Well I have had numerous people write to me and tell me that I am there hero. To hear somebody direct a statement like that in my direction just astounds me! So this evening I sat down and really thought what the word "hero" means to me. Webster defines a hero as, "a mythological or legendary figure, often of divine ancestry, who is favored by the gods, endowed with great courage and strength, and celebrated for his bold exploits." To me, a hero isn't someone that is fictional or that was raised in nobility. A hero doesn't have to be someone considered better then anyone else. A hero is someone who has done something that she is looked upon for. Someone who does something great....not because she felt she would be praised for it, but because she knew it was the right thing to do. I to know a real hero. Her name is SHANNON CECIL!
For those of you who don't know Shannon she is a smart, beautiful, crafty, caring, loving, giving, obsessive compulsive, organized, charming, fun loving person....Whenever you are in her presence she has this glow about her and makes you feel right at home. She is always upbeat and walks with her head held high. She makes you want to be a better person and her smile is contagious. She has that zest for life that I think some of us have lost.
Shannon has been thinking about things that she could do for Kennedy (I guess making us dinners, sending Brian and I out on a date night, and welcoming us into her house was not enough - HAHA). A couple of weeks ago it came to her.....Shannon sent out the following e-mail:
Hi everyone! Let me start this by saying God is Good!!!
Are you ready for chills? Ok, so most of you know the Lord has put it on my heart to do something to help out the Bonomo family, Kennedy in particular. I've been praying for the Lord to give me ways to raise money for the medical bills and costs they have accrued since her birth. A Mother's Day Boutique was one idea, a bake sale was another, and an awesome slide show on you tube asking for donations was another. Well, this afternoon I got a call from a very good friend of mine, Rhonda McKenney who gave me the phone number for the city counsel man for Rancho Cucamonga . He is looking for someone to come to the city's easter egg hunt at central park and sale "edible" items during the hunt! He said we could pretty much do whatever we wanted. I've already talked to a few ladies who are going to help with this event and this is what we've come up with that we'd like to do:
- cupcake booth
- beverage booth (coffee, hot chocolate, soda, water, juice boxes)
- doughnuts
- EASTER BASKETS!!!
The hunt takes place from 9:00am-11:00am on Saturday morning at Central Park .
WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!
If you can help me out in any way, please let me know right now, email or call me.
I need help:
- baking cupcakes, I have a very skilled "pastry chef in training" friend that has offered to come over to my house on Friday night and decorate them all, I just need the actual baked cake part
- donate an already made up easter basket for us to sell (try to keep this Christ centered, he's the one who did this)
- donations of bottled water, sodas, juice boxes to sell
- I am going to call Crispy Creme Doughnuts and see if they will donate some doughnuts and/or give us a discount on those, does someone want to take up this job?
- I need to make a banner(s) and posters explaining what we are raising money for
- WOMAN POWER to help me sell all this stuff on Saturday morning! We need to get there at 8:00am and won't be leaving until around noon...
What do you think? Can you help, Kennedy really needs your support!
I just want you to know that I had nothing to do with this. This opportunity has been GIVEN to us by God himself. Prayers are being answered right here ladies. Our Lord loves this family and wants us to help him bring them closer to Him. Lets show them how God works in their lives!
Your sister in Christ,
The bake sale was a success - Thanks to Shannon we raised over $1,700 for Kennedy! It was so awesome to see so many people come together for a common cause - people that have never even met me or my family took time out of their lives and away from their families just for us. When I saw the turnout on Saturday it brought tears to my face. To see all the hard work that was put into this event in such a short amount of time had me in awhhh. I am so thankful to have people like this in my life. I feel that since Kennedy has been born all the people that have come into my life have turly made me a better person.
I feel so privileged and honored to call Shannon Cecil my friend and Hero!!!
6 comments:
WOW Stephanie that is AWESOME!! What a blessing Shannon must be in your life. GOD is good and does some pretty amazing things when we least expect it.
Sending my love to you and Kennedy!!
~Melissa
Hey Stephanie! It's such a gift to have friends pitch in and help when things in life go a little into the unnormal range!
Yes- Liam will stand when we hold him. He will bear the weight on his legs and when he is in the stander he will do the same thing! Do you have early intervention services that can help you with adaptive equipment? They should be able to get you the things you need.
Oh- And congrats on quitting your job! I bet Kennedy loves having you around all the time now!
The event was an amazing idea and a wonderful success, Thank you Shannon and all involved. Kennedy's condition has racked up an insurmountable amount of medical bills for the Bonomo family, more suggestions for ways to raise money to help the Bonomos pay for these bills would be greatly appreciated. We are in the process of working on a Bowling Benefit (which could raise a nice amount of money for the family) If you have any contacts for Raffle Prize donations or additional fund raising ideas for this event please contact me directly.
at derek.smith@hotmail.com
Thank you
Stephanie,
Could you publish a mailing address where we could send checks? some of us are not comfortable with pay pal. Perhaps a P.O. Box?
Love and prayers,
Kennedy Claytons Granma
We are all truly lucky to have Shannon in our lives. I cannot wait until our next event to help Kennedy. The out pour of love and support was amazing with the Easter egg hunt. I just cannot imagine what we can do next.
I am very flattered! It is so sweet to hear such nice things said about me. However, I feel the only thing I can be commended for here is having the courage to be obedient to the task Christ called me to. That bake sale was handed to us and blessed by God himself, THAT is why it did so good. It had nothing to do with me. For it is written in 1 Peter 4:10 "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms."
There is one thing I want people to know about Kennedy, it's that I believe she is an angel sent straight from God. I believe she was sent here to touch the lives of many people. And while we don't know how long she will be with us, I do know that she is very special, and whenever she leaves this world she will be seated on the throne in our Father's lap, waiting for all the people she has chosen to bring to Heaven with her.
It's up to us as individuals to see this, and to do the work it takes to transform our lives so we see these little blessings, such as Kennedy, in this light. Kennedy is a blessing, a gift from God, sent here to teach us all something about ourselves and about God's grace.
Also, that event was made possible by a number of people who came together because they obeyed the call. I am very blessed with great friends who always jump at the chance to serve the Lord when they are called. I am going to put together a list of everyone involved in that day and get it to Steph so she can post a list of everyone and what they did, because without all those people coming together for the cause, we wouldn't have had anything that day!
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