#TeamEllen

Just last week on Thursday, June 4, 2015, our small community came together to support one of our own.  Ellen Campbell, daughter of Brad Campbell and granddaughter to lifelong resident, Leo Olsen, was in a car accident on April 22nd. She suffered critical injuries to her brain and the entire left side of her body, starting with the pelvis all the way down to her ankle.  She was taken to UNMC and was put into a medically induced coma to monitor and reduce her brain swelling. It was a long ten days waiting for her pressures to decrease. Her sister, Jane, was also in the accident and suffered a serious injury but was thankfully released within two days.

During the time at UNMC, she had surgery to insert hardware in her femur and ankle to literally hold everything together. On Day 10, they started decreasing the meds to bring her out of her coma. At first, she seemed confused and not focused. Over time, she started tracking movement in the room. After more time, she seemed to wave or smile in response to stimuli. She passed a swallow test, which was a big milestone. She was transferred to Madonna Rehab in Lincoln and started speaking one word at a time, but only in a whisper.  When I visited her last weekend at Madonna, she was still talking in a whisper but was communicating in sentences! She receives daily occupational and physical therapy and her expected release date is June 24, 2015.

During the first 10 days, it became obvious that her single, self-employed Dad would be missing a lot of work and would most likely be making a lot of trips to Lincoln after Ellen was moved to Madonna. Taylor Clark started a GoFundMe account and the amount swelled to over $15,000 in a matter of days.  It was at that same time that the idea for a spaghetti fundraiser was brought up by Elementary Counselor, Jann Strutzenberg. During the process, I became involved in trying to get it scheduled and the idea of a silent auction paired with the spaghetti dinner was introduced. Jann offered to take care of the food if I would do the silent auction.

So, here I am now reflecting back on the time since Ellen was in the accident and I am humbled by the community’s response to help. After Jann and I decided on a date and location, I created the Facebook invite.  Within MINUTES, I had 3 emails offering services and products for the benefit! Within 5 hours, I had at least 30 responses offering products for the silent auction and just as many responses for help with the dinner.  It was overwhelming, but welcome!

I have received a lot of “thank you’s” during this process and I almost always respond with “I can’t imagine not helping”.  First, I have been friends of the family practically all my life, Tandy has been friends with Brad for a very long time, and quite simply, I felt led to help out in any way that I could.

I am driven by Colossians 3:23 which says “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for man”.  Yes, I work for man, but ultimately I work for God.  I also hold fast to Galatians 6:9 which says “And let us not grow weary of doing good…”.  It can get tiring when you are serving others, but God gives me strength. God has blessed me greatly, and I felt the need to share.  One final thought about the “why” comes from 1 Corinthians 10:31, which says “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”.  God is the horsepower behind my desire.

As Chris Clausen so eloquently put it, “The total impact is so much bigger than the individual parts .. People poured out and God multiplied it.. He's still multiplying the good of it, in so many ways on top of the money.. It's just such an awesome thing!”

I wrote a blog in late April entitled “Life in Treynor” and I think the benefit last Thursday really drives home my convictions that Treynor is a great place to live!

I have many many people and organizations to thank and I really hope I don’t miss anyone!

• Hyee Madison Avenue CB - spaghetti, meat sauce, bread sticks, lettuce
• Ron & Deb Zimmerman, Hockenberg Newburgh - 500+ cookies & bars
• Modern Woodmen, Cindy Bryan (matching funds up to $2000)
• Thrivent (matching funds up to $1000)
• Taylor Clark - Go Fund Me set-up & coordination (which raised over $16,000)
• Dance Team (setup & serving)
• Carrie Schweer - Head Chef
• The Kitchen Crew:
• Missy Poland Wisniewski, Julie Kudron, Dawn Sornson, Lilly Kennedy, Sheryl Henderson, Sarah Saar, Gina Chapman, Janet Tiarks, Dawn Ediger, Lea Ann Dea, Rosalie Soloth, Candace Gregory, Jolene Lammert, Becky Dickerson, Patty Walter

Auction Donations (over 130 items). See slideshow for donations & donors: http://tinyurl.com/nqqfsnh

Auction Bidders ( you know who you are!)

B&Bs, Boyd & Bev - boiling all the spaghetti when the stove at the Community Center failed

The “Muscle” behind the Coordinators, Tandy Bailey & Dan Strutzenberg

My “Right Hands”: Audrey Reed & Amy Graber

Patty Walters - endless supply of help during and after the event

Optimist for the 50/50 Raffle (Dee Guttau, Chase Wells, John Klein & Judy Guttau)

Sally Myers - stepping up to help collect and call auction winners after

Tyler Radcliff -- videographer

Michelle Garside Photography - photo booth to capture memories of the night

Dalton Clark - guest book & counting $$

Austin Hiers - guest table & help counting $$

Michael Guidry - t-shirt sales

And, because I am most likely forgetting someone, take a look at these awesome pictures and you can see just how many people helped and came out to support #TeamEllen: https://www.facebook.com/rachel.stolz.7/media_set?set=a.1158896597470364&type=1

To sum it all up, there really are no adequate words but just to say THANK YOU to everyone for caring enough to set aside time and money to help a special young woman and her family.

