SUCCESS: Histio Awareness 2013 Wrap-Up

It is with such plesaure that we announce Liam's Lighthouse Foundation's Histio Awareness Campaign and 5K TO FIGHT HISTIO 2013 was a HUGE success! We were blessed to have so many histio families and friends with us in NYC this year including a number of warriors and survivors! The bonds and memories that were made are priceless and this is just the beginning! We were also blessed to have two very special guest speakers at our Meet and Greet including Dr. Lisa Filipovich, HLH expert, researcher, and treating physician, and Mr. John Henkels, father to an HLH angel and author of Samuel's Mission. Thank you both for taking time out of your busy schedules to join us this year! I would also like to say thank you to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center for sponsoring our Meet and Greet that evening!

We are so thrilled to report the 5K TO FIGHT HISTIO had 216 participants and raised just under $82,000.00 for it's first year with some donations still funneling in! THANK YOU SO MUCH to our many donors and sponsors, all who worked so hard trying to fundraise to reach your goals, and those volunteers who worked so tirelessly to help make sure our event was a success! HUGE THANKS to Ralph Nardell Photography for donating his time and talent to cover our event and to the following dedicated volunteers as well: Lynn Carle, Amanda Majusiak, Lori Negron, Jodie Stewart, and Bill Wilkinson. But most of all, this event would not have been possible without three very special people that wanted to make a difference for a very special little boy they had never met. The love and dedication these three women continue to give to this cause is nothing short of amazing and complete selflessness. Although not one of them has been directly affected by histio, they have been forever changed by a little angel, Liam Christopher, and they take time away from their own lives and families to help all of us, especially myself. Rochelle Wilkinson, April Zambetti, and Jennifer Mercereau, there are not enough 'thank yous' in the world!

It is important to note that although we did not receive the live coverage we would have liked this year due to the birth of the royal baby, we made HUGE strides of increasing awareness and hopefully much more to follow in the near future. Most of our attendees had already left The Today Show when the good stuff started happening. We spoke directly with two of the producers at The Today Show for a lengthy period of time and provided them with the necessary information. One of the head producers explained that if it were any other day, things would have been very different in the amount of coverage we would have received. She asked us to come back another day but we explained to her these families come from all over the world to be here and represent their loved ones and we aren't able to come back another day. She assured me she would follow up with me for a possible interview and we exchanged contact information. The other producer took out his phone and started to record our conversation and interview us outside The Today show stating he was going to show it to his producers and hopefully that would lead us to an interview. I feel we made true progress this year by getting to speak with the right people which had not been accomplished in the previous years. We also connected directly with Robin Roberts of GMA, giving her our information and educating her about histio. We will not give up regardless of the turnout. THIS IS OUR AWARENESS EVENT and we WILL be back next year!

In summary, we had a very SUCCESSFUL event! We raised tons of awareness, tons of money for research, and made significant connections with the right people! It's going to be hard to top this next year, but I have no doubt in my mind that WE CAN and WILL do it TOGETHER!

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THOSE WHO MADE THE TRIP AND CAME OUT TO STAND, WALK, RUN, AND RAISE AWARENESS WITH US IN NYC! WE COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT ALL OF YOU!

Sincerely,

Michelle Schulze
Founder/President
Liam's Lighthouse Foundation