On Tuesday night, a crew of 18 staff members donned party hats, ate pizza, cheers-ed some sparkling cider and got down to the feel-good business of thanking our donors.

In under two hours, they reached out to nearly 500 community supporters who were grateful, surprised, shocked and touched that we would take the time to call just to say thank you. One donor exclaimed, “That’s the nicest reason anyone has ever called!”

Beyond the pizza, highlights of the evening for some staff members included talking to the grandmother of a 5 and one half-year-old donor, the folks that Amy Tarleton dog-sits for and Kevin Lindamood’s mother-in-law.

These are our neighbors, friends and fellow advocates. A simple thank you goes a long way.

And in that spirit, party hats off to the enthusiastic and dedicated staff who volunteered their time to make the 2017 Thank-a-Thon such a success:

Aaron Perseghin

Amy Tarleton

Anthony Jones

Ashley McKinnon

Beza Baheru

Bilqis Rock

Christina Bauer

Emily Radawiec

Hanna Mast

Keiren Havens

Kevin Feldt

Kimberly Carroll

Lauren Waldt

Nicole Tucker

Regina Reed

Sydnee Wilson

Tina Rickabaugh

Tracy Russell

Thank you!