Casino Trip to Greek Town is planned for Saturday March 12, 2011. Seats are limited call us for details!

Well, according to Punxsutawney Phil winter is almost over! Which means that the Annual Dinner and Auction is just around the corner. Mark your calenders for Saturday May 14Th!

Dedicated family and friends continue to come together throughout the year to volunteer, organize and participate in our events. Being working parents of 3 busy children is exhausting in itself. Trying to add more time for charity work, most days feels impossible. And in all honesty if Rick and I didn't have these dedicated individuals to motivate and inspire us I know that Sal's Pals would not be as successful as it is today. Sal continues to serve as a constant reminder for Rick and I about why it's so important to raise money and bring awareness for Cystic Fibrosis. Often times I forget that Sal has a disease because he IS doing so well. Then I have to remind myself how that came to be.Sal takes over 32 pills a day...and he is healthy. The life expectancy for CF continues to rise, 37 years to be exact. It has risen 10 years in Sal's lifetime! The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation continues to build it's pipeline for new medications that are aimed at treating cf, managing symptoms and ultimately eradication it all together.I know that Sal does so well because of the medications and treatments that are available for him. Rick and I want to ensure that dollar by dollar, event by event that the medication pipeline is able to develop the necessary medications to keep Sal healthy!

It is easy for one to understand Rick and I's passion for fighting cf but Iam always amazed at the dedication and time our friends and family put forth. So I asked one of our friends to share with all of you, why he has joined in our fight.Kris is a teacher at Sal's school but was a friend long before Sal was a student.




Dear Sal,

Energetic. Enthusiastic. Spirited. These are all qualities of an average 10 year old. Sure you share these qualities, but you are far from "average.” I’m sure anyone that has met you would agree.

From your contagious giggle and smile to your cockiness (of which, I’m sure you got from your father); your ability to exaggerate slightly to your strut in the hallway (of which, you definitely got from your father). But, most importantly, it’s your huge heart that sets you apart from your peers.

Before I met you, I didn’t know anyone that had Cystic Fibrosis or even had a clue what CF is. I would imagine that the hundreds of people that attend the dinner, wine opening, or golf scramble didn’t know what CF was either before they met you. In fact, I don’t think the majority of the people go to those events to fight CF. The majority attend each event because they, like me, have fallen in love with you. And it’s because you have CF that we fight.

Next year, when you’re in the 5th grade, I'll have the pleasure to teach you - but little do you know that you’ve already taught me far more than I can ever teach you. You’ve taught me how to give; taught me how to live; and taught me how to be a better person. And for that….I thank you!

With much love,
Wit

Happy New Year

Sal's Pals 9th Annual Dinner and Auction will be held Saturday May 14th at St. Francis de Sales High School. Doors open at 6pm. Please join us as we continue to fight CF!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am so thankful to be blessed with so many friends and family members who are willing to give of their time and talents to help us fight CF. Our cherished photographer,Gerri of Serendipity Photography, came up with a great idea to photograph our committee members and their families. By the looks of the pictures you can see how much fun we had taking them! Thanks Gerri for the wonderful idea!Happy Thanksgiving!

Uncork A Cure

“You have not lived until you have given to someone who can never repay you.”
-John Bunyan

October 1, 2010 marked the Sal’s Pals 4th Annual Uncork A Cure.
Thanks to all of our sponsors and guests, especially our committed wine vendors that continue to support our event year after year, we were able to raise over $8,400 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The money will continue to help the foundation research for new preventative drugs and help continue the fight that each of you has joined with us in funding research for a cure.

a sleepless night

I'm right here with you.
I cannot sleep.
I am praying.
I cannot sleep.
I am hoping.
I cannot sleep.
I am thinking.
I am loving.
I am breathing.
I am living.

