On the next slides you will see the template mailer you can - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

On the next slides you will see the template mailer you can send to your contacts during your fundraising efforts. Using your family’s Christmas, Hanukah, Holiday, etc. card mailing list is a great place to start in compiling a list of addresses for friends and family!On the next slide, you will need to update the bottom portion with your Team Name (don’t forget the checks payable section!) and respective URL’s. You can personalize your URL by following these steps:Log-in to your account at cctakesteps.org and open your Participant CenterClick “Personal Page” and then click “URL Settings” next to the Personal Page URLShorten your link and repeat for your Team PageOn the last slide, you’ll want to include your personal story with IBD and why you walk with Take Steps. Be as open and heartfelt as you feel comfortable. Two examples are typed up for your reference. Also include a photo for added value!. Once you have your mailer updated and list of names/addresses compiled, send them both to Emily at edubois@ccfa.org and we’ll have Kohl’s volunteers prep and mail your letters out to earn your team an extra $500!

Take Steps Template MailerSlide2

TEAM NAME Register to walk with our team at: http://online.ccfa.org/goto/TEAMNAME Donate to my personal goal at: http://online.ccfa.org/goto/INDIVIDUALNAMEMake checks payable to CCFA & send to:Take Steps St. Louis – TEAM NAME1034 S. Brentwood Blvd, Suite 1510St. Louis, MO 631172016

TAKE STEPS

Join us for

Sunday, June 5th

2:30 Festival | 3:30 Walk

Creve Coeur Lake Park

13725 Marine Ave, Maryland Heights

TEAM NAME

Register to walk with our team at:

http://online.ccfa.org/goto/TEAMNAME

Donate to my personal goal at:

http://online.ccfa.org/goto/INDIVIDUALNAME

Make checks payable to CCFA & send to:

Take Steps St.

Louis – TEAM NAME

1034 S. Brentwood Blvd, Suite 1510

St. Louis, MO 63117

2016

TAKE STEPS

Join us for

Sunday, June 5th

2:30 Festival | 3:30 Walk

Creve Coeur Lake Park

13725 Marine Ave, Maryland HeightsSlide3

Hi my name is Cleveland DeShun Washington. I am 14 years old. I am in the 7th grade. I love to play basketball, baseball, and football. My favorite subject in school is science and math. I have Crohn’s Disease. Whenever my stomach would hurt I would try to relax and try, really try to calm down and not ball up in pain. I would sometimes miss school for a couple of weeks at a time. I was diagnosed at age 11. My mom was relieved to have a diagnosis and to be able to get me the help I needed for my pain. We have been dealing with it for so long and my primary physician finally sent us to a GI specialist. Fast forward to 2015 I just had to have an MRI and Colonoscopy done in November because I have been in pain even with the Remicade treatments I receive every six weeks. Remicade has helped me a lot with the pain I was having. But lately I have been having some severe abdominal pain. So my GI doctor is running more tests. This is the longest and hardest part of this disease…waiting for test results. My mom, family and friends have been there for me ever since I was diagnosed with this disease. I am not sure how I would be able to handle this if it were not for my mom. She works with me to calm me down when I began to hurt. If you have Crohn’s or Colitis it will take a while for you get it under control or to get used to having a chronic illness. This is only half of my story. I am honored to be the Take Steps Honored Hero for the 2016 Take Steps walk in June, and I hope you’ll join me in supporting CCFA and all patients living with IBD. Thank you for your love and support throughout the years!

Last

year’s walk brought a lot of successes – I survived my first “walk season” as Walk Manager, we raised a record high $8,000 as a team, and we spread the word about our support services to over 2,600 people on walk day! And most importantly, I came up with the ultimate slogan for my 2015 team: 10 years - 10 surgeries - $10,000. It’s the stuff advertising execs dream about, and I was pumped! Can you believe that I’ve had this disease for 10 years now? I can hardly wrap my head around the fact that I’ve done anything for a whole

decade!

But alas, ulcerative colitis is the cruelest of pranksters. And here I am today with the slogan “10 years -

14 surgeries

- $10,000.” (It just doesn’t have the same ring!) My old fistula tract from 2012 reopened, and is causing stomach acid and infectious fluid to drain from a small tunnel in my body. It’s painful, irritating, debilitating, and incredibly difficult to close. After four unpleasant surgeries and seven months of living a partial life, I’m now on medical leave until the doctors are able to close the fistula for good – hopefully this month.

For every minute that I’m joyful, confident, hopeful, and brave; there are a hundred more where I’m absolutely terrified. When will this pain stop? Am I going to be able to work today? Will this next surgery fix me? How many more times will this disease interrupt my life? The worries swirl around in my mind like a twister – reckless, destructive, and dark.

I’ve learned a lot of things through the challenges God has given me over the past 10 years, and one of those is to always find meaning in my suffering. When things get too grim, I focus even more intently on the impact I’ve been able to make on the lives of so many others suffering from Crohn’s and UC. I’ve become courageous through the grace and mentoring of many nurses, doctors, and IBD friends, and I’ve passed on that strength to countless other families. Because through all this BS we deal with, hope is what matters. And CCFA provides that hope.

$10,000 is a big goal. I’m going to need a lot of help to reach it. Selling candy bars at work, putting out a collection jar, or asking a few friends to donate will make a huge difference. I am so very grateful for all your support over the years! Keep me in your prayers on May 14

th

, and please spread the word so we can hit our goal!