Wednesday, March 11, 2009

FEEL THE LOVE!!!! DHS is Awesome!!!


I have to tell you all about how wonderful Devree’s High School is!!! Riley Fraser shared her idea of a Cancer fundraiser to the DHS Student Council. This Dayton High School Cancer Awareness week was the out come.


(The sign reads, "Within 5 years, Cancer will surpass heart disease as the leading cause of death, according to the American Hospital Association.")

There were multi-colored ribbons that represented the different cancers, and posters of interesting cancer facts. I was told that the students contributed names of people they knew that had cancer at some point in their life. Cancer affects 1 out of every 4 people, so it was a long list of names.


("The Cancer Wall", a list of people with cancer. Note: I only got the middle of the wall.)

I was amazed at the creativity of our DHS students. Noble told me that there were game systems set up in one of the classrooms. During lunch the kids could challenge each other with the games, “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero”, for a small donation of course. :-)


(The poster says, "Embarrassing Picture Wall - Pay $1 to put a friends picture up! - To get your picture taken down you will have to pay $1 to $5." The other poster says, “Smoking is the leading risk factor for Lung Cancer.”)

Another creative idea was to have the kids bring in old electronics to donate. This included things like old CD & MP3 players, games systems, cameras, etc.. Gotta love those electronics!


(Dayton High School Student Body Council in "Team Devree" shirts. Sorry about not having all of you.)

Another popular item was the purple "Team Devree" T-shirts. (Devree is a big Twilight fan, and her favorite color is purple." The front of the shirt has "Team Devree" with a cancer ribbon in the middle. On the back of the shirt is a quote from one of the Twilight Books, "Yes, yes you're always gorgeous! -Alice Cullen"

(Calling all "Team Devree" shirts! At the end of the evening we asked everyone with a "Team Devree" shirt to get in the photo. There were way more earlier in the evening.)

Some people pre-ordered the "Team Devree" shirts, and a bunch were made to sell at the Spaghetti Feed. Would you believe that 200 shirts were made and sold? They ran out of shirts at the beginning of the evening. Order forms were handed out so that a 2nd batch of shirts could be ordered. If you didn't get a shirt, send us a note at ibshana2u-devree@yahoo.com. Make sure you tell us your size, and we will get your order in. The cost is $8 a shirt for small, medium, large, XL, and XXL. My original thought was to include the information for extended family members that want to get in on the fun, but if there are others that are interested, go ahead and send your request.


There was also an auction to raise funds for St. Jude's.



The spaghetti feed was quite a success. There were so many cars in the parking lot, that many of our friends thought that another activity was going on. In reality, it was an indicator of an overwhelming community response in behalf of Devree. When you came up to the building you realized that they food line was out the door and into the multi-purpose room where the Jazz Band was playing. (I wish I could have bought a CD, they did a wonderful job.) The line went into the cafeteria, past the band room, down and around the school library, then it looped down the hall and back into the cafeteria where the food was being served.



I went to thank the students helping in the kitchen, and I had to ask them if they had envisioned such a success. They all flashed broad grins, and through their smiles, they answered, "no". I know that Devree sometimes wonders if she has been forgotten by everyone. I wish she could have been there in person to get the answer to that question in person. Little Miss Alice, all of Dayton remembers you.



We all live in an awesome community. I think everyone there could FEEL THE LOVE. Thank you DHS for making that possible.



Love,
The Hamblins

For those of you that would like to see the article in the local paper yesterday, here is the link.
http://rgj.com/article/20090311/DAYTON/903110314/1042/DAYTON/

8 comments:

Breck, Celest, Tayzia, Talon, Kallie, and Jackson Rice said...

This is AWESOME! This brought tears to my eyes to see all of the love that everyone has for Devree! Devree truly is an AMAZING, TALENTED, WITTY, and CHARMING girl!!! Thank you to everyone who helped make this a success. Celest

walkinourshoes said...

What a wonderful event. I want a t-shirt. Do they make baby tees, too. We sure love you, all.
Love, Koe

Johnson Family said...

I was THERE and reading this STILL brought tears to my eyes! There has never been a doubt in my mind that Devree is loved by many - but the support and turn out was incredible!

Wheatley Family said...

Would the memphis peeps be able to get shirts too?

Shana Hamblin said...

Koe we are checking into getting smaller shirts. Val of course! Anybody can wear them. Did you notice how good the men looked wearing that favorite color of Devree's? Purple never looked so good.
Love, Shana

PaulaShawn said...

Hope you had a good day today, Devree. It's turning into spring here. Dayton knows you're about to return and it's warming up for you. Maybe it will even get a little bit pretty (to us who haven't been surrounded by Tennessee green like you have). At least if Mother Nature won't give us a variety of color other than brown by next weekend, the purple t-shirts will make it feel like it's blooming anyway. They're everywhere!

You're almost done!!!! We're proud of how you've made it through with style and pizazz!

7HAMS said...

I loved this article about the support from Devree's high school! It brought tears to my eyes also. We sure miss you guys a lot. I took Jessica to get a haircut yesterday and while we were there Julie(our hairdresser) heard Liz and I talking about how Liz's friend, Gracie, is donating her really long hair to Devree as soon as her play is done. Julie asked if Devree needed anymore hair because she had a bag with about 11 hair cuttings in it and she was going to send it off to Locks of Love soon. Liz told her that she did need it and so she gave it to us! Grandma and Grandpa Hamblin are bringing it to you today when they come! I hope it all helps! We sure do love you and are so glad that you get to go home and be with your whole family soon!!!!
LOve, Aunt Becky

The Welch Family said...

Hello! Have you been to the Grand Buffet in Germantown? We ate there Sunday and it was some of the best food we have eaten since we have been here (if you like Chinese and Japanese food).
Sorry I couldn't say a better good-bye. I look forward to keeping in touch with you via the blog.