1st Annual Grayson's Ride Update
On Saturday, August 12th, 2017, the Grayson Dunham Foundation hosted its 1st Annual Grayson’s Ride in honor of our son, Grayson Dunham. Grayson passed away just 17 days after his 2nd birthday from hemolytic uremic syndrome due to complications from an E.coli infection.
Grayson was the sweetest blonde-haired, blue-eyed little boy. He had an infectious smile that would light up the room and had the brains of a child much older than himself. Grayson loved being outside and while outside, loved riding his ‘cycle’ that he got from his aunt and uncle on his 1st birthday. It was one of the best purchases to date! Before Grayson was ever able to fully push the pedal, we would walk beside him with a broomstick pushing the pedal down so we weren’t killing our backs leaning over holding the pedal down. Once he learned to hold his foot down there was no holding him back! Many of Grayson’s family members and close family friends have motorcycles; so he knew he fit right in!
When Grayson passed, we knew holding a benefit ride for him was something we wanted to do. A few others brought it to our attention, and they thought we should do a ride as well. I (Kayla) took it under my wing and wanted this to be a huge event for Grayson. I poured my heart into this event because I knew I was doing this for Grayson. If you know me, you know I go all out, especially when it is something for my children. I put in many hours filling our donation requests, sending sponsor letters, picking up donations, assisting in creating the flyer and the t-shirt, working on registration information, working with our venues and sending many emails. The only thing I didn’t do was create the route!
Our first ride would not have been successful without the tremendous people who gave a little of their heart in some way. Brent and I are incredibly humbled by those who have stood by us this past year and supported us in even the smallest of ways. I want to be sure to thank all of you who helped play a role in our 1st Annual Grayson’s Ride.
We are incredibly excited to share that the 1st Annual Grayson’s Ride raised a little over $10,000! We will be allocating this money in a few different ways. We will be writing a check to Riley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for the doctors to use as they deem necessary for the children they are providing care for. We are launching a winter project and a portion of the funds will be used to purchase items for the “The Apple Project” which will also benefit the children in the PICU as well as their families; stay tuned as we launch this project in the next few months! The remaining funds will be used to support families who are coping with the loss of their child.
The day went better than I have ever imagined. I have never put together an event like this in my life. I researched, talked to many people and ran with it! I am so thankful for everyone who assisted in any way. It takes an army of people to make something this successful.
We are beyond excited to make this an annual event, and we are already gathering new ideas for next year as we want to continue making this a family-friendly event!
