As a member of the Board of Trustees and your friend, I want to take this opportunity to thank each one of you for your generous donations in 2022. I also want to thank those who joined our team and supported "Camp Beverly Heals" in honor of Beverly Camp. What a great day we had with a perfect venue, perfect weather, and we won the best overall t-shirt and logo. I think the butterfly headbands sealed the deal! This venue also provided lots of shade, a wonderful backdrop of historical buildings, expansive areas with food booths, a kid’s fun zone, an interesting walk course, and a Zumba class area. What I loved most about last year was our team member’s kids and grandkids that came and supported this fun day by Zumba dancing and running more laps than anybody (Raymond Othart)!

Our team name this year is THE JUNE BUGS: BUGS AND HISSES! We are currently working on our bug character, which will adorn our t-shirts. If you have a grandchild that would like to submit some art work, that would be awesome! We will frame our t-shirts by wearing bug headbands.

The Bakersfield Ronald McDonald House is a "home away from home" that provides comfort, support, and resources to families who travel far from home to receive medical care for their children. We realize that families need to be close to their children who are undergoing medical treatment. Long hotel stays are expensive. In the past, many families often found themselves sleeping in hospital hallways or on chairs in their children’s rooms and eating many meals in the cafeteria. Since opening in 2009, more than 5,000 guests have stayed at the "Small but Mighty" Bakersfield Ronald McDonald House. While our local House is the smallest in the world (385 houses throughout the globe), it has made a big impact on the Kern County community. The House is located on the campus of Memorial Hospital in Bakersfield.

Our major fundraiser, WALK FOR KIDS, will again be held at the Kern County Museum on June 3rd. Our goal is to raise $250,000.00. The walk is a 5K (3.1 miles) designed to raise funds and awareness for the services and programs provided by BRMH. Walkers come together for a day of fun, food, entertainment, and giveaways. Many teams go all out and have very decorated team t-shirts and crazy team names. This year, we will have approximately 55 teams participate. I’m inviting you to join my team to help raise funds to meet our goal. My team goal with participants and sponsorships is $10,000.

You will be receiving in the mail a folder with information on this year’s event, along with our team pictures from 2022. I’m sending this information in the mail because, in the past, some of you may not have received my event emails, as it had gone to spam. Additionally, you will still receive an email with a link for your donations from me and the Ronald McDonald House. I have included an offline donation envelope for those of you that have children that may want to ask other family relatives, neighbors, and friends to support them on their walk. If you choose not to participate, I look forward to your donation to help our team meet its goal. 

NOTE: A minimum of $25 per adult walker is required, and children participate in the event for free. Each adult walker is encouraged to raise $100 to receive an event t-shirt. Each walker who raises an additional $100 will receive our super cool "Buggy" team t-shirt and bug headbands. All team kids (the little bugs) will receive a headband. Team shirts and headbands are donated by Diana and Tom Mestmaker!

Sincerely,

"Bugging you for donations."

Team June Bugs 

Bugs and Hisses