Billy's Gift

I can’t believe that tomorrow is the second annual Fall into Love with Billy’s Gift event! For those of you that are unfamiliar with Billy’s Gift, we are a non-profit organization established by my family with the mission to provide children living with life altering or life threatening illnesses a dream bedroom renovation or celebration.  We were established in March 2010 and hosted our first fundraiser September 2011, it was a tremendous success!

Thanks to the enormous amount of support the organization received from family, friends, and the community Billy’s Gift was able to complete its first project in June 2012. We completed not one but two bedroom renovations in only 2 days!  It was A-mazing! I am beyond honored to be part of such an amazing gift. In honor of the Second Annual Fall into Love event, I wanted to share with you my story of the first renovation.

This past June members of Billy’s Gift and several volunteers set out to bless two little girls that have faced immeasurable amounts of difficulties in their short time on earth. Maia was 5 and was born with a tumor the size of her head on her bottom side, the doctors told her family that she would never walk, and she would wear a colostomy bag. After numerous surgeries, Maia defied the odds. Eowyn was born with a rare metabolic disorder that required regular feedings to sustain her life. All of us at Billy’s Gift were so excited about this opportunity to bless this family. Once the application was received, we were busy planning two bedrooms based on the girls’ interests.

Maia had requested pink and Tinker bell. Eowyn wanted Twilight and gray and green. After meeting with the girls, Billy’s Gift began dreaming up designs for a pink Tinker bell room and a grey/green Twilight themed room. Billy’s Gift wanted to make sure the girls could easily grow into the design and love the room for years to come.

The day finally came and it was amazing! Even though there was a tremendous amount of stress surrounding completing two rooms in two days we all enjoyed the event.  The preparation and stress was well worth it once we saw the smile on their faces. They loved the rooms!

That weekend will stay with me as one of my favorite moments. I can’t explain the feelings I had on the day of the reveal, I was overcome with joy. We had set out to bless another family who has endured so much and I found my own family being blessed.  There was an enormous amount of healing that took place that weekend. It was overpowering!

Trust me, I could go on for pages about this awesome weekend in June but I’m going to leave it here.  This truly is an awesome cause and I know that the members of Billy’s Gift are anxious to begin another project. We have already received a remarkable amount of support, it is truly astonishing! We look forward to seeing all of you tomorrow night!!