Thank You to Everyone for Making the Benefit a Huge Success!

PHOTO BY MEREDITH WILCKE

What an awesome day: 8-08-08. It's difficult to put into words how thrilled and grateful Bridget and I are to all those who gave of themselves and of their valuable time to help us raise funds to help our son, Finn, fight Diamond-Blackfan Anemia. The huge outpouring of support received has lifted us up and given us much hope. It means so much to know that we are not alone. Finn has Bridget and I--and we are determined to get him the medical care he needs to fight DBA and hopefully overcome it.

Of course Finn has no idea how many people care about him so much. One day, he will.

Our thanks go to William Dunn who first gave us the idea of conducting a fundraiser for Finn. He and his wife, Jeanie, did so much more: they helped with planning and organizing and they gathered great donations for the silent auction.

Kevin and Mandy Miller also helped immensely with planning and organizing the events and thinking through so many of the details in the early planning stages. Kevin, in particular, managed the golf event and it went off seamlessly.

Dino Balani of Win Imports gave so much of himself in encouraging and orchestrating corporate sponsorships for the golf tournament.

Thank you to Lure Design who designed an enigmatic image for the concert poster and t-shirts and who screenprinted limited edition prints with all proceeds going to the Foundation. Thank you for giving your time and producing gorgeous work for the event.

A big thank you to Meredith Wilcke who photographed Finn prior to the event and photographed the silent auction and concert. Please go to her site: Finn Gunderson DBA Benefit Photos Chances are there's an excellent photograph of you on it.

And a huge thank you to Caitlin Barry-VanVoorhis for hosting the silent auction at her awesome watering hole in downtown Orlando, FINNHENRY'S.

THANK YOU to all of the gracious and hard-working volunteers and to those who gave of their time in helping collect silent auction items:
Kerrie Gill, John Nico, Lee + Stephanie Richarde, Maureen, Melissa + Emily Barton, Camy Linton, Jen Bierly, Ron Gonzalez, Daniel Barton, Henry + Heather Bryson, Kim
+ Dennis Bryson, Buddy + Susan Bell, Jen Clary, William, Jeanie + Aubrey Dunn, William + Sandy Dunn, Sandra Bianco, who not only donated two massages to the silent auction, but provided massages to the golfers during the tournament to help raise more funds, Richie Miller, and RJ Bock. THANK YOU! And thank you to my mother, Kathy Gunderson, for watching Finn during the duration of the event. XOXO

When I asked my friend, Steven Foxbury if he'd be willing and able to come all the way down from Pittsburgh to Orlando to do a show on Finn's behalf, he immediately said yes. His concert was amazing. Like so many others, he shared with us all a gift and through that gift, he's improved many lives--especially Finn's.

I want to thank Bridget for being so brave and focused on Finn's care. It is an immense job. She does it with grace and on top of it all she worked diligently behind the scenes in numerous ways to pull everything together.

I want to thank all of you.

Most of all, however, I want to thank Finn--my 10 month old son who is brave, strong, and joyful. He is a gift from God and he helped bring so many wonderful people together. He gave Bridget and I a gift for which I will forever be thankful: a real, profound sense of community and hope. We are not alone in this. We are surrounded by good people who have given so much of themselves.

Thank you all.