This Race Is "Snow" Joke! (Insert Groan Here)

We just wanted to take a moment to let you all know how important this upcoming race is to Sy and our family. It appears that all the registered racers have blown the doors off the original estimates! Everyone is ready to have an all out party this weekend!

Although we will not be able to quantify the amount of fun that everyone will have (playing in real snow, sliding on a huge inflatable slide, eating baked goodies, hanging with firefighters, etc.), we can quantify how much your participation means to Sy's therapy...

For every one 5K runner plus one Fun Runner, we will be able to purchase one of Sy's 25 pound bags of carrots or two bags of his yummy apples. If we didn't have you, Sy would still be on his yucky nutritional formula and possibly unable to eat by mouth. If we didn't have any of you volunteers this weekend, we would not be able to even have this event! We hope to thank everyone in person who has played a part, but there are so many of you!

This blog will never do it justice, but we SINCERELY THANK YOU ALL from the bottom of our hearts! Even before the starting gun goes off, this race has been a huge success. Thank you for being the volunteering hands and running feet of love! We are completely overwhelmed by it!

Bountiful Harvest of Friends!

As you all know, Sy is hitting the Gerson Therapy full force! Even though he can only have a very few of the allowed foods and still lives on a mostly liquid diet of juice and soup, the amount of produce needed is unbelievable. For Sy's diet, this is the amount of organic produce he goes through on a MONTHLY basis:

150 pounds of carrots
48 pounds of apples
25 heads of romaine
4 bunches of swiss chard
16 pounds of green peppers
12 pounds of onions
35 pounds of tomatoes
10 pounds of leeks
10 bunches of celery
4 bunches of flat leaf parsley
60 pounds of potatoes
A few oranges for juicing (everybody needs a treat, right?)

Sy and his personal fridge of goodness

As anyone can see, it is not only easy to get buried under the sheer amount of produce, but by the cost. A family of six on a firefighter's salary cannot make this happen on their own. When we think about taking on Sy's health by ourselves, we can easily get discouraged, but so many people have rallied around Sy and our family to make sure this kid gets healthy! Here are a few examples:

A few months ago, we were blessed by a group of folks who saw our need for produce and went way beyond to give us a tool to help lessen our costs. We were surprised to find out that people had come together to help purchase a tower garden for Sy. It is one of the coolest things ever! Putting a garden in our yard is not possible, so this tower allows us to grow an immense amount of food in a small area. It also allows us to make sure that the food we are harvesting is 100% organic. We are still learning the ins and outs (still working on our green thumbs), but this blessing was huge and the hearts that were behind it are simply amazing. Check this thing out:

Isn't it beautiful?

If you have a moment, check out the Living Towers site and see these great gardens! Thank you, Jessica and the Living Towers peeps for helping us kick EE to the curb!

Another way that God has provided is through our local organic coop group. Because Laura (the gal who runs it) has a great heart, she told us that she was burdened to help Sy in some way. Both she and her husband have grown the local coop and have put hours into making it easy for people to get great organic produce at a great price. Even though some local stores carry what Sy needs in his diet, the prices can be a deterrent. Not only has she provided great convience and pricing, but she found a way to rally the other members of the coop to buy a portion of what Sy needs. Since money was dwindling down in Sy's medical account, this ENORMOUS blessing has allowed us to continue the therapy longer! Just when we were coming to the end of our rope, God brings people into our lives to show that He cares for Sy and that no obstacle can stand in His way.

If you are local to Clermont and you are in need of organic produce, please consider checking out the Clermont Organic Co-op site and start getting great prices! You guys are making a tremendous impact on Sy's health and our family! We love y'all!

Thank you all for taking the time to read this! See you soon!
Jordan