Katie's Krowd

Benefit Concert for Katie

2011-03-28T10:16:00.000-05:00

High Valley

Exciting news! High Valley, the award-winning band from Canada, will perform a benefit concert in Kerrville on April 16, 2011. They won "Best New Artist" in Canada and have been at the top of the charts. This should be a great concert and a fun way to spend a Saturday evening! Most of all, you'll be helping others just by having a good time.

All proceeds from this Benefit Concert will benefit Katie McCarty (to assist with her leukemia medical costs) and for Food4Kids, which is a ministry that provides weekend food for needy kids.

Tickets can be purchased for $15.00 at First United Methodist Church, 321 Thompson Drive in Kerrville. In the memo of your check you can designate "Katie" or "Food4Kids". If the memo is blank, the proceeds will be split equally. If you can't attend the concert, donations are welcome and 100% of the proceeds will go to these two ministries.

Word on the street is that these tickets are available by advance purchase only. Don't wait to get yours!

Date: Saturday, April 16, 2011

Time: 6:00 PM - 7:15 PM

Where: Kerrville First United Methodist Church, Fellowship Hall - 321 Thompson Drive in Kerrville, TX

Tickets: $15.00 per ticket, available at the church (8:00 - noon; 1:00 - 5:00) or by contacting Glenda Gruetzner at 830-370-2585 (cell) or 830-257-0806 (work)

Extra: If you have questions or would like to help sell tickets or if you can display a poster at your business, please contact Glenda at the number above.

Click here for these links:

High Valley - The band's web site

View the Promotional Poster

You can also find this band on facebook and youtube as well.

Thanks for your support!

Back in the Hospital

2011-02-16T20:17:00.000-06:00

Hello, Katie Fans!

Katie is back in the hospital this week, as planned. She will be getting chemo in preparation for her bone marrow transplant later this month. This particular chemo will be quite unpleasant (even for chemo), because it's geared to completely wipe out her immune system and will have really nasty side effects. Right now the transplant is scheduled for February 25, but as Marla says, that could change at any given time.

This is a critical time in Katie's treatment. It will be especially hard on her body and on the spirits of all those involved. Please pray for Katie and her parents, Brian and Marla, and her siblings Kyle and Claire. If you find an extra moment in your day, please send a card or letter to let them know you're supporting them. With the new treatment comes new rules for visiting and isolation, and we need to keep Katie and the McCartys front and center right now.

Thanks to all of you who have purchased items to raise funds for the McCarty family, and to those of you who have donated money, gifts, time, food, and prayers.

If any of you have ideas for additional fundraisers, but you need help getting started, please contact me. I will help and/or I can get you a list of others to help as well. The initial shock of the news of Katie's cancer returning might have worn off a little for some folks, but her disease is still just as real and just as costly and just as vile as ever.

The McCarty family will be spread thin in the months to come, but they need to eat. Let's give them one less thing to worry about by signing up to deliver meals. Thanks to Michele Butler for setting this up. If you'd like to help out, here is the info from Michele:

Help is still needed. I have changed the format, and now we just need people to do a full meal on Mondays and Thursdays. I've extended the calendar through the end of March. Please sign up to help - and/or forward this on to others! Please remember to separate your meals into containers that they can eat, take with them, freeze or whatever they need to do.

Here's the Care Calendar website: www.carecalendar.org.

Then you enter the following information:

CALENDAR ID : 56925
SECURITY CODE : 5634

Thank you for being a blessing to the McCarty family.

Now is the time to come together to show our support!

Want to send something to Katie?
Mail it to this address:
Methodist Children's Hospital, Pedi Hem-Onc
Patient ~ Sarah (Katie) McCarty
7700 Floyd Curl Dr
San Antonio, TX 78229
United States
(210) 575-7000

Katie's Kards

2011-01-15T19:05:00.000-06:00

We still have about 40 sets of cards available for you to purchase! These cards feature art created by Katie and are beautiful. They make great gifts, and they're great for all kind of correspondence.

