Henry's March raising money for children
By: Aimie Rivera
Issue date: 3/12/08 Section: News
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Henry's March is a fundraising event that will benefit the Children's Craniofacial Association, a nonprofit organization that assists the families of children born with facial disfigurations.
There will be a 5k course for adults and a 100 meter dash for kids ages two to 12. It is not required that individuals run this course and walkers are welcome.
There will also be a mascot race featuring: Modesto Nuts' Al and Wally, Scoopy the Modesto Bee, Red the Robin, McGruff the Crime Dog, Funworks Freddy Foreman and the CSU Stanislaus Warrior, Titus
For entertainment there will be music, an award winning face painter, a karate demo, and Ron the Python Guy.
Raffle prizes will be handed out that include gifts such as Great America and Six Flags tickets, Starbucks Coffee, free Panera bread for a year and CSU Stanislaus warrior T-shirts plus many more.
Kimberley Dyst, the Assistant Head of Athletics, has been helping to plan the event since the beginning of the year. Dyst said she was more than happy to "hop on board for the community service project…[we] would want to make it an annual event."
The idea of this event all began with a mother, whose goal was to educate the community.
Rachel Johnson has a five year old son named Henry who has Apert syndrome.
According to the CCA, Apert Syndrome is "the abnormal growth of the skull and face due to early fusions of certain sutures of the skull."
This causes facial differences like bulging eyes, ears positioned lower than normal, a smaller midface and many other disfigurations. Also due to bone junctions being fused shut in the skull, it causes the brain to grow up making the head taller.
Henry was a big baby, weighing more than ten pound at birth and has already had nine surgeries in his short life. This includes a complete skull reconstruction and correcting his fingers and toes that had been fused together.
The purpose of this event is not to raise money for Henry, but to raise money in his honor. Johnson wants to give back to the organization (the CCA) that has helped so many families like her own overcome the obstacles they've faced.
Johnson also wants to bring awareness to the Turlock community about people like Henry who are born physically different.
"[Henry] always receives second and third looks in the grocery stores," said Johnson, "people assume they're [people like Henry] not mentally capable of understanding jokes, buts they are."
The Children's Craniofacial Association has been helping families like the Johnson's with surgery expenses, travel accommodations and many other emergencies that rise because of craniofacial conditions. Their National Spokes person is singer Cher, who got involved after playing the role of a mother of a child with a craniofacial condition in the movie Mask.
To register for Henry's March visit www.wariorathetics.com/henrysmarch.
For more information and pictures of Henry got to www.myspace.com/henreysmarch or www.lauryhenry.comTo learn more about Apert Syndrome or any other craniofacial conditions visit www.ccakids.com.
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