Bethany's request for help

Thank you for letting me post this message.

I am going to jump rope to help raise money for the American Heart Association. Read this to find out more about Jump Rope For Heart. (My mom showed me how to do a hyperlink).

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2360

I am 9 years old and I have a goal of raising at least $150.00. I have 3 weeks to raise the money.

I go to Alabama Christian Academy and I am in the 4th grade.

Thank you so much. I am glad my mom has friends like you.

Love,
Bethany Vaughan

My mom said to email us if you want to help.

How lovely to see you post Bethany!! We are so enthusiastic about your commitment and applaud you for your generosity and kind heart! I will mail your mum!!

Bethany, you and Mom have mail~~ Jo

you have e-mail :o)

Hi Bethany! Hope we can help you meet your goal. And, we're glad to have friends like your Mom. You have mail! John

Watch out for the postman Bethany!! I too hope that the contributions come flooding in for you :-)

you have more mail

The actual "jump date" will be Feb. 22nd. Bethany gets to choose several friends to jump with and they'll all take turns jumping. The team jumps, taking turns, for an hour.

I wonder if videotaping that might make me dizzy. :) Oh, actually, I probably won't be able to videotape it anyway as I'm having the Lasik eye surgery three days before she participates in the fundraiser. I can't have anything around my eyes. Hmmmmmmm. Rats, now I have to find a way to capture this on film.
(putting thinking cap on)

make sure you take some pictures for us here!

Vic,

Your donation just arrived. When Bethany gets home from school I'll let her open it. Boy, will she be surprised! Thanks again for your generosity. The American Heart Assocation will certainly appreciate it.

~Carla and Bethany

Yes, she's like a bullet that vic!! :-)

Two more donations came in today! Bethany and I (and little Kaley) went door to door for almost two hours today and with all she's collected so far, including DG folks, she's up to $68.00. If we keep this up, she'll make her goal of $150.00 before long. Thanks so much for your help and support.

Update:

Bethany went to my ladies Bible study on Thursday night and she's up to $113.00! Of course, now, she's gone and raised her goal to $200.00 since she has until 2/22 to raise money. :) Kids!

WOW!!!!!

Bethany know that I am very proud of you and as I am reading this I am crying. What you are doing is very thoughtful and just wonderful. I lost my little boy when he was 2 days old because of a congenital heart disease (maybe you can have Carla look that up for you if you're wondering what it is). They could not find a heart and there was nothing they could do. My children used to jump for the American Heart Association too when the school had it. When I worked at Office Depot a few years ago I had a certain amount of my check go straight to the American Heart Association. I'm always hoping that maybe they can help someone else and that they always find new things to help others. I don't know what else to say as I have tears in my eyes now it is hard to write. Thank you so much for doing this!!!

Latest news:

Bethany has surpassed her goal of $200.00 and is pressing on to her NEW goal of $300.00.

This is personal for us, too. My mom's dad (Bethany's great-grandpa Smith) and my dad's mom (Bethany's great-grandma Thompson) both died of heart disease.

That is a wonderful accomplishment. Well done Bethany!! You will now be inspired to do much more in the future!! I couldn't be happier for you!!

Hey Bethany, May I claim you as a surrogate GDaughter? Mine is all grown up, married and is in the U.S. Navy..and I' VERY proud of her too!! Jo

Bethany has read all of these messages and, roadrunner, she'd love to be your granddaughter. She laughed when she read that. I imagine she's thinking about Christmas and birthday presents. :)

Thanks to all of you for your awesome support. I know it has meant a lot to Bethany. We're in a little bit of a money-raising slowdown. The weather is quite chilly, so going door-to-door isn't an option with the baby. If I remember right, she's at $223.85 (one boy on our street emtied his pocket and had $0.85) Isn't that sweet?

Love you all.

Thank you to those who have sent contributions (John, I appreciate the sentiment about her reaching ALL of her goals. What a nice thought.) Bethany will hopefully reach her new goal this weekend.

Even with the sleet and cold, she's put on her gloves and taken a two-way radio with her to knock on doors (I don't want to take the 2 yr old out so I keep the other radio with me). Nothing seems to slow this kiddo down.

Thank you one and all for your encouragement.

E-mailing you!

Thanks, Aimee.

Here's something you might also find interesting. The school Bethany attends (Alabama Christian Academy) has raised more money for the American Heart Association than any other school in the state of Alabama for the past 3 years.

Something else, too, that we have come across that has been a little bit surprising to us....heart problems touch more lives than we ever thought possible. On one street in our neighborhood (Saturday), we had a lady tell us her husband had a heart attack and also a man who had a pacemaker put in just a week ago. A friend at church had a heart attack on Thursday and the same day we received an email from another friend about a 36 yr old woman who had a massive heart attack and died leaving two small children behind. All of this in a few day's time. It's hard to believe.

At least, for us, it's been an eye-opener and for Bethany, in particular, a new awareness of how people around us every day go through difficult times.

BETHANY REACHED HER GOAL! Tonight, Daddy took her out and she went over the top - more than $300 raised for the American Heart Association. She leads her class now (4th grade) in money raised. Yeeehhaaaaaa!

Way to Go my new GRANDDAUGHTER!!! Honey, I'm so proud of you! You get a special (((Hug))) at Round-up. G'Ma Jo