Remember, all money made on these cards will go to assist the McCarty family. Just $10 per set of 8 cards!

You can contact me by phone at 830.285.9198 or by clicking here if you'd like to purchase some cards.

Chemo

2010-12-30T10:47:00.000-06:00

Please say a prayer for Katie and her family this week. After spending some time during the Christmas holiday at home, she is now halfway through her second round of chemo in San Antonio and is gearing up for her upcoming bone marrow transplant. Marla asks us to also say a prayer for the bone marrow donors who are giving this gift to someone they have never met.

Have you seen the newspapers recently? Katie was featured on the front page of both the Hill Country Community Journal and the Kerrville Daily Times over the holidays (Click here to see photo from KDT). It's nice to see her story out there.

Also, if you would like to get a purple bracelet to show your support of Katie, those are still available for $5 each. Hal Peterson Middle School Student Council is taking orders for "Katie's Klan" t-shirts for $10. I still have some sets of cards with Katie's art work for $10 each. Money raised through the sale of these items will go to the McCarty family to help offset costs of treatment for cancer. Click here for more info on how to get those items.

Hope you've all had a lovely Christmas holiday and are approaching the New Year with peace and happiness.

Click here for items you can purchase.
Click here to read Marla's post on Caring Bridge.
Click the box on the top left, just below the purple bar, if you'd like to donate via PayPal to Katie's account.

New Products Marketplace

2010-12-17T21:34:00.000-06:00

Look what's new!

Just in time to get your last-minute stocking stuffers or a gift for the person who already has everything or just to treat yourself to something nice, don't miss out on Katie's Kards. These greeting cards feature beautiful art created by Katie. You get eight cards with envelopes. There are four designs, and you'll get two of each. The cards are 4.25 x 5.5 inches.
These are the designs:

Each set of cards will be packaged with an insert that will give information about the purpose and origin of the cards, and will be tied with a ribbon. (Ribbon may vary from that in the photo.)

Cost is just $10 per set of 8 cards/envelopes. 100% of profits from the sale of these cards will be donated to the McCarty family.

There are a limited number of cards available, so hurry and order so you won't miss out!

To purchase:

Monday, December 20, 2010

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Wells Fargo Building - 301 Junction Highway in Kerrville, TX

Contact Charlotte at (830) 285-9198 or email me by clicking here to reserve yours, or take your chances and just show up on Monday!

Also available on Monday, December 20, 2010:

The purple Katie Bracelets are still available to purchase for $5.00 each.

These will also be available for purchase 12-20-2010, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM at the Wells Fargo Board Room, or click here for other ways to purchase and for more information. Remember, if you're interested in selling these on your own, click above for information on how to do that.

Here are some of the designs:

Also...

The Hal Peterson Middle School Student Council is taking orders for "Katie's Klan" t-shirts. These are a great bargain at just $10 each, and they look super cool! The profits from the sales of these items go to the McCarty family. These are available by prepaid advance order only, so you can get them by using the order form below, or by coming to the Wells Fargo Board Room on 12-20-2010, 11:00AM - 1:00PM to order and prepay. The orders will be placed shortly after the holidays.

The actual product will differ from this example in that the heart/banner with "Katie's Klan" on the front of the shirt is smaller and is located on the left, above the wearer's heart.

Katie's Klan T-Shirt Order Form

If you would like to show your support for Katie in her latest battle with leukemia, you can purchase a KATIE’S KLAN T-shirt for only $10.We would love for the whole school to have them! Shirts are long sleeved, royal blue, with light purple graphics. If you would like to order a shirt, please fill out the bottom portion of this sheet and return it, along with your money to Mrs. McDonald in room D214 or Mrs. Huckaby in the library. All orders must be prepaid!

If you have questions, please contact Mrs. McDonald at 459-8979 or cara.mcdonald@kerrvilleisd.net.

