5th Annual
SwimmingStClair Fundraiser
To those of
you who have been following us and have been active fundraising participants,
“We Salute You”. Without you this doesn’t work - we appreciate your
continued support.
On Tuesday,
July 17th, 2012, a small group of
adventurers who clearly exhibit more persistence than brains will again attempt
to swim the length of Lake St Clair, beginning just south of the Old Club on
Harsen’s Island, and ending at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club. Normally I
would say, “if the weather cooperates”, but our last 4 swims have each brought
unique weather-related challenges, so I won’t bother. However, I will say
that if the wind once again comes out of the southwest, it will make for
another challenging year.
Our chase
boat will again be donated and captained by Mike Stevens, who will also be one
of the swimmers, though this year Mr. Blake Kenny may also be “with
boat”… They, along with the 4 crazed Seadoo pilots, will stay with us as
we make our way on what was last year a weather-shortened 12.5 mile, 7 hour
swim. Our hope is to make it the entire 14.2 miles again this year. We are hoping to avoid the driving rain, lightning and hail that
characterized 2009’s swim, and the relentless winds coming out of southwest
that pounded us in 2010 and 2011.
The purpose
of our effort is to bring more attention to those afflicted with cystic
fibrosis and to raise funds for Rickie’s Medical Trust Fund. Rickie, who
is just about to turn 11, was diagnosed with cf on October 12th,
2007. Cf is a hereditary disease that attacks the lungs and the
pancreas. It eventually blocks air flow in the lungs, and can also block
the ability of the body to pull necessary nutrients from food. The good news is
that the national cf foundation is making tremendous progress in developing
medicines – the average lifespan of cf patients is now nearly 40 years, up from
about 17 years less than 25 years ago. The bad news is that it is still a
deadly disease. The lesson is that we all have to be our own patient
advocates – it helps good doctors make better decisions. Please click on www.swimmingstclair.com to learn more. If you can donate
to Rickie’s Medical Fund, it would be appreciated. If you are interested
in learning more about the disease, or in donating to the Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation, please click on www.cff.org. There is a way to donate money on
behalf of the Metro Detroit Chapter in Rickie’s name if you’d like to do that
as well. Either way, thanks again for your support and interest,
especially in today’s economy.
2011 was a big year for one of swimmers – Jenny Bermelin, who took on the
English Channel three weeks after she swam with us, and became the first
Michigan woman and the fastest American woman in 2011 to successfully cross the
channel. We are very proud of her, and wish her the best – she is unable
to make our swim this year because she is due to give birth in less than two
months. Actually, she is still considering swimming with us anyway.
This is why we call her “La Machine”. Please click on www.jennybirmelin.com
to read about her incredible exploits.
Please pass
this on if you know someone who might be interested. And if you come across someone else who has cf – please ask them to contact us. We’d like
to get them hooked into the fabulous assistance network provided by the
National CF Organization, a model for charitable organizations
nationwide. They can help, through medical research, through financial
advising and through working together, but individuals need to contact
them.
