Daning along with Mickey & Minnie

Richmond Great Escapes watched the Disney Live Rockin’ Road Tour, an action packed show complete with performances by Tigger, Mickey Mouse and his friends, Buzz Lightyear, Woody and Jessie, and our favorite princess, Cinderella. The show followed the plot of a talent search led by Mickey. Not only did we see talent on stage but Starlight families were rockin’ in the audience as well. All around the coliseum, people sang with Cinderella, danced while wearing Mickey ears, and bounced up and down with Tigger. The Toy Story characters had us shouting “yee-haw” even though we were not quite able to master the Square Dancing moves of Jessie. After confetti rained from the ceiling and the lights came on, I think every child left feeling quite talented and in the magical spirit of Disney!

Thanks to BB&T Bank, many Starlight children and their families spent the day of the 25th of October, on a boat and walking tour of Mt. Vernon, in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.  After exploring the vast estate grounds and learning more about our first president, George Washington, and his era, the families enjoyed a hearty lunch in the cafeteria.  The museum exhibits, various movie theaters, hands-on activities and fully dressed characters re-enacting vintage scenes of daily life, all helped to shape our impressions of this period.  Again, thank you BB&T Bank, for this amazing opportunity to experience Mt. Vernon and to gain a better understanding of our American History.

Thank you letter from Starlight Child Ashley Padgett:

I want to thank BB&T Bank and Starlight Children’s Foundation, for the wonderful time I recently experienced on the boat and walking tour of Mt. Vernon.  It was so amazing to learn more about the first president, George Washington, and to walk through the museum, looking at his artifacts, and reading about his life and affects on the African-American society.  I also enjoyed watching the movies of his life, in the many high-tech movie theaters.  Again, I want to thank BB&T Bank and Starlight Children’s Foundation, for the chance to dig deeper into the life of George Washington, and his impact on my life today, as the next generation of aspiring leaders.

Ashley Padgett

We had a wonder time at Art Adventures.  We got creative with sponge art, then some pottery.  But the best part was the black light painting.  The glow in the dark painting was do much fun.  Even our clothes were glowing.  We made a great banner to take to events.  It said “Starlight Kids Rock,”  and we do.  The older group got to make charater pictures.  They were

Our Philadelphia Great Escapes families visited Lincoln Financial Field for
the first time on September 26th to watch the Temple University Owls
football team play the University of Buffalo Bulls.  During the game, the
children formed a special High Five Tunnel for the players as they entered
the stadium.  During half-time, we all enjoyed Subway lunches while listning
to the university marching band.  The second half of the game was filled
with fantastic running plays and touchdowns resulting in a 37-13 Owls
victory over the Bulls.

Great Escapes Coordinator Dawn Howard pulled off our first ever Richmond area Starlight fundraiser!  With the help of Jo Downing of Richmond Indoor Sports Experience (RISE) and the huge building–complete with two indoor soccer fields that RISE donated for the event our Starlight Family Fun Day was organized from start to finish in only a couple months!!  As we had hoped, the afternoon of August 23rd really was filled with family fun! At the door each child received a goodie bag and then went to enjoy four hours filled with moon bounces, including an obstacle course and a blow up horse, carnival games, and a little shopping for the adults. Vendors from around the community set up tables and raffle tickets were sold for the over $6,000 in donated items that we gave away! Our performance schedule featured two appearances by Jonathan the Juggler and an exhibition by the gymnasts of VIGS. We also offered face painting, henna tattoos, and an arts and crafts table where everyone got the chance to make yummy looking cotton candy! Kids had the opportunity to spend twenty minutes playing games and singing songs inside the FUN BUS, an air conditioned, padded school bus that awaited them in the parking lot. It is safe to say that our first fundraiser was a success!! Enough money was raised to cover a couple months of Great Escapes! More important though was that this event raised awareness in our community about Starlight and all the different ways we help seriously ill children. We would like to thank all of the contributing sponsors, vendors, volunteers, performers, and RISE staff that helped make this fundraiser possible. We are hoping this year’s event will be a building block for next year and that awareness and donations for Starlight will continue to grow in our community and in our city!!!

