Hey friends!

I have an important Team Norah 2020 Ronald McDonald House Family Walk update for you: the event is now entirely online.

While I'm sad we're not gathering in person, the RMH is doing everything possible to keep their families safe. Their focus always has been and continues to be loving and protecting the families in their care.

During a pandemic, that looks like doing an event online instead of gathering thousands of people together at a park.

Many families that participate in this event are either current guests with family members actively receiving care in the hospital or past guests who have family members that often fall into the high-risk category. And, as a result of the pandemic, the RMH has had to halt all volunteer programs (which total about 10,000 volunteers) while continuing to provide the highest level of care to their families. So not only are they protecting the families and children in their care, they're protecting their staff so they can continue to provide a safe-haven for families in crisis.

This is also why fundraising is more important this year than ever.

The Ronald McDonald House provided a refuge for us during the hardest days of our lives (read about our experience at RMH here). The way they cared for our family shaped and guarded the few precious days we had with our sweet Norah. We're happy to be back again as Team Norah, ready to support this incredible organization however we can.

So what does it mean to have an online event? What will the race look like this year?

From the Ronald McDonald House:

“This year, the RBC Race For The Kids  event will be online and will feature weekly challenges, activities and ideas to get outside with your friends, family, and colleagues. The event officially kicks off late September and culminates with a virtual event on October 31. Fundraising can start anytime! Last year, this portion of the event alone raised over $47,000 for the families who we serve. Get ready to have some fun!”

Supporting the Ronald McDonald House as Team Norah will look different for each family this year – and honestly, how great is that?! Now you can actively participate in whatever way works best for your family, your schedule, AND the Minnesota weather (Minnesotans talk about blizzards like great moments in the history of sports – the great blizzard on Halloween being one of the top ten most discussed). There are so many options, I invite you to do any or all of the following:

• Donate directly to RMH as part of Team Norah.

• Register as a member of Team Norah and participate in the fun online events with us this fall!

• Fundraise on your own and donate the funds to RMH through our Team Norah page to help our team climb to the top!

• Get yourself some Team Norah gear! (Scroll down for our new designs. All previous designs will be available as well. All gear will be available through October 15)

This year we are selling shirts, masks, and coffee mugs. Our theme? Wild Hope Revival.

It's 2020, and we could all use some hope. Not the commercialized version of hope that decorates day planners and reaches for an unrealistic future where everything is good all the time. I'm talking a wild, untamed hope that meets us right where we are, that sits at death's bedside, that is present for the diagnosis, that stands in the rubble even as the dust settles. A hope that is as much a part of us as air and rain are part of a forest. A hope that propels our spirit forward just as breath moves the body.

If hope is our foundation, well, that changes everything.

Team Norah, it's time for a wild hope revival.
There are only a few months left in 2020.

Let's make them better than the rest.