Life in Treynor

You know, most people from around Southwest Iowa know of a little town called Treynor. They might know that the population is about 1000, that it sits about 11 miles east of Council Bluffs (20 miles from Omaha), and that it has a great school system. They also might think that the town is full of “snobby, unfriendly” people, but let me set the record straight on a few facts about this great town!

It has a population of 919, according to the 2010 census. Enrollment at the local school district is more than ¾ of the town’s population, with figures in 2015 at about 775 students. The school district reaches into the eastern edges of Council Bluffs, accounting for some of the students, but there is also a large percentage of students that open-enroll into the district because of its strong academics. Yes, I said academics (not athletics). We have a strong athletic program too, but academics do come first. If a student is failing one subject at midterms or quarters, they are ineligible to play until they reach eligibility status.

Treynor once held the names Four Corners and High Five, before it was named after Postmaster Treynor who fought to get a post office in the town. It has seen it’s share of stores and businesses come and go, including a hardware store, a vet clinic, a meat locker, a drugstore, a gift shop, an ice cream restaurant, a clothing store, and several grocery stores.

Current businesses are the local gas station, a sit-down restaurant and bar, a golf course & restaurant, a fitness facility, an appliance repair business, a bank, a storage facility, automotive repair shops, a tire repair shop, a car dealer, an ag supplier, a truck dealer, a chiropractor, hair stylists, barbers, and the long-standing post office.

It is a town full of loving and caring people who take care of their own AND others. Let me give you one example: There is a young boy, Kellen Morrison, from the Logan-Magnolia School District who is fighting cancer. Their basketball coach reached out to our coaches to inquire if their players would buy t-shirts to support Kellen’s fundraiser. What did we do? We bought t-shirts, but then we went further. Our coaches coordinated a “Shoot for a Cause” event! With over 73 athletes participating, over $10,000 was raised for Kellen. Most of us don’t even know Kellen, but we worked, donated and prayed for this little boy to get better. He’s still battling his cancer, by the way, and can be followed on his Caring Bridge Website: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kellenmorrison

Our boys basketball team made a return trip to state this year and against all odds, won the championship! But, you know what’s even better? The fans won the Sportsmanship Award! State Officials were quoted as saying that it is very rare for the Championship team to also win the Sportsmanship Award. As a cheer coach, I know how it can be a challenge to get the crowd to cheer with the cheerleaders, but the state championship game was one of the best crowds I have ever experienced in the 40 years I have been a Treynor-ite. It was like a transformation began and the feeling of really standing behind our athletes pulsed through the crowd. Everyone was yelling, and cheering and clapping as if to say “We’re behind you 100%, boys! We support you! We believe in you!”. After the Championship game was won, an Iowa City-Regina player was quoted in a news article as saying "It's hard to get caught up in that, and their fans were going crazy. We just couldn't pull through." Wow! What a day that was. It’s always great to be a Cardinal, but to get to experience a Championship win like that was memorable.

Let me continue….Last year, after four residents took their own life, a community alliance was formed to focus on reaching out to our neighbors and getting to know them better. Treynor Community Outreach was formed and from that program, many branches of service projects have formed. For instance, Little Libraries were facilitated by the Outreach Committee, but carried out and installed by our local students during Pay It Forward Day on Homecoming. Block Parties were held throughout the community over the summer and fall with more to come this coming summer. The group plans to facilitate quarterly forums, which is to help share, showcase, communicate, inspire and build relationships with people in our community to help Treynor become a better place to live and work.

And, just last Wednesday, a precious, beautiful 11th grade student, Ellen Campbell, was involved in a car accident. Her 13-year-old sister, Jane, was in the vehicle too and she was seriously injured. Jane has thankfully been released. The accident critically injured Ellen and the doctors have her in a medically induced coma to help heal the brain injury that she suffered. Her right leg is also seriously injured with surgeries and rehabilitation in the future. This community has pulled together already and lifted up hands in prayer for these girls to heal quickly. Knowing it may be a long road to recovery, a local resident started a GoFundMe account for Ellen. Within 12 hours, the donations were over $5,000 and, within a day, donations were over $10,000! Incredible, isn’t it? I can guarantee that we will all continue to love, support and pray for Ellen and the family during this difficult time.

So, I ask you: Does Treynor sound like a town full of unfriendly and uncaring people? I know it can sometimes take a while to feel like you fit into any new community, not just Treynor. We put that upon ourselves when we don’t know others. But, I challenge you to come to Treynor, Iowa and find out for yourself just how great it is to live here!