Terrific Walk!

Wow! What a wonderful Walk to Cure Diabetes 2004! The weather was absolutely perfect. The turnout was great. And we here at Team Shelby HQ were once again humbled and thankful for our fantastic team!

We had about 60 Team Shelby walkers turn out this morning to join thousands of others at Heather Farm Park in Walnut Creek. Only a small group was able to get there early enough for the official picture, but when the walk stepped off at 9 a.m. the Team's pale yellow shirts were clearly evident among all the other family and corporate teams.

As of the end of registration this morning, Team Shelby had raised almost $7,000 to help find a cure for diabetes. That's a phenomenal figure! With more pledges still coming in, that amount is likely to grow even bigger. (It's never to late to mail in your donation to the JDRF!) As amazing as the money is, it's even more important the new people who joined the team this year and the untold hundreds who learned something about diabetes from our ever-expanding Team membership.

Our team is truly inspirational. We've heard some of the stories:
** The penny and coin drive at Van Nuys Elementary School that raised more than $400. Some 22 teachers were involved this year and another segment of classes has yet to participate.
** The staff of the Solano County Public Defender's Office that opened their hearts to the Team again this year with an amazing outpouring of support.
** The members of the classic car club that my West County Times colleague Mary Reiley belongs to who spontaneously donated $10 each over a desert social.
** The dozens of family members who were moved enough by what their Team member relatives were doing that they joined the Team themselves by telling their friends and associates about Team Shelby and the JDRF.
** The student body of Napa Junction Elementary School, especially Kindergarten Room K, Ms. Salsman and Mrs. Hansen. Ms. Salsman, Alex and Shelby's teacher, helped her class make signs for Alex and Shelby to carry in the walk signed and decorated by all their classmates. Then hundreds of kids at the school signed a wall-sized banner that read "Go Team Shelby!" The signatures and pictures were tremendous! We used the banner in our team picture and put it up at the post-walk BBQ.

These are just a few of the hundreds of extraordinary personal efforts that make Team Shelby amazing!

We had more Team members than ever come to the post-walk barbecue at our house. More than 35 people came over to share together in the success of our group effort. People of diverse backgrounds and experiences all coming together in the shared support of Team Shelby over barbecued chicken, burgers, hot dogs and a little Sunday afternoon football. We were particularly blessed this year to have Liz's family from Lompoc and Scott's family from Southern California travel up for the weekend.

I could go on for hours. But we'd also like to hear from Team members! By clicking on the 'comment' note at the end of this posting, you can add your thoughts about this year's Walk to Cure Diabetes for everyone to enjoy.

We handed out almost a dozen individual cameras at the walk and BBQ this year for Team members to take pictures. We're going to have those developed and post them up on the site as soon as possible. We'll send out a note when the pictures are available.

The walk is over for this year, but the fight against diabetes continues. Please come back to the site regularly for news and research updates. You'll also soon hear about an opportunity to support one Team member on his quest to launch the Team Shelby Bike Team with a spring time Ride to Cure Diabetes.

There is no way to adequately say 'thank you' to each and every one of you for your contribution to Team Shelby. Through financial support, thoughtful gestures, telling a friend or colleague about diabetes, and/or prayers and well wishes, each of you buoyed Team Shelby more than you, or we, could ever really know.