A lot has been going on behind the scenes lately. We came home with over 160 bears from Ariella’s Birthday Bearnanze and we decided it was time to move some out. 323 were delivered to Children’s National Hospital in DC, one for every child. They will be receiving a bear and blanket at Thanksgiving. 50 bears were delivered to Mt. Washington Pediatric’s outpatient clinic in Baltimore. We still have a good amount left. About 30 or so will be going to Sinai Hospital in Baltimore the day after Thanksgiving, delivered by some of our youth volunteers.
We took on the challenging task of planning a 5K run for next September, for childhood cancer awareness month. All of the proceeds of this run will go directly to a research grant specific to childhood cancer. This has been quite an undertaking already and we are only just getting started. We have a great committee helping with this event and though the planning is daunting we are very excited!
Our next event is quickly approaching, the 1st annual Dance-a-Thon. Registration just opened and if you would like to participate, you can find the registration link on our events page. We are working hard to iron out the small details and know we will have a great and fun event. Other events in the works include a Paint and Sip for adults in April and a golf tournament in June.
One last bit of big news, Ari’s Bears is now officially a 501 (c)(3)! We have a lot of work ahead of us but it is worth it to carry on Ariella’s legacy. But to all our supporters, we couldn’t do it without you. Thank you!