There are certain events and causes that I’m always happy to be included in and anytime I can help my dear friend, Gloria, I’m elated! I met Gloria and her family in January of 2014 when I was asked if I could come capture some homecoming portraits for her son, Silas, and his friends at their home. I’ve always had a heart for those battling cancer – we’ve had many friends and family fight cancer and some lose the fight. But there was something special about Silas and like so many others I was very much impacted by him and his family’s journey.

This year marked the third annual Spirit of Silas event and this year there was a ton of stuff to document and do! The event always begins with a big motorcycle ride led by Papa John – one of the lead organizers of making Silas’ wish to ride in a side car come true. The rest of the activities started at Timbuktu at 12:30 and went on late into the evening. There was a dunk tank, bags tournament, volleyball tournament, silent and live auctions, bounce houses, face painting, a 5K race, and live music. What was great is this was an awesome event for the whole family and all the money raise was being donated to Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a foundation dedicated to raising awareness and funds for childhood cancer research. (You can read more about it here.)

There was a bunch of cool donated items for the silent/live auctions. Gloria’s book, which is amazing, was also available for sale. Everyone who came had a blast and it was for such a good cause. The news even came out to talk to Gloria and to Papa John about the event. Papa John was also awarded the Spirit of Central Illinois Award for all the benefit rides he has organized over the last several years. And then Gloria – having reached her goal of raising $2,000 for cancer research – had her her children, Kristen & Shobi, shave her head! It was such a wonderful and fun event & we would have stayed later but our little lady was definitely ready to head home.

Here’s a little peek at some of the fun from the day: