Kid’s Day a success thanks to community

Published 12:47 am Friday, October 3, 2008

I am grateful to live in a community that has so many people who care about improving the quality of life for children and families. This year’s second annual Kids Day America event held at North Bend Elementary would not have had the tremendous impact that it did without the many volunteers who dedicated their time and energy. I would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their enthusiastic participation and efforts. More than 400 people attended and 175 children were given ID cards, photos and received their first spinal screening.

Without the dedication of my staff, Theresa Harper, Ann Benedict and Tracey Sanservino, I could have never sponsored an event of this magnitude. Ann worked tirelessly procuring the many items donated by local businesses for the raffle that benefited Children’s Services of Sno-Valley. I am honored to have women on my team who share my passion for improving the health, safety and environmental awareness of children.

Special thanks and appreciation to Domino’s Pizza for delivering fresh pizzas during the event; Dr. Betty Martin and Dr. Ben Krey for spinal screening; officer Ted Boe from the North Bend Police Department for helping with the fingerprinting and ID cards; Trooper Mike Bassett and his partner from the Washington State Patrol for their car-seat safety presentation; the city of North Bend Councilman Jack Webber for presenting the mayor’s proclamation for Kids Day; Lisa Schaffer from the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce for her support; Butch Harper for taking all the photos for the ID cards, the Department of Natural Resources for allowing us to use Smokey Bear; Eastside Fire and Rescue for its fire engine and firefighters and the use of Sparky the firedog; Cascade Bicycle Club for the donation of the helmets and safety information; Snoqualmie Valley Alliance Church for its Great Adventure children’s program display and for providing the sound system, microphones and tables; Kimberly from the Spanish Academy for her display; Jason, the Alpine District head of the Boy Scouts of America; Maureen Arseneau and her Issaquah Pet Partners 4-H group that brought all the exotic animals and dogs for the petting zoo; Kay Norman and Karen Jensen for bringing their animals to the petting zoo; Angelique Grosvenor for donating the grand-prize bicycle and helmet; Theresa Harper for running the raffle and announcing the event activities, and Mary Kelley for helping her with balloons and prizes; Karen Goldenberger and Kelly Taklo for their artwork on posters and for the face-painting during the event; Allison and Dave Yarnchak, Jonathan Norman and Bill Bedell for their convincing performances of animal characters and Spider-Man during the event; Alan Tepper and members of the Panther Pride Unicycle Demo Team for their performances; Mount Si High School Key Club volunteers Matt Carlson, Ben Gore and Zach Gore, who helped with traffic and people logistics; Bill at The Welding Shop Inc. for getting us a helium tank for the balloons; Tara Goodson, Pennie Smith, Janet Crowe and her children, Lori Mendoza, Rosie Lynch, Melody Possinger, Rhonda Neeb, Yvonne Knight, Anne Cole, Leslie Keogh, Kelly McGinnis, Martina Lynch, Charina Mullen and Michael Gavronski for station management, greeting and photos; Sno Falls Credit Union for bringing its mascot, Rocky Raccoon; Mary Lamar-Likes for use of her tent; Tracy and Mike Sanservino for use of their beverage cooler; and Ruth Moen for her organizational help.

Thanks also to the many businesses who were unable to donate anything to the event but were able to display Kids Day flyers, especially to McDonald’s and Taco Time, for putting flyers into their bags of food; and the Snoqualmie Valley School District and the local day cares and preschools who let us send flyers home with the children.

I want to extend a sincere note of gratitude to all my patients and practice partners who supported this event by distributing flyers all over the Snoqualmie Valley.

Kids Day America is truly a community event and I pray that each year more and more people will become involved in helping us to improve the lives of families – one child at a time – by helping them to feel safer, healthier and more environmentally aware. In light of the uncertain events around the world, we need each other more than ever.

May God bless all of you.

Leslie Bedell

Agape Chiropractic

Healing Center

North Bend