Indicate how many of each size of shirt you wish to purchase. Shirts are $10 each for regular sizes. Checks should be made out to HPMS Student Council.

________YOUTH SMALL

________YOUTH MEDIUM

________YOUTH LARGE

________ADULT SMALL

________ADULT MEDIUM

________ADULT LARGE

________ADULT XL

________ADULT XXL (add $2 per shirt)

Name: _______________________________________

Order Total: $___

Contact number: _______________________________

Profits from shirt sales will be deposited in Katie’s account at Kerr Co. Federal Credit Union.

Please join us in our efforts to raise funds to offset the cost of treatment for the McCarty family, as well as to show our support as Katie beats cancer!

The Best Christmas Gift!

2010-12-16T09:51:00.000-06:00

As many of you might already know, the McCarty family got a great bit of Christmas cheer recently. Here's an excerpt from the most recent Caring Bridge journal, written by Katie's mom, Marla:

Marla writing...

We have had a whirlwind of blessings over the past few days!

After enduring an overly long wait to get results back from Katie's bone marrow aspirate on Monday (some machine was down), we got the fantastic news that her marrow is clear. Which means Katie is in REMISSION! She still has another round of chemo and the bone marrow transplant but has had an excellent response to the first round of chemo and she's on her way to a full recovery.

And they're tossing us out of the hospital for a little while. If all goes well, we'll be spending Christmas at our house in Kerrville! Katie can have visitors. Keep in mind her mother will not admit anyone with sniffles, fevers or any general communicable crud : )

You can read the entire Caring Bridge entry by clicking here.

Greetings and Prayers

2010-12-08T20:10:00.000-06:00

Last night some of my friends and I got together for something neat, and I hope someone else reading this might also try it.

We informally called it "Potluck and Prayers," but all we really did was get together for appetizers and a little fellowship, then we all sat down in a big circle and just prayed and prayed for Katie and the entire McCarty family. I found it to be quite powerful.

If you're so inclined, please send up your prayers as well.

Furthermore, we discussed other things we can do to help Katie. It's really simple and really inexpensive: Send her some greeting cards and letters! Let her know you're thinking about her while she's in the hospital and you're not there.

Also, thank you to those of you who are donating via PayPal on this site! Rest assured that your donation will go to the McCarty family 100 percent, and also that they will receive notice that you have made a gift to them (unless you specifically request to donate anonymously, of course).

One more thing, if you have signed up to receive email updates for this site, I've noticed that some of you are still listed in my records as "unverified." This means that you have not yet clicked the link from Feedburner.com to confirm your subscription. It's free and very quick and easy, but it's just to be sure you really requested the service. If you signed up but have not been getting update messages, that's likely the reason why, so just go into your inbox (or spam folder) and be sure you click the confirmation link. If you haven't signed up, go ahead and do that now! It's secure and will notify you each time new information is posted here.

The last I heard today, we're still waiting to hear if Katie is in remission. She had a procedure done Monday and was supposed to find out the next day. However, the machine they use is down, so hopefully it will be working soon and give us some good news. This does not mean she's done, unfortunately, but it will determine how she's doing and when the next round of chemo will begin.

If you are interested in visiting Katie in the hospital, you should go ahead and make plans to do that pretty soon. Once she has the bone marrow transplant, my understanding is that she will have about 100 days where she won't be allowed visitors.

Also, if you're in San Antonio and want to visit, please remember that children under the age of 12 are not allowed in, and it's also a good idea to call first to be sure it's a good time. (That's my personal take on it anyway.) It goes without saying, but just in case it slips your mind, I'll say it anyway -- If you have been the least bit sick at all (even a cough) or you've been around someone who has been the least bit sick, please do not visit Katie at that time. Her immune system can't handle it.

I will be posting in the next few days about our newest fundraiser, and you won't want to miss this one!

