Drink for the Cure wrap up

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Thank you so much to everyone who helped organize, participated, volunteered, and attended Drink for the Cure on Saturday. I had a fabulous evening, and most importantly, we raised over $2000 for breast cancer research!

Thank you.

Which led me to raise my Race for the Cure goal to $3100. (Which is a somewhat arbitrary number, I know, but I'll be turning 31 the day after the race, so it seemed fitting). Once Saturday's bounty is added, I'll be about $600 away from my new goal. If you'd like to make an online donation to help me obliterate this new goal as well, you can do so via my Race for the Cure page.

Here are a few images from throughout the night:

This is Jia, who was essentially the catalyst that made the entire evening a) happen at all, and b) happen awesomely. I'm not entirely sure what he was saying when I snapped this, but if I were to guess, I'd imagine it has something to do with infinity and beyond.


Love, love, love this image of Vyora, doing her thing...


Our emcee extraordinaire for the evening, Kellee Maize, who also performed a set from her latest album.
 


After Jonäno's runway (barway?) fashion show, there was a live auction of three pieces from their lingerie line, the proceeds from which were generously donated to the pot.
 

David from Komen got up on the bar at one point to issue a challenge: he asked people to give $20, and for every $100 raised, he would match $100. This image is of the money being counted at the end.


It was at this point-  while David is standing in the bar and people are handing him twenty dollar bills- I was looking around the room, and I was a little overcome with emotion. There were all of these people, the majority of whom I had never met, giving their hard earned money to support a common goal. It was a really powerful moment.

Because here's the thing: this night was never really about me. My story is just one of many. Of too many. Too many people who have been affected by cancer.

This night was about Charissa, who lost her husband last year - at age 31- to Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She formed BRICKS for young adults in Pittsburgh, an organization that aims to connect young adult cancer patients to people and resources that may be helpful to them as they undergo treatment and beyond.

This night was about David, who came to speak on behalf of the Komen Foundation and Race for the Cure, whose mother is a 5-time breast cancer survivor.

This night was about Jay, who spoke on behalf of Gilda's Club. Jay was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 36.

This night was about Alison, a women I met earlier that day who also has the BRCA2 mutation, who is a lymphoma survivor, but lost her father to breast cancer. (Yep, her father.)

This night was about my sister, who died from leukemia at 32. And for her children, who never really got the chance to know her.

This night was about my mother, who couldn't attend because she is at a long-term care facility, attached to a wound vac and a morphine pump, after complications from her double mastectomy in March.

This night was for you, or someone you know, who has been affected by cancer, in any form.

Which is probably every single person who reads this, whether it is themselves personally, or someone they love. That is not ok. What can you do to support them? Donating money? There are a half a dozen great organizations listed throughout this post, if you need some ideas. Perhaps you're shorter on money and longer on time. Could you join me at Race for the Cure on Sunday (you can walk, if you're not a runner)? Could you make someone a meal? Give them a ride to the doctor? Sit with them and hold their hand while they get chemo? Call them up to say you're thinking about them? Send them a card? Be a mentor to a child who has lost a parent?

To see so many people come together, to choose to spend their Saturday evening in support of a common goal, was amazing. Because if we can do this, what else is possible?

What can you do today to reach out to someone in need?  

I want to officially thank the following:
Firehouse Lounge
Jia Ji and Couchange
Kellee Maize and Nakturnal
David Malli from Komen Pittsburgh
BRICKS for Young Adults
Jonäno
Gilda's Club
Hot Metal Muses- bellydancers
Vyora and Scheiny- bellydancers
DJ 7up
Cancer Caring Center
Tobi Makinde
Natalie Gable
LMFC
Laura Petrilla, who was there with her 'Pin Me Up' calendar, whose sales benefit breast cancer research.
Ginny, for giving my story a shout out on That's Church, and coming out to support the cause. Ginny for Mayor!
The volunteers who made the night run smoothly, and the models who made the night sexier. I *think* this is a complete list of everyone to who contributed to making the magic happen:
Anna Bender
Ashley Baker
Ashley Van Schaeffer
Bonnie Siefers
Bree Van Schaeffer
Charissa Hamilton-Gribenas
Chelsea Lupkin
Dajia Thomas
Edan Yago
Eric Redinger
Eric Venuto
Fernando Espejel
Jay Santa
Jessica Seibert
Jim Semonik
Jocelyn Wrzosek
Julie Philp
Lani Redinger
Lila Espejel
Lily Pietryka
Lisa Considine
Luisa Groher
Margaret Campbell
Marta Napoleone
Patrice Langford
Pian Shu
Robin Beruh
Rod Mcshane
Sarah Scheinman
Serena Bond
Spencer Warren
Sondra Woodruff
Stephanie Strasburg
Tao Wu
Tatsuya Graham

Also, I didn't have my camera with me all night, so I didn't get any images of some of the later speakers and performers. If you attended and took pictures that you have available online, leave a comment on this post with a link to where we can view your photos.

Tags: Around town, bellydancers, breastcancer, bricksforyoungadults, cancercaringcenter, couchange, dj7up, drinkforthecure, Events, firehouselounge, fundraiser, gildasclub, hotmetalmuses, jiaji, jonäno, Just me, kelleemaize, kimberlyreed, komenpittsburgh, nakturnal, pittsburgh, raceforthecure, scheiny, vyora

photos for the photo-adverse

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All of these recent photos of Eileen made me realize the photos of me on our website are horribly outdated. My dilemma here is two-fold:

One- I may or may not have ADD, which tends to manifest itself in the ever-changing color and style of my hair. Despite the best of intentions, I have a hard time keeping it the same for more than a few months. So really, within a month or two of any given photo, there is almost 100% certainty that my hair is a different color, length, or style. This presents a problem when I'm meeting someone for the first time, and they are expecting a redhead, when by that time I am blonde, or brunette, or some other colorful combo like hot-pink-and-brown.

Two- I really dislike having my photo taken. (Let's take a moment to ruminate on that little cosmic irony). If there is a camera in the room, I am instantly hyper-aware of it's presence and location, which results in most photos of me (trying so, so hard to look 'natural'), looking either: very uncomfortable, slightly confused, or like I have just smelled something really, really foul.

So I try to stay behind the camera, where I am much more comfortable. It's really best for everyone.

However, I think I have come up with a great solution. Instead of doing a whole new round of photos every few months, what if I just update the old photos with my current hairstyle?

Before:
After:

I think it's the perfect solution.

Just in case you're harboring doubts about the genius of that remedy, here is a slightly more updated photo of me, taken by my very dear friend, the fabulously talented Angela Anderson, while we were in New Orleans this past November:

Only I've started growing my hair out since then, so right now it looks a little more like this:


The good news is, should the photography world ever turn it's back on me, I'm pretty sure I've got a real shot at being a hair stylist.

Tags: angelaanderson, Just me, kimberlyreed, kimberlyreedphotography, kimreed, Portrait