Events
"It
completely amazes me how many people in the community have taken to
Allison. I've had so many people tell me how she's touched their heart...even
when they haven't even met her."
Katie
Kerns, Allison's mom
CURRENT EVENTS:
Tim Wilkins from MOR-TV letting everyone know that August 8th on MOR-TV will be All Children's Day!
Also a big congratulations to Katie Kerns (Allison's mom) on her new position as Co-Chair of the Family Advisory Council at All Children's Hospital. She adds this position to her current role as President of the FSMA of Greater Florida. Congratulations, Katie!
NEW: Join the 2011 Allison Wonderland Walk 'n Roll Team
We are starting our Team early this year!! We have 3 ½ months to get our Allison Wonderland Team numbers up to 50 members (we had 30 last year!) and raise $4,000!! My personal fundraising Goal is $2,000. How much can you raise? Do a “casual day” at your office! Get your co-workers and neighbors to sponsor you! Invite others to join us!
Click here JOIN OUR TEAM or make a DONATION! All proceeds go to the Families of SMA organization for research for a cure or treatment for SMA. See you on November 19th
March 6 Jacob Isaac Rappoport run, walk, roll in conjunction with the South Florida Chapter’s Walk N Roll
Please visit the FSMA website for full details.
Saturday March 12 will be our first Chapter Meeting of 2011.
This year we are starting a different format for our meetings in hopes of attracting a bigger crowd and offering more services and information that can help you directly. We will have two breakout sessions at our meeting. The first will feature guest speaker Penny Perez from Putnam Health Advocates. Penny is a Senior Case Advocate who deals with medical bill audits, insurance appeals, case management, program eligibility and more. This will be a great opportunity to pick her brain and discuss any insurance and/or Medicaid questions that you may have wondered about or have had difficulties with. This is not only for children, but for our SMA adults as well. Please be sure to take advantage of this great opportunity to have an expert among us! Our second breakout session will be for our families who have lost a child or loved one to SMA. This session will be an opportunity for these members to have an open discussion led by Audra Butler, our Chapter Vice President. Our chapter would like to get feedback on how we can better serve our families who have lost someone to SMA and part of this open discussion will focus on that.
All Children’s Hospital Specialty Care of Brandon, FL
885 Parsons Avenue South
Brandon, FL 33511
Katie Kerns Cell – 727-512-4192 for questions
10:30 a.m.
Bike Night on Wednesday March 16 at 6 p.m. at Quaker Steak N Lube in Clearwater, FL.
The Greater Florida Chapter is the Charity of the Night at the area’s LARGEST bike night! There are literally thousand’s of the coolest bikes out there! Quaker Steak N Lube has awesome food, there’s a great band and the folks out there are a ton of fun to play with!! Look for our tent and information table!! We will have a few of our rare Ireland Harley Davidson Tshirts and Pins left to sell!
Orlando Event!! Orlando Event!! St. Patrick’s Day, March 17 Local Pub Event!! More Details to Follow!!!
Hope to see you all soon!!!
PAST EVENTS:
The Darryl Gwinn Foundation and the MDA present Allison with a new power wheelchair!
Presented by Darryl Gwinn himself! (Click here for more info)
Shore Acres Elementary School, St. Petersburg
Monday, November 15th, 9:45 a.m. sharp (It's a surprise!)
It is with great pleasure that we announce that Allison will become the recipient of a brand new power wheelchair this Monday, Nov. 15 at 10 a.m. at Shore Acres Elementary through the Darryl Gwynn Foundation. The DGF was started by racecar driver Darryl Gwynn who suffered a spinal cord injury and was left paralyzed. Through the DGF, power wheelchairs are awarded to families who don’t have medical insurance or those who have insurance, but don’t have the coverage for a power wheelchair. During Spinal Cord Injury Week (next week), the DGF is awarding one chair per day to families in need.
As most of you know, we spent a year raising over $20,000 for Allison’s current pediatric wheelchair. No one expected that Allison would grow so big and so fast! Allison will be receiving a brand new customized Permobile C300, which will carry her into adulthood. Having spent so much effort in raising money for her first power wheelchair, we can’t tell you how very thankful and honored we feel to have been given this opportunity. We were just at the point where we were going to have to completely scale back our fundraising and volunteer efforts in other areas so we could spend the next year fundraising for Allison’s new chair. The Darryl Gwynn Foundation has saved us from the worry and struggle we were about to face.
On Monday at 10 a.m., we invite you to this very special presentation where Allison will be awarded her new chair (which is still a surprise to her!) by Darryl Gwynn himself. The DGF has teamed up with the Muscular Dystrophy Association to make this presentation. There will be media and local dignitaries at this event. We would love for you to join us for this short ceremony. It’s our friends and family that have helped us get where we are and you are the ones that help keep us going in our times of ups and downs. We can’t imagine not having as many of you there as possible.
