, you can have a successful event to benefit cancer families in Texas! If your child is having a birthday party and would like to participate in the Superhero Birthday Club, please click here.

We are so excited about ALL of the events and activities we have planned this spring. Hopefully, you are able to take advantage of one or more of the activities listed above, but if not, don't fret, we have one more option for you! :)

Join the "Heart of a Hero" program.

Heroes for Children's Donor Program, Heart of a Hero, allows you, the donor, to assist HFC in serving families with children battling cancer. By making a minimum donation of $500, you could be a Hero to a family waking up to the unwelcome reality of childhood cancer.

For Heart of a Hero levels and benefits, please email Michelle Peacock.

Wishing Everyone a Happy Spring!

The Face of Hope

A year ago Tresman was told he wouldn’t see his 17th birthday. On January 24th, 2009, HFC helped Tresman celebrate his 17th birthday. His 16th birthday went uncelebrated, because of the looming prognosis and ongoing treatment, but Tresman never stopped fighting. In Waco, he is known as “The Face of Hope”.

Tresman and his mother sent us a wonderful thank you note after the party with pictures. Below is an excerpt from this wonderful young man.

“This was one of the most memorable birthdays I have ever had. I am thankful for guys like you who care about terminal children like me. Sometimes we’re left behind or not included in things. In Waco I’m called “The Face of Hope”. It’s Heroes for Children who gives me that hope. Thanks once again.

I was diagnosed with clear cell sarcoma in October of 2004. It’s very rare, but I am beating all odds. I wasn’t supposed to have seen the age of 17. I want to keep the hope alive- I still have to graduate 2010.”

Sincerely,

Tresman (Cancer’s Enemy)

What a gracious and happy young man! I had the pleasure of meeting him and his family at the Holiday Heroes party in Fort Worth in December and they are a wonderful family.

To many more birthdays Tresman!

Young Texans Against Cancer donate $20,000 to HFC

Shawn Walsh, President of the Dallas Chapter of Young Texans Against Cancer, and Mike Sands, Charity Chair, presented a check for $20,000 to Heroes for Children. HFC was selected as the 2008 beneficiary after a vote of the YTAC members.

We are so excited to be selected as the beneficiary and look forward to working with YTAC in the future. If you are interested in joining YTAC, please visit their website, http://www.ytac.org/dallas/index.asp for membership information.

Thank you, YTAC!