It is hard to believe that
we are already one month into the New Year!
I hope that everyone had a joyous Holiday Season and a great start to
2013.
We had a very successful
Holiday Season, here at Camp Good Days, and I would like to take this
opportunity to thank the JC Penney Managers and Employees at Marketplace Mall,
Greece Ridge Center Mall, and Eastview Mall, as well as the Rochester Lancers,
City of Rochester, the Walden-Galleria Mall in Buffalo, Destiny USA in Syracuse,
and Old Navy at the Shops at Ithaca, as well as all of the volunteers and those
who helped to support Camp Good Days and Special Times’ Annual Joe Benet
Memorial Kazoo Fest this Holiday Season.
With the start of the New
Year, we are actively pursuing our goals and objectives, which I shared with
all of you in my last post.
One of those is to
continue the efforts of CANCER MISSION 2020, moving from the INFORMATION Phase
to the CALL TO ACTION Phase. I am
pleased to share with you that I had the opportunity to meet with Congressman
Tom Reed this week and he will re-introduce the CANCER MISSION 2020
Legislation, as soon as possible. Once
we have the new bill information, we will be sure to share that with all of
you, so that you can ask your representatives to support this important
legislation. We also met this week, with
some of our colleagues who helped to develop the Action Plan to Reduce the
Burden of Cancer in Monroe County to discuss some ideas and plans for March,
which will be Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Cancer is the leading cause of death, here in
Monroe County, and colorectal cancer is the second-leading cancer killer in our
community. We look forward to sharing
our plans for next month with all of you very soon. Save the date – if you live in and around the
Greater Rochester area, our next CANCER MISSION 2020 Petition Drive will take
place next Friday, February 8, 2013 from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM at Rochester City
Hall. Everyone is welcome to stop in and
see us, sign the petition, and obtain informational materials about our work to
end cancer by the end of the decade.
We will also continue the
work we do under the auspices of the Partners Against Violence Everywhere
(PAVE) Initiative, and Project Exile, working to remind people about the
awesome responsibility that comes with gun ownership. One important thing I
have learned through my involvement with Project Exile, and according to the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, is that approximately 39% of crime
guns here have been stolen. Project
Exile is supported by both the NRA and the Brady Gun Lobby, and no one is
denying our Second Amendment right as Americans to own a gun, but there is an
enormous responsibility to gun ownership.
The horrific tragedies that occurred in Newtown, and in our own backyard
in Webster on Christmas Eve, are the worst kind of violence, and while we need
to be more conscious about mental illness and provide a support system for
those individuals and families dealing with that, we need to have a very
serious conversation about guns, and it needs to start with our leadership at
the top. Hopefully these tragedies will
finally lead to some positive action.
Tune in to the Camp Good
Days’ Radio Show next Thursday, February 6, 2013 at 6:30 PM on WYSL News 1040
AM / 92.1 FM to hear more about this topic, from local law enforcement
officials and prosecutors, including United States Attorney for the Western
District of New York, William Hochul; United States Marshal, Charles Salina;
Resident Agent-in-Charge for the Rochester Office of the Bureau of ATF, Scott
Heagney; Monroe County District Attorney, Sandra Doorley, and Rochester Police
Chief, James Sheppard. If you are
outside of the listening area, you can get the podcast of the show at www.wysl1040.com.
As many of you know,
special fundraising events are
vital to Camp Good Days, as they provide the means for us to continue keeping
the promise I made 34 years ago - that
all of our programs and services would be provided free of charge for the
participants, so as not to create any additional financial burden on those
families served. Oftentimes, especially
when a child is diagnosed with cancer, one of the parents (if the child is
lucky enough to have both parents in their life) becomes the primary caregiver
and must cut back their hours at work.
With that, the family income decreases, yet the bills remain the same,
and I never wanted a family to have to make the decision between sending their
loved one to Camp Good Days and paying their bills. There are very few things that are the same
price as they were in 1979 – that price being free.
This morning, some of us had the pleasure of attending the Beary
Brunch, at St. John Fisher College this morning. The Beary Brunch is the official kick-off to
the Teddi Dance for Love week. The 31st
Annual Teddi Dance for Love will take place next Friday & Saturday,
February 8 & 9, 2013 in the Student Life Center at St. John Fisher
College. This 24-hour dance marathon is
planned and implemented by a student committee at the college and raises funds
to support the Teddi Project, here at Camp Good Days, providing the funds
necessary for us to be able to take campers on special outings and activities,
and on the Annual Florida Fun Fest. The Teddi Dance for Love is one of my favorite times
of year; a time when you see firsthand the true meaning of love, hope, and
giving. Each and every year, I continue
to be amazed by the hard work, dedication and devotion displayed by the Teddi
Committee, all of the participants, volunteers and supporters, and the overall
St. John Fisher College community. As
Teddi’s Dad, all those involved with the Teddi Dance for Love help to keep my daughter’s spirit and memory alive. There are truly no words to express my
gratitude for that special gift they give to me.
We will be bringing a
group of campers to the Teddi Dance for Love on Saturday, from 4:00 PM – 8:15
PM. The campers always have a blast,
meeting and dancing with the participants, and the Closing Ceremonies, as well
as the Opening Ceremonies, are truly remarkable. Prior to attending the Teddi Dance for Love,
the campers are in for a fun-filled weekend, which begins on Friday evening
with a sleepover party, complete with ice cream sundaes and movies. On Saturday morning, the group will head to
Canisius College, where they will be the special guests of the Women’s
Basketball Team, taking a tour of the locker room, having pizza in the Griff’s
Den, and watching the team take on Loyola.
One of my personal goals
is to be more consistent with these blog posts, in an effort to keep you all
up-to-date. Sometimes it can be a bit
difficult, as you can tell from the number of different programs, events, activities
and efforts we are involved with – but I promised to do my best.
So, until next week
(hopefully), I wish you all a safe and wonderful Super Bowl Weekend!
No comments:
Post a Comment