If you would like to attend, please be at Shore Acres Elementary School (1800 62nd Ave N St. Petersburg) at 9:45 a.m. on 11/15/10. There ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. sharp! You will need to sign in at the front office by showing your drivers license.
If you have any questions, please give me a call or shoot me an email. Thanks everyone!!
Thirty-One Fundraiser for Allison Kerns Medical Fund
Thursday, October 14 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm
10% of ALL sales will go directly to help the Kerns Family pay for medical expenses.
Come to Katie's House for a Thirty-one party. Haven't heard of Thirty-one? Check out their website.
They have the CUTEST items and everything can be monogrammed!!! Perfect timing too! Need a holiday gift? AND you're helping pay for Allison's medical equipment and bills.
If you can't make it, you can order online here, just select "My Events" in the lower right corner. And remember, 10% of ALL sales will go directly to Allison Kerns Medical Fund. Thank you for participating, and thank you Kelly for doing this for us!
Allison and Katie Featured on MDA Telethon
September 8, 2010
Click here to see the interview and Allison's story on the MDA telethon.
MDA Summer Camp 2010!
Click here for a peek inside. (Look for Allison and mom Katie at :23 seconds.)
MDA Boot Drive
May 15, 2010
Allison pitched in with lots of smiles at the MDA Boot Drive this Spring, raising funds with St. Petersburg firefighters.
Allison Kerns featured in Documentary on Spinal Muscular Atrophy
February 19, 2010
“Florida Crossroads” is an award-winning documentary series that airs statewide on all PBS stations, reaching 99% of Florida’s population. The interviews were developed into a moving half-hour episode of the series, titled “Andy’s Army”, after 5-month old Andy Butler who lost his battle with SMA last summer.
The documentary includes the stories of many SMA individuals including Andy Butler, Abigail Judge, Joie Smith, Allison Kerns, Elio Navarro and Tyler Hernandez.
Click here to view the documentary. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “View Now”, which is next to the entry for “Andy’s Army.” You will need “Real Player” to view.
Allison Kerns named 2010 Florida MDA Goodwill Ambassador
It is with great pride that we are able to announce that Allison has been selected for the second year in a row as the Muscular Dystrophy Associations (MDA) Goodwill Ambassador for the State of Florida. This year we will again travel to different MDA functions, meetings and fundraisers around the state of Florida to help spread awareness and raise support and funds for the 43 different neuromuscular diseases under the muscular dystrophy umbrella.
Our family is so grateful and appreciative to everyone’s continued support of Allison and her needs. There is no way we could do any of this without you.
Allison
Kerns, Covergirl!
Allison was chosen to appear on the cover of the FSMA publication – Directions. Take a look through Directions to learn more about SMA kids and their families, research and progress, and updates on current legislation.
Allison Kerns named 2009 Florida MDA Goodwill Ambassador
We wanted to share our exciting news with you. Allison has just been chosen by the Muscular Dystrophy Association to serve as the 2009 Florida MDA Goodwill Ambassador. Allison will be given the opportunity to travel around the state of Florida this year to attend different MDA fundraisers and events. Allison will meet lots of wonderful people with MD and those involved. We're so happy to be given this opportunity to help raise awareness and raise money for an organization that has helped us directly! We'll find out soon what our duties will entail. Click here to read the official press release.
Thank you for always supporting us.
Love, Health and Blessings in the New Year, Katie and Michael
Allison named St. Petersburg "Sunshine Ambassador"
In the Sunday, February 15th edition of the St. Petersburg Times, it was announced that Allison was recognized as a Sunshine Ambassador by the St. Petersburg City Council. The event on Thursday, February 12th was held at the St. Petersburg City Hall, and was attended by Mayor Rick Baker, city Council Members, along with Allison and her parents, Katie and Michael Kerns.
Click here to read the St. Petersburg Times article.
MDA Walk-in-Honor Walkathon
On December 7, 2008 Allison and Katie walked in their first MDA Walk-In-Honor walkathon. Katie and Allison walked in honor of Stephen Maxwell who passed away in September. Stephen had SMA Type 1 and is now an SMA Angel. Our goal was to raise $300 for MDA and we were thrilled to raise $695 in the end! Thank you to all for your continuous donations and support.
MDA Fundraiser
On Wednesday, December 3, 2008 the MDA raised funds at the Feather
Sound Lock Up at Bascom's Chop House. Jailbird participants
reached out to friends and family to help "raise bail" with
proceeds benefiting the MDA. Katie and Allison were the guests of honor,
and also had a central role in promoting the event.
Click below to see Katie and Allison's promo spots:
First promo video
Second promo video
Third promo video
Looking Forward...
When Allison turns 6, she will be able to attend a free week-long, overnight summer camp each summer, provided by the Muscular Dystrophy Association, where she will have doctors, therapists and assistants around her 24/7. Please remember the MDA when considering charitable contributions. They have done so much for us and so many other families affected by SMA and MDA.