Gabbling With The Gersts: N.O.A.H Bowl-A-Thon 2015

This was our first year hosting the bowl-a-thon for NOAH, an organization that we've come to love, appreciate, and are so thankful for! NOAH is a national organization that supports those with albinism and has become near and dear to our hearts. We have received endless support and information from families involved. They were life savors when Elijah was diagnosed and we were scared of the unknown and had so much to learn. We've become "friends" with families online with kiddos just like ours. We wanted to give back to this organization by hosting our first ever Bowl-A-Thon and raise money to give to NOAH. Every year in March they encourage families to do a bowl-a-thon. We've talked about it the last couple years but finally we decided, this is the year for us to just do it! Being our first time, we had no idea what to expect and kinda just went for it. We represented Montana and tried to spread the word for people to come educate, support, celebrate, and bowl. Our turn out was pretty good and we hope to have even more next year... especially getting the word out to others with albinism who live in Montana so we can get a bigger group! We celebrated our sweet angel boys and we were able to raise a bunch of money for NOAH -- the total is still being tallied as donations have been trickling in still! :-)

Here is a short article we wrote for the NOAH magazine "Albinism Inisght"

This kid is sure adorable! He was rocking his new shades

Eli wanted to bring his special book to share with others! He was so excited for the bowl-a-thon and wanted to tell other about the way God made him. In his words he's "just special." Here is what he said when I asked him to tell me what it means to have albinism...

"we have to wear sunscreen to protect us. I have to wear glasses to help me see. I wear sunglasses to protect my eyes from the sun. I wear hats to protect my white hair in the sun. God just made me this way"

Not to shabby for a 4.5 year old! He's learning to tell others about it and I pray he'll always be proud and spread awareness about this SPECIAL way he was created.

I just have to say, Luke is the BEST middle brother for Eli and Isaac. We know he wasn't born with albinism and because of that as well as just being the middle child... he often doesn't get the attention like the other two. He may struggle with this in years to come, which makes me so sad. But for now, he adores his brothers and I know he's going to stick up for them down the road and be the best advocate for them as he tells others about his awesome, rare, and unique brothers! :-)

Eli's life verse:

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

~Psalm 139:14.

We are so thankful for these precious gifts from God!

Madeline is Eli's friend from preschool who just so happens to have albinism as well. We're so thankful she and her family could join us to help raise awareness for albinism!

We had informational pamphlets and books set at each table for those who were interested in reading about albinism. Colin manned the donation table with our "mascot" Lucky-- Eli's albino alligator.