Waiting for the Cubs

But why? We see a very pretty little girl munching a muffin. What makes it so special?

This little girl is Riley Dempster. She was born in April of last year with DiGeorge Syndrome, a disorder that impairs her ability to eat and digest food. Until very recently she was fed almost exclusively through a tube, only occasionally tasting foods.  But through the dedication of her family, doctors and therapists she has improved to the point where she was eating just about anything she wanted last night at a fundraising party for the Dempster Family Foundation at Joe’s, 60 East Grand Avenue, Chicago.

Click on the highlighted words above for more information about DiGeorge Syndrome, the Dempster Family Foundation, or even Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab Restaurant, but I’ll reprint the Foundation’s Vision Statement here:

The Ryan and Jenny Dempster Family Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness of 22q11.2 deletion (DiGeorge Syndrome/VCFS) and reaching out to families with children with the disorder, and the charities that support them, to help them deal with difficult situations they face each day.

“Pitching in to raise awareness  and help support children with 22q, as well as other charities in the Chicagoland area serving children in need.”

Waiting for the Cubs urges you to support the Dempster Family Foundation in any way you can. There’s a page for donations on the website. Or, perhaps you’ve seen the Chicago Cubs Cookbook.

All proceeds from the sale of this very entertaining collection of players’ favorite recipes go to the foundation. It’s widely available, but you’ll find it at the ballpark, and at Amazon.

But back to the party. Riley, daughter of (Cubs pitcher) Ryan and Jenny Dempster, had a great time, I can tell you, because when she wasn’t sampling the treats, she was dancing! It was tough to get a good picture of her because she loved the lively dance music provided by a DJ, and just couldn’t stop moving! My camera wasn’t fast enough to photograph her without blurring the image …

And Riley’s big brother Brady was there having a great time, seen here hanging out with his dad …

The rest of us enjoyed ourselves, too, if not as much as the Dempster kids.

The food was plentiful and wonderful. And it was real cool meeting all the Cub pitchers that were on hand.  I felt like I was sitting in the bullpen!  Below we see, left to right, Randy Wells, James Russell and Justin Berg …

Andrew Cashner arrived a little later …

It was a pleasure to meet Jenny Dempster. Those of you who have read the book (see link upper right or just click here!) know that we didn’t get to meet her the first time we met Ryan. She told me that she lived in the Lancaster, PA area until she was ten years old. Her family often traveled Route 30 to York, where we lived for seven years. Here she is with Riley …

Thank you very much, Dempster family and the Dempster Family Foundation. And a very special thanks to foundation Director of Development Michelle Sells. Below we see Michelle (left) with friend and colleague Missy Holas. They helped with … whatever was needed.

We all owe a big debt of gratitude to Gary Bacha, the Executive Chef at Joe’s, and Jen Cheft Waterman of Henson Consulting, who did the hard work of putting the event together.

I want you all to know that Ryan Dempster left the event fairly early because he was scheduled to pitch today. As I type this blog he is pitching to his close friend Derrek Lee who plays his first game for the Braves today (Cub fans gave him a long standing ovation when he came to the plate for the first time) and … wait a minute … strike THREE. Ryan obviously got a good night’s sleep last night. Now Cub hitters need to get him enough runs to win his fourth consecutive start.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 20th, 2010 at 2:43 pm and is filed under The View from SRO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.