One of the great events that goes along with the St. Jude Dream Home giveaway is the annual floor signing, which took place this morning at the new home at 11106 N. Stonecreek Drive in Dunlap, near the Rock Island Trail.
Sponsors for the Dream Home assemble to sign their messages on the not-yet-covered-by-Shaw Flooring living room floor for the future home owners. It’s a way for the St. Jude Peoria staff, like Bekah, Tina, Julie, Andy, etc, to say thanks to all those individuals and businesses that donate their time, services and products to the Dream Home.
Bekah Abbott served as host and MC today and was joined by home builder Scott Lewis, Peoria mayor Jim Ardis and a former St. Jude patient, Grace Jenkins, who’s now a freshman at Washington High School. Grace was diagnosed in second grade with a form of cancer generally reserved for older men who’ve worked with chemicals – AML. A day after her diagnosis, Grace and family were traveling to Memphis, TN, for tests and a biopsy. She would end of getting a bone marrow transplant surgery, thanks to her donor sister Julie, who was a perfect match.
Grace spent most of the next year living in Memphis at the Target House while getting treatment. She told the story of her first visit to the St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital there and how the kid-friendly floors don’t feel like a regular hospital. The Target House also offered her many activities and areas to help her get some enjoyment of her time there, and not just think about the daunting task of fighting cancer. And yes, she said, she had to go to school there, so she didn’t have to re-do second grade.
Grace speaks with the grace and clarity of someone older than herself, with a lower than usual voice for a young woman. I know she’d be a great radio talent, but advised her about the less-than-stellar pay! Grace and mother, Cathie, think she may someday work for St. Jude after college. I expect great things from Grace in whatever path she chooses.
Scott Lewis and his top-notch company are hard at work on the spacious, unique, custom-built home. This is the third home that Scott Lewis Homes has built for the Dream Home Giveaway. Progress was slowed a bit by a snowy, frozen January, but he promises the home will be done by April 24 for the big giveaway. He also informed me that they’re already about halfway through the total of 850 raffle tickets, so we’re pacing well for another revenue record for the St. Jude cause.
If you want to win the Dream Home, valued at just under a half million dollars, while helping out the kids of St. Judes, get your tickets today at Peoria County Kroger locations, by phone at 800- 390-3196 and online by clicking on dreamhome.org Enjoy the pics from a fun morning in Dunlap at the Dream Home!.
Doc Watson
