A special Smooch! shoot for Amazing Gracie

Tomorrow (May 7) is a big day for a little girl named Gracie and her family. Her parents and the community who loves and supports them are coming together to help her win the fight of her life. Amazing Gracie was born last November with Down Syndrome and an unbalanced heart. She's already undergone two corrective surgeries. Later this month, Gracie and her family will be facing her third.

I met Amazing Gracie a few weeks ago at a privately-sponsored Smooch! shoot. Her parents made special arrangements to bring her to be photographed, as 4-month old little Grace must be protected from infectious germs in anticipation of her upcoming surgery. At the shoot, a family member gave me a flyer about the upcoming benefit and asked me to consider bringing The Smooch! Project to the event. While I did so, my smoochy calendar cleared for the weekend. The stars aligned and the way was cleared. Hooray! We scheduled the shoot just a few days ago. Here's a photo of the star of the event:

Because of the need to protect her from germs, Amazing Gracie cannot be present at her own benefit. But this photo will be there! We've made it into a life-sized cutout and will be offering it to all well-wishers to smooch in front of our camera at this benefit shoot. All donations for the privilege to do so will go to Gracie and her family. The Smooch! Project is happy to contribute this shoot as part of the benefit to support this child. Won't you do so too?

This family-friendly benefit starts at 3pm and will run until the place closes. There will be kid's activities, a silent auction (3-11pm), all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner (6-8pm), beer bust (8:30-11pm), and raffle prizes. The Smooch! shoot runs from 3-9pm. Here's a link to an info flyer to distribute to your own network. Here is a link to Gracie's Caring Bridge site. If you have questions, you can send an email to amazinggracie16@yahoo.com. Here's the location info:

Benefit for Gracie Delaney

Saturday, May 7, 2011

CR Billiards

8525 Cottonwood St.

Coon Rapids, MN 55433

If you would like to make a donation or cannot attend the benefit and would like to contribute, stop by any Wells Fargo or Wachovia location nationwide and ask to contribute to the "Grace Delaney Trust." Or mail a check (payable to Grace Delaney Trust) to : Wells Fargo Riverdale, c/o Grace Delaney Trust, 3200 Main Street NW, Coon Rapids, MN 55448. Please note: Donations are not tax-deductible.

Hope to see you there!