There’s three days left, and there’s still time to vote! http://www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com/entrant/barton-cutter-raleigh-nc/
Here’s a look back at the past nine weeks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meZhxY8boAQ
We have just been in awe of the support we have received for the National Mobility Awareness Month Campaign, accessible van contest. No matter what the outcome, we are just so grateful for our community support and the reconnections that were made the past few months.
When we began, both of us were very overwhelmed, crazy busy with the book launch, and balancing two very different schedules. With some encouragement, particularly from Nancy Cutter and Helen House, we embraced this opportunity, because it is the best way for us to solve the huge elephant in the room—my Honda is dying very quickly, the cost to repair the damage to the transmission and underbelly is between $2-4,000, and it is reaching the 250,000 mileage mark this week.
It didn’t help that this week, the taxi van we used was very, very late picking Barton up from an after-hours meeting. At first, we thought the lift wasn’t working, but later found that there was a miscommunication with the dispatcher. Just another reminder how much it would impact us to have a van of our own.
And, we need an accessible vehicle not only for personal use, but to be able to share our story and impact families on a national and international level. We both have dreams of reaching as many families and individuals with and without disabilities. Our book isn’t just our story, it dives into the essence of relationships, and how we explore those relationships as human beings.
When we began to fully embrace the National Mobility Awareness Month contest full on, what we found was a rally of sooo many people behind us, above us, all over the place!!
Just a few to mention:
Nancy and Stan Cutter and Steve Potts who went through all of the contestants multiple times so we could tell where we were in the standings.
Donna Hedgepeth and the boys for being the extra hands to take photos. And Aaynne Himman Lamy, who used her picture magic and helped us create great images to use!!
Anora McGaha who supported us behind the scenes and encouraged us to create a video with our pictures, which we FINALLY did!
Kate Leaming Goldberg who reached out to the R-MWC/Randolph College community, and we both contributed to the Randolph College Blog!
Jen Janko Dragen was able to feature us on one of the Top Mommy Blogs Peanut Butter Hair!
And a huge, huge thank you to our local Van Products who sponsored local events the past few months so Barton could have access to his motor wheelchair! But, they can’t do it forever, which is why we need a van of our own!!
And a list of so many names, we can’t list them all here who reposted on FB, sent emails to their own families, friends and colleagues, and who spread the word like wildfire, we sincerely, sincerely thank you.
With 3 Days Left to Vote, we have over 13,400 votes—and we attribute it to you!!
What’s next? Three days of mad dash voting!! And you know Barton loves to aim high, so we’re hoping for 15,000! Vote here: http://www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com/entrant/barton-cutter-raleigh-nc/
And then we will wait to see when we receive the official word we are in the 5%. After that, an independent panel will choose three winners.
So for the rest, we have to let it go, trust that if this is the right avenue and all the stars align, we will take our words on the road, and if it’s not, we will find an alternate route!
~ Megan and Barton