The poem above is an excerpt from Eva Markvoort’s blog, a young woman who struggled for air. Eva died earlier this year at age 25 from complications after a double lung transplant. Prior to her death, she remarkably shared her life through her blog, sparing no honesty in describing the terror of battling cystic fibrosis. Eva detailed her body's tragic rejection of her donated lungs, lungs she needed to live, and her life dealing with Cystic Fibrosis.
She was grateful for breathing.
I am often sleepless, often staying up entirely too late, am over thinking, praying, loving. I am grateful for all that I have. I have not ever questioned though, the air that I breathe, it is something I obviously take for granted. A day doesn’t pass that I am not thankful for Sal’s health, for being able to watch him play football, for the opportunity to help him with his homework, for being his aunt. I am inspired by Eva. I am inspired by the woman I approached on St. Patty’s day several years ago while selling beads for a cure. I told her I was raising money for CF, she told me she had CF. She was 57 years old. I am inspired by Emily Schaller, and Somer Love, and their CF fight, and for the awareness they bring to others. I am inspired when I read letters like this one I recently read on a blog:

Hey Connor's Mom... 


You had me when you mentioned imagining him running and breathing with ease... I'll be 50 in April. I have CF - though my early years were not as hard as Connor's, they weren't easy. I do breathe easily now, because of a beautiful 17-year-old girl from Iowa named Kari... I breathe with her gift -- with her lungs. What you're trying to do, raising money for the CFF, may allow your precious Connor to someday breathe more easily without someone else' lungs. I truly admire you. I'm alive today because of people like you. Thank you. 

I hope your precious Connor has a more beautiful and incredible life than I have. I know he's got a head start because I sense he has an incredible Mom and Dad and family.

Love, Steve

Connor is breathing easily now, just not here where he belongs. Connor was waiting for a transplant and at age 7, about 5 months ago, he died from cystic fibrosis.

Did You Know...
There are over 100,000 people, the size of a small city, on the transplant list in the US today.
That in the time it takes you to shower, 1 new name will be added to the transplant waiting list.
From the time you woke up this morning to the time you wake up tomorrow morning, 18 people will die waiting for their transplant in the US alone.

While Sal appears to be a perfectly normal, amazingly handsome, overly arrogant, nine-year-old boy, he still spends hours each day on treatments that allow his body to stay a step ahead of the disease that he is inflicted with. I have never allowed myself to imagine the day that Sal would be in one of these victims’ place and I can’t imagine my fight today without the love and support of each and every one of you that have sacrificed your time, talents and money to help Sal’s Pals be the organization that it is today. Thank you! I hope that you will continue to support us in making CF stand for CURE FOUND!

Until there is a cure,
Aunt Nikki

Bring the whole family
out for the Annual Kiddie Carnival
Saturday August 21 at 4pm!
Rain Date: Sun. Aug. 22 @2pm

As promised we will keep featuring a guest blogger...

Ahhh, intro to a blog………..I am Jeremy Reinhart for those who don’t me. I guess best description of my relationship to Sal’s Pals, is I met Rick when he and I were Sal’s age. For those wondering, yes Rick was alpha male at the age of eight (I know Sal just turned nine, but we met in 2nd grade). I transferred schools to Regina Coeli and he might as well of peed on my chair to let me know he was in charge. Luckily for our relationship, I was just looking to entertain and mix in some learning. Our relationship through all of life’s experiences and challenges is now 24 years old and as strong as I can remember it. Wow, maybe he and I should have a 25th anniversary party? When I spend time with Sal it is scary, because it is Rick, I want to take him outside and just school him in some four square for old times. Anyways, along with this history comes his wonderful wife and family. Jenny and I have always had a special relationship and a part of me thinks she has always considered me the most normal (and good looking) of our group of friends. Either way we have a ton of memories that go back further then most relationships.

OK, so Cystic Fibrosis…………never seen it coming. Never had any connection to it or knowledge of what it was until the day I found out Sal had it. It’s a part of my everyday life now. I find myself waiting for a meeting to start (at work, orange bracelets on) and explaining to people what it is, what it means to me. I am almost interviewed daily for a Sal’s Pals commercial. For them I just gave them some knowledge, what they don’t know is every time when I am done………I see Sal’s face, Rick, Mrs. P, all the family, the history and the fight that is left. I don’t say that as a burden, there is no cross. There is only one cross and Sal carries that with the courage I could only wish to have. My job is to take advantage of the opportunity to try and make a difference.

