Changes Coming to Strides Blog

It’s not that I like change, mind you. I’m actually against it. However, I want to provide you, the reader, with more than just the happenings of the household. Beating cystic fibrosis is too important just to tell you that I ran “X” number of miles in a given week. Ending the threat of CF will require information, knowledge, and power. Offering the hope that is part of our motto requires that we buck up and do something drastic.

So stand by for some changes over the next several weeks. Some of them will be subtle and some will be pretty big. The first thing you’ll notice is that I changed most of the labels on my posts, and deleted a few posts that really had nothing to do with cystic fibrosis and Team Sam’s fight against it.

My next project will be a series of polls. I will run them for one week at a time in order to get to know my audience better. It is an audience that is growing continually and it’s time to get to know each other better.

So I'll start with me. I’m Dan. I’m a dad. My son and daughter are more precious to me than anything in the world, along with Alicia, my wife. Unfortunately, our daughter has cystic fibrosis. It is a pity that she has the disease, but I’ve grown a lot since learning that she had it.

I wouldn’t wish CF on my worst enemy, yet we have it in our family. I’m grateful for the opportunity to do some amazing things though. I get to watch a disease die.



I get to watch a disease die…

Samantha's Story

12/8/2005-Samantha was born healthy after an uneventful pregnancy and planned C-Section. We were unaware at the time, but Samantha's blood would be tested for CF in a standard newborn screening.

12/19/2005-Samantha's cough concerned the lactation consultant who essentially ordered us to have her checked out.

12/20/2005-General pediatrician dismissed the concerns about the cough.

12/21/2005-We received a voice mail message from the Pediatric Pulmonary department stating they had results back from Samantha's newborn screening, and they needed to see us the next day to tell us the results.

12/22/2005-Exactly 2 weeks from the day Samantha was born, we received the news that Samantha tested positive for CF.

If you want to read more, Alicia has written about those first 2 weeks on her blog, and it gives an accurate and detailed description of what we were feeling.

What is this blog for?

My name is Dan Smith and with my wife Alicia, I lead the “Team Sam” Great Strides fundraising team. Our mission is singular, in that we want to raise money and awareness in the fight against cystic fibrosis. So what is this blog about? Well, we've learned some things in our fundraising adventures, and we hope to learn more things from you about fundraising.

The simple fact is, there are plenty of books out there about non-profit fundraising. Not only can we not compete with those books, but we don't want to. Most books are written from the mindset of the organizer or the non-profit executive.

Because I am simply a father, and I assume that many of you are simply the parents or loved ones of those affected by this disease (or another), I needed something that would offer me grass-roots ideas for raising money and awareness for my cause. Therefore, I hope that this blog will do for us what many books do not. I want this to be a place where we can exchange information, where we can develop ideas for raising funds, awareness, and hope.

Whether you are in the fight against cystic fibrosis, cycle-cell anemia, or some other disease or disorder, we hope you will find a home here at our blog. We value your positive suggestions and hope to see you often!