The Final Totals and Updates (Miracles Really)

Our Shearing for Hearing event is done and I think it's safe to call it wildly successful.  We raised just over $2,000 with our paypal account that is attached to the Donate button here on my blog.  (Feel free to click on it and donate if you still want to.)  Then, on Saturday we raised $7,085.  Considering that I came up with this idea just three and a half weeks ago, this is a huge number.  It's almost overwhelming to think of how far we came in such a short time.  We had a bounce house, raffle, silent auction, clowns, chair massages, drinks and snacks, face painting, and so much FUN (oh, and a LOT of haircuts!).  Pictures are soon to come.  My goal was $10,000.  If we put the paypal and cut-a-thon totals together, we're just about there.

Those are just numbers, but let me break down for you other things I witnessed as I prepared for and carried out this event. First, people are good.  In fact, they are supremely good. And caring.  And, oh so generous.  I saw shop keepers reach into their own pockets and donate to Raelyn's cause.  I watched a principal and two fifth grade teachers sit in a splash booth and get repeatedly soaked with ice cold water to raise money.  I watched people walk in for $10 haircuts and leave $90 tips.  I saw businesses sending us their best staff to provide haircuts (thank you, Great Clips), drinks (thank you, Red Robin), and chair massages (thank you, Dr. Carpenter), all of which brought in tips that were all given to Raelyn.  I saw well educated, highly skilled individuals willing to do jobs like sweeping hair, emptying trash cans, and selling raffle tickets all in the name of helping a little girl some of them couldn't even pick out of the crowd. I saw children freely spending their hard-earned chore money because they knew "some little girl needs to hear".  I saw miracles.

When this first started, Raelyn's family needed $90,000 to implant one ear. They considered mortgaging their home for it. Then, they got one surgeon to waive his fee and get a discounted implant. The hospital still wanted $72,000 plus $1,200 for anesthesia.  Then, just this past week, they found a surgeon associated with a foundation who felt he could get it as low as $30,000. With our fund raiser, we were one-third of the way there.

I've always been taught (and had firm faith in) the fact that if we present our best, the Lord provides the rest. In other words, if we do everything we can to help ourselves, the Lord will find a way to make sure our needs are met.  I knew that we'd find a way to get the rest of the money for Raelyn to be implanted.  This morning, Raelyn's mom got a call from the surgeon affiliated with the foundation. He got the cost down to $15,000!!!!  That means they are only short $6,000 and are taking out a loan for it. We will do other small fund raisers to help them pay off that cost quickly.  Raelyn will be implanted on the 21st of September. This, my friends, is what I like to refer to as one of God's miracles. And that's really all there is to say about that.