Shop For Cure JM Is SaturdayTo say that Kristine Alderfer is impressed with how her daughter Katherine has handled battling Juvenile Myositis for over eight years might be an understatement.
“She’s amazing. She’s a fighter. She’s brave and strong. She’s been through so much. And I’m very much in awe of her ability to work through this situation,” Kristine said.
Katherine’s rare and life-threatening autoimmune disease affects only two out of a million children.
Christmas Shop for Cure JM helps raise money for research of the disease and is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Sacred Heart School, 135 N. Harrison St., Warsaw. The seventh annual event is much bigger than the first time Kristine organized it.
“The first year it was just this event that was supposed to be really small and became way more than it was supposed to be. I think we raised a little under $5,000 that first year. And last year, which would have been our sixth year, we raised $46,000. It’s pretty amazing,” she said.
It’s been made possible because of the generosity of others, from shoppers to vendors and community supporters, Kristine acknowledged.
“A few years ago we reached out to local businesses and asked them for their support, and we have been really fortunate to get some really generous sponsors for our event, which has helped our bottom line quite a bit,” she said.
It’s evolved quite a bit from hot dogs and about 20 vendors to five different menu items and 50 vendors.
Shoppers Saturday will find a wide selection of merchandise, including pottery, wine, bath and body products, handcrafted scarves, Tupperware, Pampered Chef and more.
“We have local woodworking people who do a great job, and so we really have a pretty good job of local talent, and that’s who we try to appeal to, so that every year our selection is different,” Kristine said.
The event is also an easy way to get some early Christmas shopping done.
“And it’s not just for the women. It’s for the men, too. There’s no charge to get in,”?she said.
Of this year’s 50 vendors, she said about half of them are new. “It’s really great because when people come to shop, they’re experiencing new vendors and new products versus having the same things every year,” she said.
Some traditions will still be at Saturday’s event, including the bake sale, raffle, door prizes and concessions. The raffle baskets are a big moneymaker for the fundraiser and are stocked with donations from vendors and local businesses. There were 25 raffle baskets in 2017.
“Everything goes to Cure JM, all of it. Everything that we do to advertise and all of those things are donated. We don’t spend any money to put this event on,” she said.
Sacred Heart donates the school space, and is one of many examples of how the community still comes together after all these years to help the cause.
“We have a big priority on trying to find a cure for (Katherine’s) disease, and a better quality of life for kids who suffer like she does,” Kristine said.
Katherine is doing great, but she is taken down to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis once a month for treatments.
“She’s living a pretty normal life and she is doing well. We are not in remission, we’ve never talked about remission yet, which eight years is a really, really long time. Someday it would be great to talk about remission, and maybe be off treatments, but that is not in the cards for her. But she lives a really normal life and she’s well balanced. Going to Riley is a part of her life, something which she’s used to, which is kind of sad but true,” Kristine said.
Katherine suffered for many years, and there’s many other kids that are suffering now from the disease. Several children have died from JM so the fight will continue on, she said.
Quality of life and early diagnosis of the disease are key, she said. “So we try to do a lot of physician outreach and education so that the doctors that might see a patient in early stages might diagnose it faster. So there’s a lot that goes into it, it’s not just finding a cure. It’s research and quality of life and early diagnosis and physician education, which is important,” Kristine said, noting it’s not a disease that’s easy to diagnose.
“So we continue to do this because we don’t want anyone to suffer so much as (Katherine) did. She really went through a lot, so we continue to do it to make some progress for finding a cure.”
She thanked the community businesses for helping sponsor the Christmas Shop and the vendors. “Really we couldn’t do the event without friends and family. It’s a big deal. There’s a lot that goes into it,” she said.
If anyone can’t make Saturday’s event but still wants to donate, Kristine suggested they visit the website CureJM.org to give and learn more about the disease.
