MOHF Cardinals Game 5/18/13

Friends and family, hope you’re having a great weekend.  I was “told” to send a reminder to everyone on our huge fundraiser coming up at the May 18^th St. Louis Cardinals game.  Yours truly (Greg) will be throwing out the ceremonial First Pitch in honor of Oakes and all those impacted by Congenital Heart Defects at Congenital Heart Night at Busch Stadium.  I will have Isla with me out on the field and hope to be sporting a custom-made Mighty Oakes Cardinals jersey.  The deadline for purchasing tickets through MOHF is still a ways out – May 3^rd.  We still need to sell a couple hundred more tickets to reach our goal so feel free to forward to your friends and families so you can all make it a great night out together.  Certainly, the Cardinals will be the main entertainment.  My split second throw with the stadium half full is just a warm-up for the fun part of the night!  And no, I’m still not practicing….

 

Now, the big reason for my email today is regarding the special edition, one-time only Mighty Oakes St. Louis Cardinals apparel.  The Cardinals have given us special permission to use their logo for some special apparel and we took advantage of the occasion to design some fun shirts and hats for the evening.  MONDAY, 4/15 (TOMORROW), IS THE LAST DAY YOU CAN ORDER APPAREL!!  We need to place our order tomorrow night and will only be ordering what you have purchased.  So if you’re thinking about it, be sure to pull the trigger no later than tomorrow.  Becky detailed this on our blog, but I’ll copy the details below as well.  But, more importantly, I want to copy a blurb from our blog about where your money is going.  Here is one example (of many) of how your generosity is helping others.

 

A couple of weeks ago we were asked to help a family that is in St. Louis from a neighboring state. This family has 2 babies. Twins. One perfectly healthy, one with a complicated little heart that is requiring intensive care at our beloved SLCH. The parents are stressed to the max worrying about their sick child, but their stress is double. It doesn't matter if their sick little love bug is having a good day or not there is another little love bug that needs them and requires all of the attention that any healthy newborn demands. To complicate things, the Ronald McDonald house, which is a quick 10 minute drive from the hospital, is undergoing renovations and they are not accepting new or long term families. There is, however, a small hotel that is connected to St. Louis Children's Hospital. A quick walk through a maze of raised walkways connects the two structures. When we learned about this special family whose attention is so stressfully divided we immediately agreed to help. So Mighty Oakes Heart Foundation is helping to fund their stay at the hotel.  I can only imagine the chaos of healthy twins. I cannot begin to wrap my brain around how this family is managing the stress of one healthy newborn and one in the CICU. But, I feel honored that we can help. I am thrilled that we can help lift some of the burden from their shoulders. I hope that by being able to stay so close to the hospital this family is able to relax as much as they can and enjoy their time together.

 

For you out-of-towners and Cardinals fans, to buy apparel only (no tickets), simply go to the link below (control/click to go to the site):

 

http://tmohf.org/index.php/store_items/for_event/2nd_CHA_Night_at_Busch.html

 

To buy tickets or tickets and apparel, go to this link:

 

http://www.mightyoakes.org/How-You-Can-Help/Events.html

 

And here is the merchandise.  I have bought the classic t-shirt (I’m nearing a full rainbow in MOHF t-shirt colors now), the dry-fit polo (notice the Cardinals logo on the sleeve) and the ‘ringer’ t-shirt that I LOVE. 

 

 Our classic cotton MOHF T-Shirt in Cardinal red

 

 

A dry fit Polo with both MOHF and Cards logos

 

 

A super cute polo for kids

 

 

A visor with both logos

 

 

Dual logo hat in both adult sizes and kids

 

 

Our special game day, ‘ringer’ T-Shirt

 

Let me know if you have any questions. 

 

SAVE THE DATES FOR EXCITING 2013 EVENTS:

September 14, 2013 – 2^nd Annual 5K Run

October 27, 2013 - Rock n’ Roll Marathon

November 16, 2013 – Event of the Year, 2013 Dinner-Auction, in the Star Light Room at the St. Louis Chase Park Plaza!

 

Thanks everyone.

 

Love,

 

Greg, Becky, Isla

www.babyortyl.blogspot.com

www.mightyoakes.org

An important reminder and a heart warming story to go with it!

I operate from lists. I think in lists. If it isn't on the list it isn't getting done. And, ohhhh, the joy of scratching something off of the list. If you are a list person too, please add to the top of your list for this weekend: BUY MOHF GEAR!!!

SUNDAY is the final day that you can order our once in a lifetime, limited edition, super stylish Mighty Oakes Heart Foundation/ St. Louis Cardinals gear.

We were given very special permission by the St. Louis Cardinals to use their logo for this event. Once these shirts are ordered we will not be re-ordering. And we are only ordering what we getting orders for now, so if you even kinda, sorta are interested in some of our MIGHTY gear - go with your gut and order NOW!!

One reason to order is because this purchase/donation is tax deductible. Even more, as with all of our fundraisers, Mighty Oakes Heart Foundation is keeping all of the profits from our shirt sales to help families like ours who are caring for a little one that has a CHD.

Here is a story that will illustrate just where those profits are going. I hope this will warm your heart.

