Jessie’s 21st Birthday Recap
May 29th, 2020
Last month, as a community we celebrated Jessie’s 21st Birthday in a unique and unexpected way. With the unprecedented nature of the world right now, the Rees Family gathered and brainstormed for a spontaneous and exciting new way to celebrate Jessie’s Birthday this year! In the past, the foundation has honored Jessie’s legacy by hosting a special JoyJar stuffing event at the JoyFactory.
This year, we invited NEGU Nation from all across the globe to join in, celebrating Jess for 21 days through 4 simple steps! From April 8th (Jessie’s birthday) to April 28th, we saw an overwhelming amount of support and celebration from our community. The first way to celebrate was by JoyMobing a child fighting cancer on social media. This was something Jessie started all herself, she would ask her friends following her on Facebook to head over to a Courageous Kid’s page to leave them a note of support and encouragement. It was so fun to see the impact our community made by following in Jessie’s footsteps through JoyMobs throughout the month! We had some Courageous Families respond with the kindest words of thanks for this unexpected support from NEGU Nation.
We also celebrated Jess by asking NEGU Nation to help us encourage Caregivers, show their NEGU spirit, and support JoyJars by donating money that will allow even more kids fighting cancer and their families to be encouraged throughout the year. We are so grateful for the way our community showed up! We had a goal of seeing “I NEGU from…” signs in all 50 states and you all blew that goal out of the water! We not only saw signs from all 50 states but also 7 countries! Thank you NEGU Nation for showing up BIG TIME in honor of Jessie!!! Words could never express our gratitude! Seeing all the places far and near that people shared the NEGU motto was one of Jessie’s favorite things!
We are counting down the days until Jessie’s big 22nd Birthday Celebration next year and can’t wait to have you join in! Once again, thank you so much for not only celebrating Jessie, but in turn encouraging Courageous Kids, Courageous Families, and the Caregivers that dedicate so much! Until next year!
If you didn’t have a chance to join in on the fun and celebrate, you can still honor Jessie and encourage Courageous Kids by sending in toys that will be stuffed in JoyJars and sent out to encourage these brave kids! There is always a need for more toys to fill Jessie’s JoyJars with as we reach more Courageous Kids and their Courageous Families everyday.