Ability Camp for Jacey

Well it has begun....we have officially started fundraising to send Miss Jacey Bird to Ability Camp. We are so excited to start this journey together with you all! Here is a brief intro to Jacey and our family for those who don't know and also our quest to send her to camp.

Jon and I met in high school and have been together for about 9 years now. We've been married for 5 years and welcomed our little Jacey Bird almost 3 years ago. Jon works as an Accounts Payable Clerk and is going to school to finish his Accounting Degree. I interestingly enough went to school for my Special Needs Teaching Assistant Certificate, and am now staying at home to be with Jacey. She joined our family in August of 2008 and has been such a joy ever since.

A few months after she was born, Jacey was diagnosed with a rare type of Cerebral Palsy. She was born with very little white matter in her brain. Now it has been explained to me that our brain is like a computer and the white matter is like the chords directing the info to our body parts. Because Jacey has such little white matter, her body does not move as it should. She has had surgery to help her rigid and spastic muscles in her hips, strabismus surgery on her eyes to help straighten them, and 2 injections of Botox in her legs to help relax the muscles. She is such a trooper! She has the funnest little brown-red curls and the best smile ever! (Not that I am biased...okay maybe a little bit)She is also such a happy, goofy kid. Her spirit is so sweet and she is just a special little lady.

My husband and I heard about this fantastic camp in Ontario that works with individuals with Cerebral Palsy, and decided that it was something we wanted to do for Jacey. It is called Ability Camp (abilitycamp.com) and it offers very intense physical and occupational therapy. It also works on eating skills, toilet training and communication. It is amazing the work that they do. The camp is 5 weeks long and between 5-6 hours a day of therapy including the hyperbaric oxygen. The camp is awesome but is also costly. The estimated cost is $6000 for the Camp, $4000 for the Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy and close to $5000 for extra costs. (Flights for 3 people, food, and vehicle rental for 5 weeks)

We have begun fundraising and will continue with: a large extended family garage sale, a bake sale, a continual bottle drive, a Bird Girl raffle and petitioning other social clubs. We hope to raise all the costs and enjoy and learn from this great experience. Although it is costly, we think Jacey is worth it!!

Any donations, support, ideas for fundraising or anything at all are appreciated. My email is ahinko@hotmail.com

This scripture is from Matthew Chapter 6, the Sermon on the Mount
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Thank you so much! Love The Bird Family (Jon, Alyson and Jacey)