Raise the Woof Fundraiser this Sunday the 17th in our parking lot from 11-5
Hot Dogs and Drinks
Cupcake Decorating Station
Live Music by Chris Switzer 12-3
Kitsap County Fire Dept Truck 11 & 3
Bella Cupcake Couture Wrapper Design Station
Balloon Animals
Magic Show
Silent Auction
Cupcake Walk
$5.00 donated for every Dozen Sold
FLAMINGO FLOCKING
Here at Bella Bella Cupcakes as we have grown as a local business it happens to be the custom that our local fans and customers have generally become wonderful friends and part of our family. Over the months as our fan base has grown, we have began putting names to faces as fans let us know who they were when they venture our way at the local farmer’s market and store.
We have been honored in being a part of so many celebrations in our new friend’s lives. The joy of celebrating that final mortgage payment, a family party, a retirement, a wedding, or just coming in and getting a treat, we have enjoyed meeting and serving so many of our friends and family.
You should have seen our excitement when we first launched our Facebook page and we were notified we had our first fan! James Creighton?!?
With James Creighton as our first Facebook fan we didn't just get our first fan, we got a family! James, Allison, Andrea, Jon, Seth and Faith Creighton. Our friendship began to grow as we would ambush James in front of Target with cupcakes on a random day (Allison let us know). We soon started to learn more about what purpose we served for James and Allison, a treat. Treats come in all shapes and forms....A bubble bath, motorcycle ride, walk with a friend and even in the form of Bella Bella Cupcakes!
On any given day they would steal some time for themselves and join us for a treat and a smile. Soon we began meeting the kids and even Faith began to look forward to us as a treat. Inevitably the Creighton Family began to be a visit that we at Bella Bella looked forward to.
When we first heard of the desire to match Faith with a service dog we thought what a wonderful idea. Our second thought, how can we help? After a meeting of the minds we came up with this amazing plan:
Raise the Woof Fundraiser this Sunday the 17th in our parking lot from 11-5
Hot Dogs and Drinks
Cupcake Decorating Station
Live Music by Chris Switzer 12-3
Kitsap County Fire Dept Truck 11 & 3
Bella Cupcake Couture Wrapper Design Station
Balloon Animals
Magic Show
Silent Auction
Cupcake Walk
$5.00 donated for every Dozen Sold
FLAMINGO FLOCKING
What will we be doing with the money raised you might ask. Our friend and loyal fan Faith, has been recently matched with a very special service dog that is being trained by Animals for Autism of Tulula, Illinois. Her service dog, Bella, has recently begun an intensive training program to give her the skills necessary of both a mobility assistance and an allergy dog. Her training will be completed early in the summer of 2012. The cost of Bella and her training itself have both been paid for with a portion of a grant from the Pepsi Refresh Everything Project which was just recently awarded to Animals for Autism. Among the last of our uncovered costs is our travel expenses when we head to Illinois for the final phase of Bella’s training. We will need to be in Illinois for 7 – 10 days before we would return home to Silverdale.
You can read more about our journey at the following websites:
Faith was born at Trident Medical Center in Charleston, South Carolina. She was a much anticipated, most welcome addition to our family of five. Her brothers and sister anxiously waited with friends while Mom and Dad went to the hospital. All was well, with everything right on schedule as we checked into the hospital. I could say that everything else went without a hitch but that wouldn’t be entirely true – shortly after her birth Faith stopped breathing and was resuscitated by our delivery nurse. We still vividly recall her call for help into the intercom. During the first several weeks we noticed that Faith wasn’t nursing and was developing a full body rash that would not go away. We switched from one formula to the next, trying everything we could but with no luck. Allergy testing revealed life-threatening allergies to dairy, soy, egg, wheat, corn, oat, peanut and all tree nuts. And through it all she fought on. Just when we thought we had a handle on our daughter’s medical issues we were given the news that she had suffered a stroke just prior to birth as the developmental and physical delays became more and more evident.
She began a rigorous therapy program to include Early Intervention services and private Physical and Occupational Therapy. Each developmental step achieved, each milestone gained, was a blessing. We truly did not know what the future held for our little girl. Our daughter is still a medical mystery. She has many diagnoses, among them Autism, mild hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy, hemi facial micro soma, global developmental delay, Familial Mediterranean Fever Syndrome, left ventricle hardening of her heart, reduced kidney function and kidney scarring and Sensory Integration Dysfunction. She has recently graduated from being G-tube fed. It has been quite the journey so far, a scant 7 years and yet through it all she has brought so much joy and happiness to our world. During hospitalizations she was known to bring her nurses to tears with her thank you’s. Her heart goes out to those she feels are hurt or abandoned.
We recently visited her grandparents. During our visit the inevitable meltdown occurred. The complete change in routine was just too much for her to handle. Within moments Grandma’s dog, a sweet little Corgi, is over by Faith. A few nuzzles, some nudges and the meltdown begins to subside almost as quickly as it had started. Watching the interaction between animal and child made us realize how important it could be to Faith.
Here we are, with this loving child who wants nothing more than to be part of the world as best as she can. She becomes easily tired, wants constant contact with her Mom or Dad (mostly Mom – Dad is an active duty Navy Submariner) who becomes overwhelmed if presented with too much unknown all at once. She is a creature of habit, with a strict adherence to the plan as it is laid in her mind. A buffer, in the form of someone familiar, helps to ease her fears. And this is where the service dog would begin to make the greatest impact. Allowing her the security to transition between the familiar and that which is new, giving her the additional support to keep moving forward, the extra hands to recover those things that she could not hold.
You might be wondering what a service dog would do for a person. For many disabled people, service dogs bridge the gap of disability and ability. Service dogs help their human partners become more independent by providing assistance walking and navigating their environment, retrieving dropped items and returning them, helping to open doors, providing a sense of security by acting as a barrier between their partner and the rest of the world. They also provide emotional support when needed most; interrupting self-harming behavior, alerting others of wandering, and easing transitions by providing a constant calming presence. A service dog will undergo many months of training in the general area of need for their disabled human partner, followed by many more months of training that is specialized for their partner’s specific needs. This extensive specialized training results in not only high cost (as much as $20,000 in some cases) but also long wait times as the dog progresses through the initial phases and into its specialized training. The simple reality of our situation is even though we love our daughter immeasurably, we cannot be with her 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but a service dog can.
With your help this is possible.
10726 Silverdale Way, Suite 107
Silverdale, WA 98383
360-908-8096
WWW.BellaBellaCupcakes.com