Threads of Hope - Katie Bracelets

2010-12-03T14:26:00.000-06:00

These bracelets aren't magic, but they're close! Here's what they do:

- Show support for Katie as she BEATS CANCER

- Make a cool fashion statement

- Earn money to help the McCarty family

- Help the people who make these bracelets

Barbara Collins has generously agreed to kick off this effort. She found these cool bracelets that she will begin selling. Unlike the photo, the ones available through Barbara will primarily be PURPLE, because Katie loves purple! They'll be the thin, round variety, and Barbara will have bracelets available for just $5 each.

According to Barbara, "Each bracelet is hand made and designed by women in the Philippines who sell their wares to help their families. Threads of Hope ministry expands their ability to sell in a global market."

Barbara reminds us that these are great stocking stuffers, birthday gifts, friendship gifts, bookmarks, or just-because gifts and are a great way for the kids to get involved. They are our best allies, no doubt!

If you would like to purchase one (or many) of these bracelets, please contact Barbara via email at btc1959@mac.com or by phone at (830) 377-7167. Just $5 each!

Would you like to sell bracelets at school, Bible Study, church, parties, your web site, etc.? Guess what? You can do that! To sell bracelets yourself, contact Barbara to purchase in larger quantities. She will sell them to you at her cost. You will then sell bracelets for $5 each. Keep $1 from each sale, and donate the remainder to the McCarty family by taking all donations from the sale of these bracelets to the Kerr County Credit Union located inside the Super S Food Market located on Junction Hwy in Kerrville, TX.

Learn more about Threads of Hope, the producers of these bracelets, by clicking here.

Don't forget to check out the purple bar at the top of the page, especially the tab "Want to Help?" Lots of important info here, so don't miss it!

Katie's Hair and More

2010-11-29T16:34:00.001-06:00

For those of you who voted in the poll about the color Katie dyed her hair and for those of you who are just curious:
Katie decided that if it's going to fall out anyway, it might as well be...
BLUE!! (68% of voters got it correct!)

Blue hair makes blue eyes stand out!

Lots of people are really stepping up to find ways to raise funds for the McCarty family right now.

In case you're one of those people who don't want to miss out on any opportunity to help, here are a few things I've just learned about about in this regard:

According to Marla (Katie's mom), on December 9, the middle/high school orchestra concert will be dedicated to Katie. They might be printing t-shirts as well.

Also, the Student Council and the National Junior Honor Society at Peterson are both doing fundraisers. Student Council will collect pennies in February (that may be for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society). The NJHS will be selling t-shirts with "Katie's Clan" on them. Anyone have info on these activities? We're just getting this second-hand, so the details are a little unclear on this.
In other news, Michele Butler has sold out of the toffee at this time! That's so exciting, and a big thank you goes out to her for taking on such a big project!

Do you have something to sell or an event coming up to benefit Katie and her family? Just have info to share? Please feel free to post your comments or email me (see the "Contact" tab or click here) and let me know about it!

Furthermore, please read the links in the purple bar at the top of the page, especially the "Want to Help?" tab. This is important information that I hope you won't miss!

Stay tuned, because the next post will be about the much-anticipated bracelets provided by Barbara Collins!

Welcome!

2010-11-19T17:50:00.002-06:00

Glad to have you here at the Katie's Krowd blog!

This is a place where friends of Katie and her family can tag up and share ideas and pass on information. It's also a place for us to show our support.

We will let you know of any fundraising efforts we learn about and will also have items available to purchase from time to time.

Right now, Katie is in the hospital in San Antonio, getting her first round of chemo. That started on Monday.

Katie will require a bone marrow transplant in the near future. We'll let you know what to do about getting tested to see if you qualify to be the donor, if it comes to that.

Marla (Katie's mom) has updated their Caring Bridge page. I've included a link for that on the sidebar, and it is up and running now.

Please feel free to comment here (at the end of this post), and read comments from others. This is a community, after all.

Thanks for being a part of the crowd of supporters who make up Katie's Krowd.