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In May I drew this (left) right after the "Bike for Kam" project was completed. She's "Stealth Kam", inspired from the guy's late night biking adventures, revines, roadkill and moonlit guidance.
Just to recap, "Bike for Kam" was a grassroots project I did with six of my friends. The goal was to expand awareness for my rare condition and raise funds. I have been involved with ARM (Advancement of Research for Myopathies) since the day I met them and have worked on many projects and events with ARM as a volunteer, but this was the first fundraiser I've done entirely by myself on behalf of ARM.
ARM is a nonprofit organization that has been in motion for over ten years. Founded by HIBM patients it has managed to raise awareness among the scientific and general community, provide grants to labs working on HIBM around the world and founded it's own research lab, HRG, in 2002 where much of the biomaterials that were created there have been used in other labs and scientists. It's important, since HIBM is so rare that it garners little interest from these communities.
The bike project's goal was to do a project that had zero project spending, so 100% of proceeds could go straight to HIBM medical research. With that, we raised over $22,000 online AND through an entirely new community that never or barely knew about HIBM or ARM.
It was a fun project and my hope is to expand this grassroots chapter to the community and to patients in hopes that they will do their own fundraiser within their community. As a small non profit, constantly challenged with resources and very very small volunteer base, I'm looking to help grow involvement. It's the only way we can reach the end.
You can't do anything as well as you could with a team, and many working together towards a common goal is the ultimate beauty. It's easy to be at odds, it's more difficult to come together.
I remember the day the guys left the Golden Gate Bridge heading onwards to PCH, I returned home to a mess of a house from the weekend of 6 guys staying in my place, all the cooking and prepping for the trip. That was such a fun weekend together. I looove a messy house after people have visited and left. I like to look around among the messiness and know that people had fun there, even if I'm tired afterwards, it means my house is being lived in, and what good is a house if it's not constantly open to others?
It's funny I call this one "Stealth", because I'm anything but quiet when I move.
Below are pictures of all the places Lil Kam seen during her ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. She's tattered, dirty and full of secrets and dreams that she collected as she rode. I made her to travel with my friends since I could not :)
Grab the moon and stars like balloons in the sky.
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