Governor Culver Signs The Bill

On February 23rd, 2010, Iowa Governor Chet Culver signed the bill mandating insurance providers to cover routine medical care for those individuals taking part in clinical trials. What a monumental day and what an AMAZING experience to be a part of it all!

Pictured below is Governor Culver "in action".

Pictured below: Governor Culver with a variety of instrumental individuals in the passing of this bill. Did you know Governor Culver signed each letter of his name with a different pen to ensure we were able to receive an official bill signing pen? What a FABULOUS memento!

Mission Day Iowa

Mission Day Iowa 2010 was such an honor to be a part of. On February 17th, Ryan and I traveled to our state capitol in Des Moines to urge our state legislatures and representatives to vote "yes" to a bill that mandates private insurances to cover routine health care costs even while on clinical trials for cancer. The day was a HUGE success! After 3 years of hard work and collaboration with a variety of additional groups including The America Cancer Society, the bill passed unanimously!

As you can imagine this bill means more to me than words can express. As many of you know, my family history is decorated with multiple forms of cancer and my mom's constant strong fight against CML has illustrated the importance of clinical trials.

A HUGE thanks to all who have worked so hard to make this dream a reality!

Pictured above and below with Iowa State Senator Beall. Senator Beall gave me an Iowa pin and named me "Honorary Senator For The Day" ... thanks so much for the warm welcome!

Pictured below with Iowa Representative Tyler Olson on the Iowa House of Representatives Floor. Tyler and Ryan grew up in Cedar Rapids together and both shared a love of swimming. A special thanks to Tyler for believing in this bill from it's origin!

Pictured below with volunteers from LLS and Iowa State Senator
Larry Noble on the Senate Floor.

Pictutred below with Iowa State Senator
Randy Feenstra on the Senate Floor.

Pictured below at The State Historical Museum. I love the quote on this mural ... "More than just pigs and corn!"

Interview with The Gazette

A HUGE thanks to Angie with The Gazette for writing such an amazing article about my reign as Mrs. Iowa International 2010 and to Julie for the great photojournalism! I am very grateful for her time and am so excited to have an opportunity to raise awareness for blood cancers and my personal platform: Live ... Learn ... Survive

Please click on today's title above to see the article.

Go Red For Women Casting Call

February 13th was a very inspirational day at The Go Red For Women Casting Call. The event was held at The Iowa's Children Museum in Coralville, Iowa. This search was on for not only a local spokesperson for Go Red, but also a national spokesperson for the movement. Nine women across the country will be chosen and given the opportunity to "Speak UP for Heart Disease."

Pictured above: Anne (my fabulous sister-in-law) volunteered with me ... thanks Anne!!

CBS provided media coverage for the day. I'm giving a brief interview for them regarding the days events. They also interviewed several heart survivors at the event so they could share their personal passions for Go Red.

Anne and I spent time in the "holding pen" while women waited to recored their stories. Each woman recorded an interview with Kathryn Foxx from Mix 96.5 to share why they "Go Red."

Those of you that know me well are aware of the fact that I am rarely at a loss for words, but today was completely different. The experiences that these women shared with me were nothing short of miraculous. Pictured above and below with two amazing women who are recipiants of heart transplants.

I also had the opportunity to record my interview today ... thanks so much for the opportunity!

Heart Disease is the #1 killer in women.

90% of women have one or more risk factors for heart disease.

I am Feryl York Mrs. Iowa International 2010 and I GO RED to give EVERY woman a voice!

The University of Iowa's Dance Marathon 2010

On February 5th at 7:00 pm, students from the University of Iowa gathered together for 24 hours without any caffeine to literally dance the night away. A huge thanks to Mix 96.5 Andy Petersen, Carla Davis and Kathryn Foxx for allowing me to come and be a part of their radio coverage. With Live ... Learn ... Survive and my efforts with The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society being my personal platform, you can imagine how special it was to me to be a part of this great event.

University of Iowa Dance Marathon creates and sustains special projects to provide emotional and financial support for pediatric oncology and bone marrow transplant patients and their families treated at University of Iowa Children's Hospital.
FTK: For the Kids!

And the final numbers are in ... drum roll please!!

$1,058,568.16 For The Kids!

My Go Red For Women Tour

And so began my week of raising awareness for Go Red For Women and The American Heart Association ... what an exciting and memorable week! It all began with all of my colleagues supporting Go Red by wearing red on National Wear Red Day ... THANKS to everyone at Physiotherapy Associates for supporting such an important cause. Heart disease is the number one killer in women ... it's certainly great to observe others as we use our voice to make a difference.

Pictured below with Kristine Ward and Tim Seymour, morning news anchors for KGAN. A special thanks to Kristine for our live interview urging all of their viewers to Go Red on Friday February 5th.

An unexpected surprise with Justin Roberts, weather at KGAN...he invited me to assist him with the morning weather forecast! What an AWESOME TV experience!!! Unfortunately, I did have to predict snow in the forecast ... BUT ... I still fit in a Go Red plug ... Red snow boots of course! :)

Look at the lovely "map" for me to point to in the background ... who knew it was just a green screen?!

Thanks Kristine for capturing what the forecast looked like on screen!

I think I need to come up with my official "sign-off" phrase ... maybe something like "Now let's find out what's happening in your backyard." Hmmm ... I better not quit my day job!

Thanks to Andy Petersen (pictured below) from WMT for interviewing me for Go Red and for encouraging all the AM 600 listeners to wear red on National Wear Red Day!

Pictured below with the ladies at KCRG before my interview to encourage listeners to participate in a variety of events this month to celebrate heart month.

February is Heart Month ... Let's Go Red For Women

Kathryn Fox from Mix 96.5 was kind enough to invite me onto her radio show today to raise awareness for Heart Month. We had the opportunity to discuss National Wear Red Day on February 5th and our local casting call for the next spokesperson for Go Red For Women that is taking place February 13th at Coralridgle Mall. We also gave away heart healthy cookbooks and red dress pins (graciously provided by The American Heart Association) to the first four callers ... radio is always such a great way to touch so many people. Please click onto the title of today's blog to link to Mix 96.5 to see what Kathryn and I were up to this afternoon and remember to "Go RED!!"

Butterfly Kisses

Ryan (aka ... Mr. Iowa) escorted me to Cedar Rapids Country Club for the 8th Annual Butterfly Kisses Event that is provided by Junior League. On January 31st, nearly 300 little ladies had the opportunity to "spend the day with "Dad!" Pictured below are several of the gals I had the opportunity to meet!

Activities of the day included dancing to some great music provided by a local DJ, silent auction tables, face painting and even a glamour station for nails, hair and all a girls necessities! :)

Pictured below with two sisters from Cedar Rapids that come to celebrate that father-daughter bond ... I have to admit ... I'm still a Daddy's girl too!

The girls kept me busy signing autographs and posing for pictures ... they were all sooooo CUTE!!

This little angel pictured below was showcasing some FABULOUS shoes! I was so excited when she agreed to let me hold her to get the shoes in the picture too! :)

A HUGE thanks to the Junior League of Cedar Rapids for such a fun afternoon!

Junior League of Cedar Rapids is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable. Feel free to click on the title of this blog to direct you to the Junior League of Cedar Rapids website.