Pictured: Team Emery Family Chiropractic wins the race and donates all $500 back to a great cause!
From Shaye Reagan, Executive Director of Rehema Home USA
How can one effectively say thank you to a whole community? Start with Lois Miller!
I’m going to try by starting with just one person. (Then read on to see how the Amazing Race turned out!).
Do you know Lois Miller? You might know her from her teaching career in Wellsville, from coordinating the Middle School Annual Jump Day or even from raising awareness for homelessness by sleeping in a cardboard box each year. She is the epitome of “go big or go home”. Its been just over one year since she heard about the work of Rehema Home and said, “Next time, take me with you.” This past February, I watched Lois play, laugh, crawl around on the floor, paint walls and lockers, and just be a delight with the children of Rehema. She returned with a fire in her heart to do more – and did she ever! She was the one who organized this past weekend’s event, gathered nearly all the teams and donations, showed up early and stayed late, all while smiling. Lois is among the reasons that I have such pride in being part of this small town. She’s amazing – and so are you!
So, a HUGE thank you to our community for coming out strong for our first ever Wellsville’s Amazing Race for Rehema Home. One of our 12-year-old participants said, “Honestly? It’s the most fun I’ve had in a really long time.” We had 12 participating teams and many more people show up to snag a Chicken BBQ, Buffalo Bills raffle tickets or take a chance at 55 basket raffle items.
And in the end? All these efforts helped raise $5,953 for the work of Rehema Home in Kenya! That helps us feed all of our kids for a WHOLE MONTH – or 8,100 bowls of food plus 2,700 mid-day snacks! Whew! That’s a lot!
We have so many people to thank. The top prize of $500 was donated back from the winners, Emery Family Chiropractic, a new business in Wellsville. I suspect they could really have used the money for startup costs, but instead they showed an unexpected level of generosity. Similarly, Charlie & Casey Joyce of Otis Minnesota Services were so generous in donating the two Buffalo Bills Box Seat tickets to be raffled off. And the list is long, including individual donors and volunteers who aren’t listed. If you stop into any of the businesses below, please make sure to thank them for contributing to our event and let them know that their donation has fed real bellies of real children in Kenya!
And thank you to a community that makes me proud. If you have any questions about the work of Rehema Home, please reach out via rehemahome.org.
Thank you to the following businesses:
American Legion
Auto Zone
Bokman’s
Chamber of Commerce
Dave’s Printing
Fassett Lane
From the Hart
Hairdresers
Hart’s Jewelry
HEP
L’Italia
LaGra
Leitzell’s
Mud Club
Music Alley
Napa Auto Parts
Otis Minnesota Services
Pizza King
Route 19 Retail
Runnings
Scheible’s Auto
Tami’s Floral Shop
Tannah’s
Texas Hot
The Arena
Tops
Tractor Supply
Uptown Jam
Walgreens
Wellsville Brewing Company
Wellsville Sun
YMCA
