So Much To Do!

Nick's Foundation has been moving a bit slowly this year while I have been teaching full-time.

We have so many dreams and plans, though, and I just wanted to take a minute to let you know that this summer I will be diving back in with passion and energy!

Check back in July for NYN Foundation NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you all!

Tammy

Funtoberfest 5K Memory Walk/Run OCTOBER 1, 2011

The Nicholas Yancy Nischan Foundation will be hosting a 5K Memory Walk/Run on Saturday, October 1st, 2011.

The race will begin at 10 a.m.

Preregistration begins at 9 a.m.

First, second, and third place medallions will go to both the fastest male and female runners.

In order to receive your t-shirt the day of the race, you need to pre-register by September 22nd. Otherwise, we will mail your t-shirt to you at a later date. The cost of the race is $15 before September 22nd and $20 from that time on (to cover handling and shipping of t-shirts).

Registration forms can be picked up at Farmer's Hardware, Homespun Sisters, McFarland-Murray Chevrolet, JMK Electric, and Ross Realty in Grayson, KY.

For more information, contact Tammy Nischan at tammynischan@gmail.com.

Proceeds from the race will be used to purchase new supplies for the memory boxes that Nick's Foundation sends out to families who have lost a child as well as to diabetes research in memory of Snowy Hall.

If you would like to be a sponsor of the race, please contact Tammy Nischan by September 10th so that your business name can be included on the back of the t-shirts!

Thank you for being a part of Nick's legacy!

Memory Boxes..................................

For the past 2 1/2 years, we have been mailing memory boxes out to families who have lost children.

In these boxes are five wonderful books on grief, a windchime engraved with Joshua1:9 (Nick's favorite verse), a picture frame, a set of Nick's notecards, and a NYN Foundation teddy bear.

We had purchased supplies for 50 memory boxes, and I am thankful and sad to report that we have mailed out the last of our memory boxes that we had in stock.

As we venture into reordering all of the needed supplies, we are hoping to do a 5K Memory Walk Fundraiser this fall in Grayson, KY.

I will send more info at as the walk/race develops.

If you would like to help support our memory box ministry in any way, please let me know.

Thankful for all of you!

Tammy :)

Getting Ready to Start Some Planning.............

After a year of teaching full time, I am ready to take a break and dive into some work with Nick's foundation.

We recently stained five swings with arbors and placed them around the college campus in the community where we live. I love seeing people on them. It makes me smile.

We will be reordering memory box supplies very soon. Sadly, we have already given away 50 to families who have lost children in the past two and a half years. We are thankful for your gifts that have helped reach out to hurting families with the Hope of Heaven.

I will write more soon, but I just wanted to check in and say that the foundation is still working with Basket of Hope (I have several huge containers in my family room at this very minute that need to be delivered to the Furrey Foundation) and with our Nick Nooks which are placed in medical facilities throughout the tri-state.

Lord willing, we will be hosting a big event sometime soon and I will be sure to update the site more frequently as we jump back in to reaching others who are hurting.

Much love,

Tammy

2011...................................

I do not visit here as often as I should.

It's tough sometimes to come and hear the music and see his huge smile and know that I can never get closer to his love than through a photograph.

But I think of you, the ones who loved him too. I think of how you have helped us help others who are hurting by giving and supporting Nick's foundation, and I want to say "thank you."

We have purchased beautiful swings with arbors to place all around the campus of the university where my husband teaches. They will be stained and placed in their new homes once the winter season ends and spring starts blooming. I am excited!

We are narrowing down the focus of the foundation in 2011. Memory boxes will become our focal point from this time forward. God seems to be using our grief to help others who are hurting, and we want to build this ministry in the years ahead.

Thank you for helping us by making donations when you can. We always smile and say "thank you" when we receive a token of love through the mail or through Paypal. All funds are used for the ministry of Nick's foundation in some fashion to encourage others.

We will be restocking our memory box supplies in the next few weeks. I sit amazed to think that since Nick passed away we have mailed out nearly 50 memory boxes around the world..............a reminder that we do not grieve alone.

Thank you for loving us through our pain,

Happy Birthday in Heaven My Sweet Nick

Two years ago today, Nick went Home.

I couldn't let the morning pass without wishing him a happy birthday.

I know Heaven will be celebrating the arrival of my sweet boy.

My heart aches and smiles at the same time,

Tammy

In All Things Give Thanks....................

Two years ago, Nick was here.

Very sick but he was here.

It's almost surreal to remember that Thanksgiving Day. Friends from church brought our Thanksgiving Dinner in stages..............

Nick watched the Titans play one last game, and he was well enough to bet Erich $2.50 that his team would win..................

And they did!

Nick had a rough episode right after the game ended that afternoon, and he never woke back up. He went home two days later on the 29th of November surrounded by all of his brothers, one of his best friends, his sister, Tim, and me, and nearly 30 people from our community.

The room was full of love as we cried and said our "see you soon's"

Nick began humming right before he passed away and the room felt so full of energy that I truly believe it was packed with angels and that Nick was singing as he left with Jesus.

I'm thankful for that memory as we enter this Thanksgiving week.

We miss Nick so much, but we wouldn't trade our pain for a life that never had him as our son.

We began Nick's foundation within hours of our temporary good-bye, and our first donation came in an envelope at church. In it was $2 folded up into a very small square wrapped around 2 quarter............ a total of $2.50. At first I thought it was from a child who was a friend of Nick's, and then I remembered Erich's bet on Thanksgiving Day. I knew right that minute that Erich was "paying up."

Thank you for sharing life with us as we strive to help others who are hurting.

In His Grip,

Tammy (Nick's Mom Forever)