Last Sunday, we found ourselves eye-to-eye with the sharks at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ.  From having water squirted on us during the SpongeBob Squarepants 4-D movie to posing with Gill, the aquarium mascot to touching the jellyfish, we had a terrific time learning more about all the underwater creatures and spending time with our Starlight friends.   

For our July event, the Huddleston family opened up their home–actually their very large yard– for a Starlight cookout. We couldn’t have asked for a better day to be outside. It was beautiful as we took turns riding one of the two horse around the ring. Many of the kids even got comfortable enough to hang on while the horses trotted. The Huddleston’s almost had their very own petting zoo–where we fed a donkey, goats, and saw a very pregnant cow (The Huddleston family snake also made an appearance at the event and though I’m not fond of snakes, he was quite well behaved so I wouldn’t want to leave him out). We quickly learned that there was no shortage of cows on the farm as we ventured off on a hay ride. Out in the pasture there were cows and we even got to see a barrel of hay pulled apart and fed to the cows. A couple calves stood close to their mothers. They were so cute! Many of the kids were interested to learn where the cows got their drinking water. We learned about quite a fancy system. These cows don’t drink from any old pond! The best I can explain is that there was this black box with two blue balls on it and somehow the cows learned how to press the balls down with their heads. Inside the box they found clean drinking water that stays cold in the summer, never freezes in the winter and is always protected from that yucky green algae that grows on the surface of ponds. Back at the house, two moon bounces–one with an obstacle course, climbing wall and slide. Lunch was a good old fashioned hot dog and hamburger cook out–not complete without a tray of Grandma’s pickles and mushrooms and a nice big bowl of candy. It was a great time for the whole family to spend together and also to catch up with Starlight friends!

Tons of Richmond Starlight families showed up at Peak Experiences, indoor rock climbing club for a day of laughter and adventure. For some of us, the rock walls were a new and challenging experience. But it didn’t take long before whole families were double backing their harnesses and scrambling up 30 ft and even 50 ft walls. Laughter and a sense of accomplishment was rampant in the room as climbers reached the top of their walls. Some kids learned to tie eight knots and other particulars of climbing.  Richmond families loved the day at Peak Experiences. The enthusiasm ranged from a family who thought rock climbing was more fun than Kingsdominion to a family who decided to join the climbing club. We had a great lunch of subs, chips, fruit, and veggies (everyone needed their vitamins. rock climbing is a workout!). Best of all, climbing was a great way to face fears and new challenges, to work on physical strength, and to get out their and do something adventurous together! We would like to thank Peak Experiences for a great event and the more than twenty volunteers who showed up to help us belay for all of our wonderful families.

Check out our article in the Midlothian Exchange @: http://www.midlothianexchange.com/index.php/sports/article/rock-climbing-provides-a-great-escape/19550/

On Saturday, May 16th our D.C. families got together at Nationals Park to watch the Nationals battle the Philadelphia Phillies!  For many of our families, this was their first visit to the new ballpark, and it was a great visit indeed!  We were lucky that the clouds cleared and it was a sunny, beautiful day.   We had 125 people there, and it was a fun environment to watch the game, meet new families and make new friends!  Although the Nats lost to the Phillies, all our Great Escape families had a fantastic time!

The circus came to town Wednesday, May 13th and our Philadelphia Great Escapes families were on hand to greet the animals and clowns.  Whether it was the motorcycle aerial stunts, the tigers performing special tricks, or the trapeze artists flying through the air, there were lots of “Oohs” and “Ahhs” coming from the Starlight crowd.  Luckily, no one ran away with the circus and everyone returned home refreshed  and relaxed and eagerly awaiting next month’s event