Kirstie Ennis, Amputee Attempting Mt. Everest Climb, to be Featured Speaker at Mad Hatter Tea Party June 8, 2019
Kirstie Ennis, a former U.S. Marine who is currently seeking to be the first woman with a leg amputated above the knee to climb Mount Everest, will be among the featured speakers at the Cure 4 The Kids Foundation Mad Hatter Tea Party on Saturday, June 8, 2019.
The Mad Hatter Tea Party is an annual fundraising event supporting the StoryBook Homes Long-Term Follow-Up Clinic for childhood cancer survivors. It is Nevada’s only clinic focused on the long-term health needs of childhood cancer survivors and is a sub-specialty clinic of Cure 4 The Kids Foundation.
All childhood cancer survivors – no matter where they received treatment – are eligible to access the long-term follow-up clinic.
Tea Party attendees will enjoy a fabulous selection of breakfast and brunch items, cocktails and tea during the outdoor event from 9 a.m. to Noon. There will be special kid-friendly activities too! Younger guests will be encouraged to test their skills at the cookie decorating table, or channel their inspiration at a fascinator hat decorating station. Also, Las Vegas’s favorite balloon artist, Tawney Bubbles will be making balloon tea party hats on site with the proceeds going to the long-term follow-up clinic. Guests will also have the opportunity to bid on several silent auction items which will also benefit the long-term follow-up clinic.
The Mad Hatter Tea Party will be held in the beautiful courtyard of The Mercer Las Vegas, a resort-style apartment community developed by StoryBook Homes at the corner of Tropicana Avenue and Grand Canyon Drive. Individual tickets, as well as tables for the Mad HatteTea Party, are still available at www.teaparty19.givesmart.
“We are so excited to welcome our guests to a brand new experience this year, in a wonderful new location,” said Annette Logan-Parker, president and CEO of Cure 4 The Kids Foundation. “We think our guests will have an exceptionally good time and will also be awed and inspired by our speakers who offer a reflection on what each of us can accomplish.”
Featured speakers at the Mad Hatter Tea Party will include:
- Kirstie Ennis is the very definition of exceeding expectations. She served as a door gunner and CH-53 helicopter mechanic in the U.S. Marine Corps. When her aircraft crashed during combat operations in Afghanistan in 2012, she was critically injured. In addition to the left leg amputation, she sustained full-thickness facial trauma, spinal injuries, traumatic brain and shoulder injuries. What Kirstie has accomplished and overcome since that time is nothing short of inspirational. She is pursuing her Doctorate Degree in Education to accompany her Masters of Public Administration, Masters of Business Administration and Masters in Human Behavior. Ennis has worked as a stuntwoman in major motion pictures, is a strong advocate for veterans and is an adaptive extreme athlete. Her most current adventure has her in the Southern Hemisphere where she is about to climb Mt. Everest and hopes to be the first woman with a leg amputated above the knee to do this incredible climb.
- Renee Coffman, BS Pharm, PhD is president and co-founder of Roseman University of Health Sciences, a private, not-for-profit institution of higher learning founded in Henderson in 1999 as Nevada’s first and only pharmacy college. Embarking on its 20th Anniversary year, Roseman University has campuses in Henderson, Summerlin and South Jordan, Utah and enrolls nearly 1,600 students each year in its pharmacy, nursing, dental medicine and health-care focused MBA programs. Roseman University has more than 6,000 alumni who are providing compassionate care and transforming health care in Nevada, Utah and beyond. In addition to leading Roseman University, Coffman serves on the Board of Directors for the Henderson Chamber of Commerce and Las Vegas HEALS, a nonprofit, membership-based association whose mission is to foster strategic alliances in the healthcare community, collaborating on workforce issues, and being a proactive force for legislative initiatives to improve access and the delivery of quality healthcare.
The StoryBook Homes Long-Term Follow-Up Clinic was created in 2016 to address the unique medical, social, physical and emotional needs of childhood cancer survivors. The treatments most often used to cure children of cancer – chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery – can have implications for patients as they grow older. Making sure childhood cancer survivors are aware of these “late-effects” and helping them to monitor their health is vital to ensuring patients have a long and healthy life.
StoryBook Homes owners Wayne and Catherine Laska, the developers of The Mercer, donated $500,000 in 2017 to support the long-term follow-up clinic. The donation is a direct result of the difficulty the Laska family endured trying to get their son the follow-up treatment he needed for his long-term health. At that time, in 2002, long-term follow-up treatment was virtually unheard of and not widely available. The StoryBook Homes Long-Term Follow-Up Clinic is designed to give all patients access to the specialized long-term follow-up services vital to a survivor’s continued health.
Cure 4 The Kids Foundation accepts patients with good insurance, bad insurance or no insurance. No child is turned away from treatment for financial reasons.