Signature Chefs Auction- A Night To Remember

On Monday, November 7, Mark and I had the honor of attending the March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction.  Nineteen chefs from local restaurants shared some of their signature dishes.  We visited with our NICU doctors, nurses and other staff, met new people, sampled food and bid on many of the Silent Auction items.  The second half of the night was the Live Auction.  Each of the chefs donated a dinner package for 10-30 people.  These packages were AMAZING and they sold for between $1100-$4000.  WOW! In the middle of the Live Auction, our story was played and then Mark and I got on the stage to make a speech.  When we looked out at the crowd of 400+ we were shocked to see the audience on their feet. They were giving US a standing ovation.  That was the moment that both Mark and I started crying.  Words can't even describe the pride we were feeling for being Will and Erin's parents. Mark gave an amazing speech and then the donations began for Fund the Mission (our story was the Mission). Within 5 minutes, $46,150 was donated to the March of Dimes because of babies like Will and Erin.  We are so thankful that we were chosen to be their parents. Mark and I are lucky to have had these opportunities to teach people about prematurity and to share our story.  That we raised over $214,000 for the March of Dimes!

Here is Mark's speech from the night. We joked that he got to make the speech because all of his lines from the FOX 17 interview got edited out. :-)

"Thank you for coming out tonight and listening to our story. When we look at our twins we are so grateful for the medical advancements that have come out of March of Dimes. The doctors and nurses that helped our babies Dr. Beaumont, Dr. Braunreiter, Dr. DeJonge, Dr. Doctor, Dr. Gelfand, Dr. Kinney, Dr. Knee, Dr. Langen, Dr. Shaw, Dr. Connors, Dr. Margherio, Dr. App, Vicki Cook, Dea Shaffer, Mega...n Zubrickas, Renee Sommers-Beagle and Jude Stover can’t do their jobs without the March of Dimes doing the major research and countless little things they do to help the families behind the scenes.

We also can’t help but think of the future of our children’s children. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm and the way to acquire enthusiasm is to believe in what you are doing, believe in yourself and to want to get something definite accomplished.

This was our Fund the Mission table with pictures we brought from home.

That last part was a quote from Dale Carnegie. Don’t let the enthusiasm that you have here tonight for helping babies slow, the March of Dimes needs your help. Our story has a happy ending, but not all stories do. With your support tonight we can help more babies have a healthy start in life."

This room looked fantastic! You can see all of the Chefs stations set up around the room. The picture was taken before anyone had arrived (other than the local news reporters who are in the pictures.)

 



Our parents were able to come and celebrate the fun night with us.



Mark had to buy this for Will. It seems appropriate because they would listen to the Tigers games together. Will's new Tigers picture is hanging over his crib.

Megan was one of our five primary nurses. I am so glad that she has gotten involved with the March of Dimes. And she has become a great friend of ours (along with our other primary nurses). It's because of them, that Will and Erin are here with us today!