Day 2 of Giving: Honoring a Beautiful Family
Eric and others are climbing in honor of Allison Thrasher, daughter of a fellow Firefighter who died a few years ago from complications due to Cystic Fibrosis. She was only 4 years old. In addition to that, Allison's mother (also named Allison) who is the fellow Firefighter's wife, passed away just 3 weeks ago losing her battle to breast cancer. My heart is swelling for this family, and the moment Eric told me the story I was burning through ways in how to fundraise money not just to fight back, but to honor this beautiful family.
Day 2 of Giving: To Honor A Beautiful Family
Since my first post on the 29 gifts in 29 days inspired so many people, I decided that was going to be my first day of giving and I now move into Day 2, and I couldn’t have been approached with a better ask. A friend, Firefighter, and therefore work colleague of mine – Eric Hansen – sent me an email as a request to donate toward his participation in the annual Cystic Fibrosis Foundation stairclimb – an event that in my earlier years I volunteered and helped manage for several years. It’s a cause I whole heartedly believe in and a cause that also helped jump start my non-profit career.
Eric and others are climbing in honor of Allison Thrasher, daughter of a fellow Firefighter who died a few years ago from complications due to Cystic Fibrosis. She was only 4 years old. In addition to that, Allison’s mother (also named Allison) who is the fellow Firefighter’s wife, passed away just 3 weeks ago losing her battle to breast cancer. My heart is swelling for this family, and the moment Eric told me the story I was burning through ways in how to fundraise money not just to fight back, but to honor this beautiful family.
I write this post with tears as I’ve seen so many families endure this struggle due to my job. However, if there is anything I have learned with this position, it’s that I refuse to get used to this feeling because I would never want to take away genuine emotion to any person in this world because they deserve it from us. Just imagining the pain that the father / husband is going through, I believe, is strong enough to resonate in all of us. So Thrasher family – please know my sympathy and condolences is not of repetition but of true, heartfelt emotion. My heart will be with all of the Thrasher Family and their community as they climb those 56 flights of stairs on Thursday at the Tower at 1201 3rd Avenue (formerly Washington Mutual Tower). You will most definitely be in my thoughts and prayers for the week. Climb hard, climb fast – and I’ll see you at the bottom with a beer!
And to Eric – congratulations on raising $500 and growing and doing something so giving. You inspire me!
Part of my giving on day 2, is not only donating but sharing this story with you to give YOU the opportunity to give as well. If you would like to honor this family – please go to Eric’s page at: http://stairclimb.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=433916&lis=1&kntae433916=8484F3C409994AC4864A464761085CC6&supId=312126854
If donations are closed, send me a message at liz.truong@gmail.com and I will make sure that your donation is put to honor and acknowledge this family.
This story makes my heart feel so empty…but giving on behalf of this family to fight back definitely helps fill it back up.
To the spirit of giving…
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