Roundtrip in less than 48 hours

Braeden Mannering speaking to school in Port Charlotte, FloridaBraeden and I went to Port Charlotte, Florida a few days ago after being invited to come down and talk. Well, I should specify, Braeden was invited, I’m just his official PR and well, his Mom.

St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School reached out last year to see if Braeden could come out to talk to their students. We were finally able to make it down there for a talk on October 2nd. The staff and students at the school are wonderful people. Their hospitality and generosity were over the top and I am so grateful to have been able to meet them.

Principal Tonya Peters and Father John Fitch were very welcoming along with many other school and mission staff members including the lovely Rosemary and Elma. The teachers and students surprised us with a donation to 3B AND a birthday cake for Braeden since he will be having a birthday soon. Braeden was able to tour the school and he ultimately said he wished he could move there and attend the school after only spending a few hours with them.

We had dinner with a family on the harbor at Laishley Crab House. Oliver, Louisa and their son, 7th grader Lowell, were so wonderful. We had a great time walking around with them after dinner. They showed up some attractions and then took us for ice cream laser tag and go-carts. Braeden and Lowell had a great time together. I enjoyed taking it all in and getting to know our new friends.

We are excited to be able to extend the 3B Ripples Student Chapter program down to this school. Knowing that food insecurity is a major issue in Florida we know that Brae’s Brown Bags can definitely be of service to their community in Port Charlotte and the surrounding area.

DSC_0164We flew back to Delaware Saturday afternoon and were able to rest for the evening. Then we went to the 5K / Health Fair hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Society for Vascular Nursing. Brae’s Brown Bags was a sponsor for the event. Braeden, my Mom (Gram) and Finnegan decided to participate in the 5K. My Mom and Braeden both received 2nd place in their age groups.

Our intern Gabby, and her boyfriend Felix, joined us for the event and helped spread the word about 3B among the other vendors. The weather was blustery to say the least but we still made the best of it.

Coming up, Brae will be speaking at Kirk Middle School on October 19th for something that could end up being pretty awesome involving a film crew. Kirk Middle School was our first official 3B Ripple so we’re pretty excited about being able to join them and talk with their students.

More photos to come…

Some quick 3B news about upcoming races

racegainsthungerYesterday I announced to my 4th grade class at Keene Elementary School that we will be having a Race Against Hunger on April 11th and I invited all my friends to participate in raising funds for the cause and also have a fun time racing each other which is going to be really fun! The Action Against Hunger organization is helping me with getting this race going. It’s going to happy on April 11th because that is the start of Global Youth Service Weekend. I’m using my Sodexo Foundation grant to buy water bottles for everyone and also prizes for the top runners and fundraisers. I’m very excited!

I also want to make sure I say thank you to Alpha Phi Omega who met with me and my Mom and my brother and my sister on Sunday to help pack bags. We packed somewhere around 300 bags! I will be delivering a portion to the Emmanuel Dining Room in April and the remaining bags will go to people who run in the upcoming 5K 3B Bolt to End Hunger so they can have an idea if what 3B is all about.

Oh I forgot to tell you! I won a 2014 Governor’s Youth Volunteer Service Award. On April 23rd I’ll be going with my family to Dover, Delaware for a special award ceremony. April is going to be a super busy month!

Also to let you know I have been working on a short story. It’s going to be about zombies. You might not know that this website started because I told my mom I wanted to write scary stories! I didn’t know back then that I would also be writing about real life and Brae’s Brown Bags.

You can read my scary stories from when I was younger here. I hope you like the new one I have planned.

3B Bolt to End Hunger – 5K Walk/Run in Newark, DE

5K-race---3B---APO

Very fun news! I hope I can register to run/walk this event, but even if I can’t I’ll still be there to cheer on everyone and to let people know what Brae’s Brown Bags is all about. Every year I run the Delaware Mud Run, Jr. and it is very fun, but it is not a full 5K so this race might be a little bit harder for me. I think it is really cool that there is a race for 3B. I want to thank all of the students and people involved with helping to get this race put together. Alpha Phi Omega, they are just really the best people ever.

Registration is open now and you can register online, through the mail or in person. All of the information can be found on the Races2Run website.

The race will be April 27, 2014 at the University of Delaware and registration begins at 1pm but the race begins at 2pm.

My Mom made a graphic for me to put on my 3B Facebook page and I thought maybe if you want you can also use it to help get the word out about the race.

[ Download the Bolt to End Hunger Facebook Cover ]

2014-posterThis should be really fun.

I’m hosting a smaller race event at my school on April 11th but it is only open to students there so I’m really happy that Alpha Phi Omega has made this possible for everyone to be able to participate.

I have a table/exhibit at Ag Day on Saturday, April 26th from 10 until 4 also so it’s going to be a very busy weekend. It would be great if you guys could go to one or both of those events to help support 3B.

Thank you!