So let’s talk about that opportunity, I will never forgive myself if I didn’t give my sell for how we go about raising as much money as possible for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It’s in your everyday life; we all work somewhere and have access to large corporation and their need to donate money. When you carry your passion to fight with you daily, people notice, they are intrigued, they want to help. There is not a person in the world that is not contagious to positive energy (look I am not a Zen master, there is no yoga); it’s a fact and is the same for negative energy. Look, I am not saying read this, go to work tomorrow and start selling it…..not at all. It has to be built and if it is a part of you and something you truly have passion for, it will come up. There is no, how to or step by step approach. I would just look into your heart and your situation. Truly understand if you want to make a difference and if your situation maybe an opportunity to help the fight. If you look at Sal’s Pals financial statements year over year, there is no doubt you will see that our growth and ability to truly make a larger impact is through the corporate sponsorship of the people that are involved. Lord knows we can’t have anymore expansion, black tie, different dinner,{insert idea here}………meetings, YIKES!

DEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BREATH, here’s the good news! Your not alone, you have some of the most passionate people in the world waiting, you get them there once, just once and I promise you, they will get it, they will feel it, they will understand why you are so passionate and join our fight.

MOVIE 2010- Final Cut.m4v

This was the video that we made for the 2010 Dinner. You will need to turn off the Blog music down on the right side of your screen so that you can hear the video. Enjoy!

The Big Nine

Upcoming Events:

August 21st- Little Kids Carnival

August 29th- Sal's Pals Golf Outing

October 1st- 4th Annual Wine Opener

Where has the summer gone??? I reluctantly have been picking up school supplies here and there and the kids have been counting the amount of summer vacation they have left.One of the surest signs that summer is ending is FOOTBALL season beginning! This year Sal decided he wanted to play tackle football. To be honest I can't tell who's more excited Rick, my Dad or Sal. Sal's first practice was yesterday and both my Dad and Rick sat patiently on the sidelines for two hours in the 80 degree weather. Football must be some sort of right of passage for fathers and sons. One as a mother I could never understand. But to watch all three of their faces just gleaming from ear to ear you could feel just how excited they were. As I think back to those first few weeks after Sal was born I remember wondering if he would be too out of breath to run, or if he would be too sick to play sports or quite frankly after I saw all the medications and treatments that the older kids had to take I didn't know if he could fit it all in even if he was healthy. The uncertainty of cystic fibrosis those first few years was defiantly the hardest. It taught us patience and acceptance over things that we could not control. It also taught us to go above and beyond with the things we could control. Over the last nine years one thing I have learned to do is to live for today, learn from yesterday and dream for tomorrow. I have no idea who coined that phrase but it helps me to put everything into perspective.I am sure that Rick and my Dad have dreamed about Sal playing football since the day he was born that's why watching him yesterday in 80 degree weather was so worth it! Happy 9TH Birthday Sal!

2010 Charity Dinner

It's so hard to believe that we have been doing this event for 8 years. I never imagined that we would have evolved into something like this. Our initial goal that first year was, $10,000. 8 years later we have raised over a half a million dollars! This year Sal's Pals will turn in more than $110,000 to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation!

What makes Sal's Pals so successful are the committed people who have joined our quest to raise funds and awareness for CF. Many of them sacrifice their own time with their families to help mine. In the weeks that lead up to the event countless hours are spent preparing, it at times can get extremely overwhelming. All of us work full time jobs and none of us are professional event planners, but somehow we are able to use all of our talents to pull it all together.

This year we filled the 500 person room, we had plenty of auction items and wonderful food. The room looked beautiful! Probably the two most awesome things of the night were Emily Schaller and Drew Tate. And all the while we were in search for a celebrity or some affluent speaker and we had both of these talented individuals right at our backdoor the entire time.