A couple of weeks ago we were asked to help a family that is in St. Louis from a neighboring state. This family has 2 babies. Twins. One perfectly healthy, one with a complicated little heart that is requiring intensive care at our beloved SLCH. The parents are stressed to the max worrying about their sick child, but their stress is double. It doesn't matter if their sick little love bug is having a good day or not there is another little love bug that needs them and requires all of the attention that any healthy newborn demands. To complicate things the Ronald McDonald house which is a quick 10 minute drive from the hospital, is undergoing renovations and they are not accepting new or long term families. There is however, a small hotel that is connected to St. Louis Children's Hospital. A quick walk through a maze of raised walkways connects the two structures. When we learned about this special family who's attention is so stressfully divided we immediately agreed to help. I can only imagine the chaos of healthy twins. I cannot begin to wrap my brain around how this family is managing the stress of one healthy newborn and one in the CICU. But, I feel honored that we can help. I am thrilled that we can help lift some of the burden from their shoulders. I hope that by being able to stay so close to the hospital this family is able to relax as much as they can and enjoy their time together.

Tshirt sales and babies is the CICU are really worlds apart in the big picture of what is important in life, but every little bit count. Those small numbers add up and allow us to help very deserving and needy families in very big ways

So, here are the details, you can buy our gear here:
http://tmohf.org/index.php/store_items/for_event/2nd_CHA_Night_at_Busch.html

We will stop selling gear on Sunday BUT WE WILL CONTINUE TO SELL TICKETS to the Baseball game for several more weeks. And you can buy those tickets here:
http://www.mightyoakes.org/How-You-Can-Help/Events.html

Just to show you what we are selling:

 Our classic cotton MOHF T in Cardinal red

A dry fit Polo with both MOHF and Cards logos

A super cute polo for kids

A visor with both logos

Dual logo hat in both adult sizes and kids

Our special game day Tshirt

Thank you for your ongoing support. Thank you for supporting our family, but for also supporting MOHF so that we can support others. The peace and warmth that comes to our lives because of the work that we are doing is therapeutic in the biggest way. We hope to see many of you at the baseball game in May and we hope to see everyone there in our awesome gear!

Mighty love, 

Becky

This weekend

The St. Louis Go! Marathon is already here and we wanted to share some of the plans for the event:

Go! Saint Louis MOHF

Support Team

Donation Information:

Please use the following link to support the MOHF Go! Saint Louis Team:

http://tmohf.org/donations/create/sponsorship.html

 

Shirt pickup:

Shirts can be picked up at Provalo in Webster Groves on April 5th from 5:30-8pm. Provalo will be throwing a huge party for the team, including a band, sidewalk chalk, a bubble blower, and specials on dinner! Paisley, the amazing boutique next door to Provalo will also be donating 25% of sales that day to MOHF.  Please bring $20/shirt cash or a check made out to The Mighty Oakes Heart Foundation when picking up your shirt.

 

Parking Information:

Arrival Time:  6:30 a.m. – 7:00 a.m.

Parking can be difficult to find near the start and finish line and the lots and streets will fill up quickly.  If you choose to park near the “Course Cheer Location” (see below) it may be easier to find a place to park.  This location is about a quarter mile away from the finish line.  Parking lots near the “Course Cheer Location” can be found at 18^th & Chestnut and 20^th& Chestnut.

 

Course Cheer Location:

Arrival Time:  7:00 a.m. - 7:30 a.m.

Meet on the south side (the side that is closest to Market) of Olive between 16^th & 18^th streets to support race participants as they run by.  Be sure to stand on the south side of the street so you will not have to cross the course to get to the finish line location.  This will also assist the MOHF runners as they will know where to look for you as they run along Olive!  This location is around the six mile marker on the race course, MOHF runners may begin to pass through this location at approximately 7:35 a.m.

 

Finish Line Location: 

Arrival Time:  8:20 a.m.

Leave the Olive Location around 8:10 a.m. and walk approximately a quarter of a mile to the Market & 15^th area.  The finish line area will be very crowded with spectators so the MOHF support team may move west on Market, to find a less crowded area, to increase visibility.  Stand on the north side of Market to avoid having to cross the course.  If you are unable to meet at the Olive Course Cheer Location, feel free to join the MOHF support group here!

 

Family Reunion Location:

Arrival Time:  9:30 a.m.

After the runners complete their run they will enter a secure area that is not open to those not running the race.  After runners exit this area, they will enter the family reunion area.  The family reunion area is organized by letters; runners typically meet their family under the letter of their last name.  We will meet under the “O” in honor of Mighty Oakes.  After the half marathon runners and relay team runners have met the MOHF support team in the family reunion area, we will all move to the “Finish Line Location” to support those running the full marathon.

 

Additional Information:

“Be Mighty” Signs:  Feel free to create your own MOHF “Be Mighty” sign to show your support!  We will also be decorating signs Friday night at Provalo.

After the race, there will be a team reunion/celebration at Llewelyn’s in Webster.  Hope to see everyone there!

                       

We wanted to be sure to thank all of our friends that have helped to organize this event, especially Sarah and Rob Skinner, Kate Rycenga, Cindy Underwood-Oleshak, Joel Bittle, and Stephanie Harris. Your kindness and thoughtfulness is humbling. We are blessed to have you as our friends, and I know if our children are watching us now, they will grow up to be thoughtful and kind as well. And of course, MIGHTY! And to everyone that is running on Saturday, we love you, thank you and we don't have to encourage you to BE MIGHTY, we already know you are!! XOXO, Becky