Ribbons are UP and Alex’s Army is proud to have been able to bring GOLD to our hometown of Haymarket again this year!
Sunday, September 1st volunteers, families, and friends of Alex’s Army helped come together to tie Gold Ribbons on the light posts that line the main street of town. These Gold Ribbons represent LOVE and HOPE for families fighting and aim to raise awareness during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month!
We started this last year inspired by our friends at Team Mathias who have been bringing Gold Ribbons to their hometown of Leesburg for several years. Its an honor to bring these Gold Ribbons now to Haymarket and we aim to reach other local Prince William County towns next year (watch out Gainesville, Manassas, Nokesville, and Warrenton)!
It’s an awesome feeling for us to be able to hang up and take down these ribbons but there were a few extra special things that happened this year that we wanted to share.
The first was while putting up ribbons crossed paths with a local Haymarket resident was walking along the sidewalk. She asked what our team was doing and when we told her she mentioned that she had a child who had fought cancer many years ago who is now a survivor and she was so happy to see the Gold Ribbons being put up! It’s a reminder that unfortunately childhood cancer is not as rare as people would like to think and there are no coincidences. What a God-ordained moment that she was taking a stroll at the very same time we were putting these ribbons up!
Second, this year we had several local families of both fighters and survivors sign up to join us which was beyond special. These ribbons are in honor and support of families like theirs and they chose to put their walking shoes on and join us in doing the work! We know they know firsthand what these gold ribbons represent and want to give each of them a shout-out to know just how loved they are!
Lastly, a special friend of Alex’s Army and of our Alex who fought her own battle with Breast Cancer a few years ago, also showed up with her daughter to help us hang our Gold Ribbons. This meant the world to us to have them there proudly rocking their Alex’s Army shirts and hanging ribbons with us. Our hearts go out to anyone and everyone who is touched by ANY type of cancer, a cancer diagnosis of any sort is heartbreaking and life-changing. We are thankful to our Army many who have friends and family also fighting their own battles yet who believe in our mission and see the importance to make a difference for these sweet kids and the families we serve.
Thank you to the Town of Haymarket for believing in our mission and allowing us to bring GOLD to Haymarket. Thank you to Chick-fil-A Haymarket for asking us to include Gold Ribbons on your posts as well and also to our friends at Cookies & Cream Haymarket for not only serving as our starting and finishing post but for also serving up some delicious ice cream, cookies, and bottled water for our group when we were done. Thank you also to Trish at Photography By Trisha and a few of our volunteers for capturing pictures from this event!
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month! Go Gold for Kids with Cancer!