This is Audrey. She has a dream. That dream is to excel in the sports of Gymnastics.
Anyone who knows Audrey, knows that she was made for gymnastics. From climbing trees at age 1 to mastering the monkey bars at age 2 – I have had friends and family telling me for years: “get that kid into gymnastics!” Money has always been too tight for much in the way of extra curricular activities, but Audrey would teach herself things and be content with that. But there came a time where she couldn’t really progress on her own. And every birthday and Christmas wish was to get into gymnastics lessons. Well, just under a year ago her wish was granted as a joint birthday/Christmas gift.
It was the happiest I’ve ever seen her – she looked forward to gymnastics day every week, it was all she could think about or talk about. A new coach brought in to the gym immediately saw her potential. Within about 4 months she was moved from the Novice to the Beginner to the Advanced Beginner to the Interemediate to the Advanced class and within a week there was hand picked for the TeamOC Excel Gymnastics competitive team. Audrey was beyond excited and thrilled.
Unfortunately the timing couldn’t have been worse. The family friend who was sponsoring Audrey in her classes lost her job the week after Audrey accepted a spot on the team. And those who know our situation know that we recently lost Eric’s income due to his getting very sick and going on disability – and income from Audrey’s dad who also recently lost his job. I know that it doesn’t make sense to pursue from a financial standpoint, but this is Audrey’s chance to shine and her coach thinks she easily has potential to excel and win at competitions on a National level, gain college scholarships and possibly even make it to the Olympics.
Audrey is willing to do whatever she needs to to accomplish this dream, and wants to help earn her own way as much as possible. She is willing to help with cleaning (she does great at bathrooms and kitchens), walk dogs, care for pets, help around the house with little kids, etc. She’s also a great little cook and willing to bake as a fundraiser. She wrote a little note about what she wants to achieve and why:
“Gymnastics has been my passion for the last four months, but I have wanted to start my whole life. We just never had the money. Now that I have started I want to go above and beyond. In only four months I have made the team. I hope to be competing soon and have a private coach. I know being on the team I can learn twice as fast and I promise it will pay off. But I have also been trying to earn the money myself. I will help with pets, cleaning, and many random things. I hope I will be able to follow my passion.”
