Givin' Away Money - Wheeeee!

FREE MONEY--sort of. Tonight I'm thrilled and honored to help give away a total of $20,000 to a variety of charities who provide services in the fight against breast cancer.

My dear friend Karen started a non-profit organization called "Focused on a Cure" (yep, you guessed it, Karen is a photographer, hence the name) a couple of years ago and I've been able to contribute in a small way by helping to photograph their major fund raising event each year. It's always great fun, and raises a lot of money for the cause.

This year I was asked to serve on the committee that reviews the requests for funding by various organizations. What an eye-opener! I have never been involved in the world of non-profit grants, and it's much more involved than I imagined. Tough but rewarding, through this process the committee decided how to distribute the $20,000 that Focused on a Cure has raised. Tonight the recipients will gather for a small reception and receive their checks.

One thing I'm sure of, it's going to be a wonderful evening.

If you know a cancer survivor, or an active fighter...give him or her a hug. Special people, that's what they are, very special indeed.

Gala at Kyle Petty's Place

Well, I'm happy to report that the planning committee survived the Randolph County Partnership for Children's Second Annual Gala at the Kyle and Pattie Petty Farm on Saturday. Actually we more than survived--we thrived! Right up until we plopped into bed in the wee hours of Sunday morning and slept very, very soundly.

The tickets sold out, and between tickets and auction sales, we raised even more money than we had dared hope for, pretty cool, hun? What an amazing group of people gathered in one place! Just like having 250 of your closest friends come over for a hoedown. These folks really "got it" and made the night a resounding success. They were generous, patient, fun, and they looked sharp dressed up in their denim and diamonds. Plus, I think they had a pretty doggone good time, and even learned to do a little square dancin'.

The food was great (fried chicken and the best fried squash you ever tasted from Snyder Farms Catering), the music was awesome (Rocking Horse Band really does rock) and desserts were amazing. If you haven't had Chocolate Lava cake or Baileys Irish Creme cake from Homeland Bakery (http://www.homelandbakery.com/) your life just isn't complete yet. You better call Torri Nelson right away and fix that.

The party was a "Barnyard Dance" theme, and was held in the Petty's barn. Let me just tell you, I'm doubting you've ever seen a barn like this. At least I hadn't, and I grew up in the country. According to Kyle's son Austin, when his sister Montogomery Lee decided to have her wedding at the farm, they spent about a million dollars renovating the barn to host her reception. Of course that was before they added the "trophy room" (aka: museum) onto it. Let's just say it's nice, reeeall nice.

How was your weekend?