As I sit here and reflect over the last 8 years I realized that we don't have to have the fanciest hall or the best sound system or black ties at our event. But what we do need are people who want to be a part of our event because they feel like they are making a difference. Whether they are attendees, volunteers or sponsors our grassroots event exists because of them. A million thanks to everyone for making Sal's Pals the best that it can be!

8th Annual Dinner & Auction

Saturday May 8, 2010, Sal's Pals will host the 8th Annual Dinner & Auction! The event will be held at St. Francis de Sales High School from 6-11pm. Contact us now to purchase your tickets.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Lucky the Leprechaun was out in full force selling beads for a cure!
Thanks to everyone who supported our cause!

Back in 2006 Rick and I were invited to attend the National Leadership Council Conference for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It was one of the most amazing and inspiring things that I have ever been apart of. While at the conference we were asked to go out and speak with our State Representatives and Senators about legislation that would affect CF. Part of what we were lobbing for was the mandatory screening for all newborns to detect CF. Everyones hard work paid off because just nine months later the bill passed!
While we were at the 4 day conference there was a young couple that spoke to us about their two children who had CF. The couple spoke about their trials and tribulations in the fundraising world and how their outlook on life had been so dramatically changed after finding out that both of their children had CF. As both of them spoke you couldn't help but feel like you had known them forever.Their sheer genuineness and compassion for others was extremely moving and memorable. About a year later I received a phone call from The CF Foundation to tell me that Jena Cassalina had passed away at the age of 13. I remember thinking that there must have been some terrible accident because she was way to young to have passed away from CF. I quickly called Rick at work and his response was the same as mine. We both sat on the phone in silence and shocked. I guess when you hear life expectancy of 37 you forget it's just an average.
Margarete Cassalina, Jena's mom recently published a book about her families life with CF. The book has already won awards and received rave reviews. I just ordered my copy today and can't wait to read it! Even more exciting the book is being made into a movie that will start filming later this spring! Check out the website to find the book and you can see the A- List actors that they already enlisted for the movie.
www.margaretecassalina.com

Last week Sal and I went back to Eagle Point Elementary to talk about CF with the students to kick off their annual Penny Races fundraiser for CF. Usually Jeff (the principal) and I are the ones who do all the talking but this year Sal was the one who spoke to all of the kids. Jeff and I just sat back in amazement as we watched Sal speak to the kids in such a grown-up manner.One of the older kids asked the question, do you die from CF? Sal quickly looked over at me unsure of how to handle the question. I was prepared to answer and rattled off the life expectancy. I could see the 6Th graders trying to do the math in their heads as Sal just sat there cool as could be ready to answer the next question. The next kid asked Sal,Do you hate having CF? Jeff and I both looked at each other waiting to hear Sal's answer. I was really afraid Sal was going to say something like "no dude it sucks what are ya thinkin".Surprisingly enough Sal looked right at the boy and said, " no I don't mind having CF because I know that we are doing good things for CF and if I didn't have CF all of my family and friends wouldn't have Sal's Pals and we couldn't help cure CF". I think Jeff and I both had tears. I had never heard Sal say anything like this before. What a sacrifice this 8 year old was willing to make. The arsenal of questions continued to fire so I didn't have much time to really think about what Sal had said until later that night when I received another one of those phone calls. I couldn't help but feel like I had mislead all the kids with that average life expectancy that I had told them because the phone call was about a 19 year old that had passed away earlier in the day from CF. I was sad and angry all at the same time. These young people struggle enough with their disease and dying just shouldn't have to be something that they have to worry about. In the mist of planning for this years event this was a quick reality check about why we do what we do.I quickly remembered what Sal had told that class earlier in the day about not minding that he had CF. So our fight continues until we find a cure for this terrible disease not just for Sal but the 30,000 others like him.

My friend shared this video with me.
Eva is one of those people that even at the end of her life she is thinking of others. Her message is all about LOVE. Eva doesn't talk about material possessions or living in a big house or driving a fancy car. She talks about being loved and showing love. She goes on to talk about being blessed with tremendous family and friends. Eva is a true inspiration and we can all learn a lesson from her.