If you know me, you know that I often mention Griffin’s Guardians, a local charity that supports families in the Central New York area that are dealing with everything associated with pediatric cancer. What do I mean by “everything”? Cancer affects much more than the health of a child and the medical appointments and procedures that he or she goes through. Griffin’s Guardians not only provides financial support for research and for individual families, they have several programs that touch the lives of the whole family, and also the entire community.
GG helps by offering families that are patients at Golisano Children’s Hospital with money for expenses, laundry supplies, games, books, you name it. They also know first hand how important it is to recognize that siblings have their own battles they are dealing with while their brother or sister are going through treatment. Grace’s Sibling Sunshine is one program that reaches out with gifts and small events to let them know that they are seen as part of the whole family team, that nobody is fighting alone, and GG knows it. Another program that was created by one of Griffin’s siblings is the EVERett Lasting Memories portrait sessions. ELM gifts families portrait sessions that provide them with professional portraits of the love and strength they all share. These are just a few of the amazing things that Griffin’s Guardians does for families.
One of the most incredible effects of GG and it’s work, is the way that they have created an entire community of cancer fighting individuals, families, businesses, and organizations that have stepped up to stand behind, and with, them. The impact that Griffin’s Guardians has had on families that are directly affected by cancer has been multiplied over and over by the sheer impact that GG has had on bringing awareness to AND inspired action from the CNY community.
From simple fundraising events in schools they created, with the ideas and implementation by the community itself, such as the Change for Hope coin collection and the Can Crush Cancer bottle drives to the participation in annual local events such as the St Baldrick’s head shaving event and running in the Boilermaker runs, these are all just a few ways that amazing people step up to help support GG and it’s missions.
There are also large fundraising events that occur throughout the year that demand a lot of time, energy, and resources to not only organize and to put on, but to support the event itself and bring in the people that make these events successful. Then there are the people that show up and recognize all that hard work and believe in helping raise the money for Griffin’s Guardians and Pediatric Cancer. I could go on more about these incredible, huge events, but I want you to please, visit https://www.griffinsguardians.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/griffinsguardians to learn more about their Annual Golf Tournament, Annual Hockey Tournament, and their beautiful Gold Tie Gala, and more!
Today, I am sharing about their Soccer Shoot Out Event, Kicking Cancer in the Nets. Last Friday, over SIX HUNDRED kids and adults formed over ONE HUNDRED teams in support of GG. I’m actually getting chills and tearing up a little as I write this. These teams, and their families, participated in this event and brought such an incredible energy and love to Clay Park Central in Liverpool and did EVERYTHING they possibly could to help Kick Cancer for good! Here are some photos of the event, and the sheer number of people that showed up and supported this event. This was their largest turnout yet, and although I constantly made the rounds to each and every net, it was impossible to capture it all; and for many reasons, I am actually grateful - that just means that so many people know how important Griffin’s Guardians is. THANK YOU to each and every one of you that participated in any way - you are making an impact, and you are helping GG do everything possible to support families currently facing the realities of pediatric cancer, but also working towards making sure families in the future never have to know what it’s like.
Please, enjoy!
Katrina ~
You can download your favorites by visiting the actual gallery here GG Soccer Shoot Out 2023