Stay Involved in the Community

One of the things that really bothered me last Christmas was when a friend posted on facebook something along the lines of wishing she could do more to help others and asked what others wished they could do and I felt like everything they mentioned was possible if they just spent some of their time during the year to make it happen. We each choose what we want to do and where we want to put that effort.

The local firefighters want to restore and paint an old firetruck to help raise awareness for cancer - including getting checkups so that if you do develop cancer it can be caught earlier.  Everyone says how important it is to catch cancer in the early stages because it's more curable but one of the other reasons is that it's less expensive. Surgery to remove it is seriously the cheapest thing.  Chemo is not cheap. Radiation is not cheap.  I had great insurance but it's taken years to pay off all the co-pays, deductibles, out of pocket maximums, in addition to lots and lots of time off work, and other expenses no one even thinks about like all the long car trips over and over again to get to treatment. 

My husband is on the board for Cache Valley for Hope. We had a booth at the Firefighter's 5K. Tyler even spoke in the interview with Laura Wolford on the Valley Channel. We help people locally (i.e. Cache Valley).  One family needed help repairing a bathroom, another needed an ice maker, several needed gas cards, one needed her windows cleaned inside and out because the sunshine helped her so much as she watched her daughter pass away from a brain tumor, and Christmas dinner was provided for many of those too tired and busy with doctor appointments and treatment to get out of the house once again. 

Tyler helped with the auction and the Miss Cache Valley and Miss Bear River donated their time to help raise cancer awareness and money for the firetruck.  

I guess my point is that when Christmas comes around I hope that you've done something to give back to your community and to help those in need.  You can't do it all but you can do something.