Thank You!

Greetings Friends,

Thank you very much for supporting our 2014 event at the Water Park of America. Christine and I couldn't have been more thrilled with the result and the support we received from all of you.

Our 2014 event was our third event and exceed proceeds from each of the first two years combined! Comparing apples to apples; we generated proceeds of about $16,000 as compared to $14,000 last year, and $13,000 the first year. However we had two additional significant cash donations that will allow us to write a check for about $28,000 to Amplatz Children's Hospital. We will over double the endowment fund setup at the hospital!

This will bring our three-year total to over $54,000. Our endowment fund is setup in Mary's name and will live forever in memory of our little girl. The interest earned from the fund will be used by Family Child Life Services to purchase items such as; art and crafts supplies, movies and games, and more to support hospitalized children at Amplatz.

Our next milestone is $100,000. Once reached, a plaque will be created in lobby of Amplatz Children's Hospital in the name of our foundation. We can't wait! Hopefully just a few more years until we'll achieve that goal!

It takes a lot to have a successful event and run the auctions. We greatly appreciate the help and donations from our friends, family, and various organizations that made this all possible. It wouldn't have been successful without you. Money was raised through event registrations, the Xbox One raffle, both the silent and online actions, cash donations, food sales, merchandise sales, and more!

Here are some of the keys to this year's success:

• Our attendance was over 1200 people (that we registered). We were able to extend the hours of this year's event by allowing the water park to register attendees too. While this helped the event and created more revenue, it did crowd the park more than we anticipated.
• We had over 200 auction items, more than last year; many people helped contribute and Missy Kenninger again did a fabulous job running the silent and online auctions with help from Jenny Dewhirst, Kim Anderson, Dawn Huber, and others.
• There was great media coverage and awareness (newspaper and television) thanks to Alisha Natvig and our friends at various TV stations; Kate O'Hara got Christine on Fox 9.
• Signage was well covered thanks again to Corey Olsen, and Food and Beverages were led by Brian and Jan Ochocki
• Locker room space was further expanded with our coat rack outside the locker room
• The fabulous website was driven and maintained by Lee Anderson
• Our DJ - Sarge, again did a fantastic job!
• Our core staff helped with reception, the raffle, marketing, merchandise sales, the auction, and everything that needed to be setup; Steve, Alex, and Janet Sommer, Marty Malley, Jacquie Herman, Seth Evans, Kimberly Carlberg, Tom Anderson, Tom Kenninger, Brian Lockwood, Jen Costello, Tammy Sloane, Katherine Dumas, Laura Osman, Janelle Gregerson, Rosanna Bercier, Kamille Roche, Wendy Pekarek, Barb Hammerschmidt, and others that assisted in the day-off activities. Thank you!
• The Irish Dancers were awesome! Thanks Cassia and Fauna Gille!
• Special thanks to our sponsors and major cash donors:
  • Little Family Foundation
  • The Robert M. Adams Foundation
  • Fairview Foundation
  • Skin Care Doctors
  • Any many others that donated cash to our event, it was very much appreciated and needed to have a successful event.
• Lastly, the team at the Water Park of America was great to work with. They helped us with planning, ideas, expectations, the needed communication, and had a great team there the day-of helping us setup. I definitely would recommend the water park to others.

Remember: Maple Lane Realty (15% of their commission is donated year-round to our foundation, please refer them to others, and have them mention the mary moon foundation!)

This was truly a special event. Thank you very much for your support and participation. We hope to see you next year!

Sincerely, Peter, Christine, Will, Mary, John, and Katie O'Keefe

Peter's email: peterpokeefe@yahoo.com

Christine's email: sommerokeefe@yahoo.com

Donations accepted 365 days a year: www.marymoonfoundation.org/donate

Mary "Moon" Jacqueline O'Keefe died at the age of 3 on July 30th, 2009 after a yearlong battle with neuroblastoma, a cancer that is most common in infancy. Mary loved the attention and activities Child Family Life Services provided her at the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, this allowed her to be distracted during painful treatments and to be engaged in learning activities while in the hospital.

Please visit Our Foundation to learn more about Mary and her parents' goals with our new foundation.