Oh, what a night!

The Bonns had a blast last night! We held our Jack's Pack fundraiser at Chick-fil-A, which will kindly donate 20% of the evening's proceeds to JDRF. For three straight hours, from 5 to 8 p.m., the restaurant was packed with friends and family, all of whom came to show their support for Jack and our JDRF campaign. Friends from Jack and Madeline's elementary school, friends from Max's preschool, family friends, work friends, old friends, new friends, people we've never met before -- so many people came to Chick-fil-A! We don't have final numbers yet. We don't know the total number of people who dined for diabetes or the amount of money we raised. But, we do know that from 5 to 6 p.m., Jack's Pack placed 130 food orders, and then from 6 to 7 p.m., we placed an additional 99 orders. That's 229 orders!!!! Amazing!!!! The showing of support, the kindness of the community, the care and compassion of others--it all just makes us feel so honored, blessed, grateful, humbled and elated. Really, what a heartwarming event and an uplifting evening. We tried to make the rounds, going from table to table, thanking people. We know we were not able to talk to everyone, which makes us feel badly, but we hope that people understand. We both wanted to personally thank and spend time with everyone there. It reminded us of our wedding, circulating through the space, wearing genuine smiles, feeling on top of the world and wanting everyone to know how much they're appreciated...and not eating dinner ourselves! (We waited until after the event was over to get order our salad and sandwich.) If you were there last night and if we were unable to talk to you, please accept our apologies! Please know that we tried our best and were overwhelmed by the sea of famliar faces. For the kids, last night was like one play date after another with a variety of friends. Like an open house, people came and went throughout the evening. We had expected this to happen, so we fed Madeline, Jack and Max as soon as we arrived at Chick-fil-A at 5 p.m. They wolfed down their chicken nuggets, fruit and fries and then ran off to the play area. For the remaining time they were there, the kids had a constant influx of friends. What fun for them! We hope that while we raised money for JDRF, we also raised awareness. We hope at least a few people left the restaurant with a better understanding of diabetes and/or JDRF. We also hope we taught our kids a lesson on the importance of giving to the community and helping others in need. Perhaps when they are adults, they will remember nights like last night and our years of walking and they will give of themselves, too. Good friends, good food, good cause and good times! Oh, what a night!