Shake in pictures!

I took this picture because I was amazed that it was 1 minute from the big kickoff, and this.... was still happening. Jessi was STILL sitting at her little laptop where she had been for two STRAIGHT days! I swear, I bet she grew a taproot into that chair!
Last minute details were still being handled! Here is our fearless leader, Veronicia, the Shake's chairperson, and also one of the many who never even went home for so much as a shower between the Jogging for Jake, the Jamboree, and then the main event! There is just so much to handle!
And, Staci also had to stay all stinky! Jessi never went home either! Her dearly beloved did it for her, and came in bearing a make up bag and a clean tee shirt! Oh, and this is Lindsay, my blogging buddy, who made the 5 1/2 hour drive from Birmingham! Now THAT is a BBFF!
Many of you have asked about tee shirts. In about a day or two, they will be available on the jakesfoundation.org website. If you are interested, be checking it out! But give Staci time to get the site all loaded up with the merchandise.
I am pretty sure there are caps left over too. Aren't these cute? Love em!
and these are the same huggies from last year.
These are the coolers that Todd ordered for the golfers. They are supposedly 12 pack coolers, but we can see about 6 in there!!
ANd these huggies were ordered special for this year!
We had a big silent auction, and this was the sign that we had placed all over the place!
Meet Matt and Dawn Hardie. They are long time volunteers of the Foundation, and Dawn has always been supportive of Team Jake, and ran the marathon more than once! This year, she spearheaded our first ever Jogging for Jake 5K. It raised around $4,000, and was hugely successful for a first time race!
This is one of the super cute little thingies that Lindsay brought for us to use in the silent auction.
and back to the store. Here is Mary Alice working the store which by the way had already made about $3500 before the event even started. The Jake merchandise was a big hit this year!!
Lovin this girl! She was there from the minute we started setting up until the clean up crew left! Christina, thanks so much for all the help!!
More goodies from the auction! Sandy, recognize the afghan?!
This is likely around 6:15. Seriously! The doors opened, and it was like, WHOA, DUDE! They were already piling in!
JinJin and her friend, Crystal, were also in the spirit. Those you see in red are volunteers!
THAT day, I was given a canvas and asked to make a Christmas canvas! I did a quickie, and added glitter. This was part of a live auction item. See the new beach pic of the Raborn young uns?! Staci Albritton, the photographer who was at the beach with us, sent this as a donation (of course, it is a portrait of anyone who bought it!!), and was paired with a Christmas tree, two hours of Christmas decorating in your house, custom Christmas cards, and that big family portrait. I think it went for $1600. I think that was actually a pretty good buy!
This is our buddy, Sam, and Dawn.
Did you get a chance to go to the Fly by Radio website? They are a BLAST!! Love them!!
Meanwhile, back in the store, Kim is buying up some gear!
Staci and Cindy are working that check out station! Collect that money girlies!
We love having St. Jude families there with us. THis is Dawn and Todd Pierce, who also drove about 5 hours, and brought their son, Mason, who was babysitted with three very wild little girls! Bonnie ALWAYS works registration! This is her spot! Taking up those tickets!
This is Wade and Stacey Gibson, who are very committed to the Foundation. Stacey helped a whole, whole lot getting the silent auction all ready and set up for the big event!
Well, hello there, blondies! This is Emily and Amy, both OT's at MMPT. MMPT was well represented with about 24 people. Thanks to all of you who came. You know it is dear to my heart, and I appreciate your support!
And then, apparently Staci felt she should get up there and sing.
If you look close, you can see Don getting the crowd all fired up!
These two may be volunteers of the year! This is AnnaLea and Keri. These two ROCKED!!
And Don posed with his Aunt Starr and Uncle Gale. Starr was Don's mom, Gloria's, best friend.
These are more of my MMPT peeps. I love the people I work with. They are so fun and committed, not only to our patients, but also to each other! What a fun workplace!
And Mickey and Angie Lofton are HUGE supporters and helpers year after year! Angie got so hot outside being in charge of the very hot Jake's Jamboree (think heat index of about 110*!!), that she actually went home throwing up. She showered, redid her make up and was back in about an hour!!
This is Shea and Alex. Shea was my "big sis" in KD in college. We always laugh because two people could not be more different, and yet, we got along so, so well. They always show up at the Shake to help us raise that money and remember our boy!
Ok, and this is Don. He is a local banker and very active in our community! Seriously! And you know what I LOVE about Don... he is always my dancing partner at these fundraiser type events! His wife and my husband are paired with us for a while, but when the chairs as props are pulled out, it is taken to a whole new level, and they tend to act like they don't even know us! That is when the CIRCUS begins! I think this dude is a HOOT!
Remember how I said they are BFF"s? Wellllllllll.......??????
And might I add, Johnnye looks a little like George Michael above. Hmmmm????

You better know we had teens there at the end of the night just in case we needed extra drivers. John, you are such a responsible young man. Hahahahhahahahahahahahahahahaah
End of the night, and there were some who could still hang! This is the Memphis bunch, including Nurse Penny and the Pierces. In the red is Toni, Don's cousin, who proved she can stand it late night!
Ohhhhhh, and that is Charlene in the pink. I am really quite impressed by the dexterity she is displaying! I mean, HOW MANY THINGS can one person hold in one hand?! Go Charlene! She and her friend, Melissa( not pictured), among others they brought with them, always show up in Memphis too to help with TEAMJAKE signage along the course! I was so happy to see them at the Shake!
This was kinda "the crew". Far left, Richard, was a newbie to the volunteer crew, and dude, he seriously must be vying for the Rookie of the Year award! He was there the whole time! And Clint, in the middle , is Don's best friend from WAAAaay back when! And then, there is W. Yea, that is his name. He is always in the mix, and of course Todd the Bod.
And here they are again with the lead singer of the band. Todd is so dang happy.
I, on the other hand, at this particular moment, am NOT!
My feet were KILLING me! And they continue to do so. Plantar fasciitis!
and finally, we have Staci and Zach. They are rounding up the end of the photo show. Zach bid on and won the alligator hunt. I can only imagine how that one will turn out!

So, as you can very well see, the Shake takes MANY volunteers. There are countless hours behind the scenes to make for a successful event. And I think this would definitely qualify as one! If you are a Shake volunteer, thank you, thank you, thank you! If you attended the event, thank you, thank you, thank you! If you gave when someone called you for a donation to the telethon, thank you, thank you, thank you!

We raised a lot of money to help kids with cancer. If you want to know specifics, understand that one mom of a little recipient of JOR money, recently, sent us a note that explained that she has been told that her daughter, Katie, has 2-8 weeks to live. This is week 2. Our little donation to help that mom do whatever she needs to do to give that baby a rich few weeks is really priceless!

I am already looking forward to next year! Hope you can make plans now to be there! Mo