The first step of the Walk--will you join us?

Last night, my wonderful hubby and I helped Amanda complete her website for the upcoming "National Walk for Epilepsy."

Two of the founding members of Team "SHAKE" (Spring Hill Advocacy for Kids with Epilepsy) will be attending, and we are starting to get excited! We are also starting to get sore as we prepare for the walk, but that's another story.

Here's an excerpt from Amanda's website:

"One afternoon, mom was digging through the internet and discovered this walk. I knew right away that I wanted to go, but mom needed some convincing. She hasn't had her walking shoes on for a while!

After some talking about it, we agreed that this shouldn't just be about one walk, but it should be about the walk that we've been making as a family towards understanding what epilepsy is, what it's not, and how we can make the journey a little easier for other people living with it.

SHAKE plans to be a resource to help those coping with fears and challenges as well as the isolation that comes with epilepsy--both for kids and their parents. We think that no one with epilepsy should ever feel like they need to make this journey alone. "

SO. This is where you come in. Will you help? We have just a month to reach a goal of $1,500. Every dollar counts in this walk. We need big gifts, small gifts, any gifts at all. All gifts are tax deductible, of course. If a tax deduction isn't important to you, (like say, if you just exercised a gazillion stock options or something ;-) ) perhaps you'd like to consider partnering with Amanda as she works to cover her personal out of pocket expenses for participating, which are nearly $400. She plans to try to pay the cost herself, but hopes to be able to raise the funds through family and loved ones, instead of trying to do $400 worth of babysitting, pet sitting and chores in a month.

To give, please click on the title at the top of this article.

Or, you can cut and paste
http://www.walkforepilepsy.org/goto/shake into your web browser.

If you prefer to do things the old fashioned way and/or don't want your name on the honor roll, send us a check made payable to "The Epilepsy Foundation," c/o Megan Hawkes, 1721 Shetland Lane, Spring Hill, TN 37174.

Whether you can help financially or not, please pray for us. I should have written that first I know, but maybe by ending with it, I'll leave it in your mind as the most important part of this walk. Please pray for Amanda's health between now and then, for safe travel and that she will make lasting connections with others. We are also praying that she will learn some amazing lessons through this walk, which will encompass just a few of the footsteps of the lifetime journey our family is on.


Blessings,
Megan, Bob, Amanda, Heather and Meghan

PS--if you want to find out more about the National Walk for Epilepsy, visit http://www.walkforepilepsy.org/. Click on 'Find a Team' to the left. Click 'Search for a team' and enter SHAKE. Remember, we only have a month to make our goal. Thanks for letting us share this with you!