By Kellie Bowling, Franchisee of EXIT Realty Shoals in Tuscumbia, AL
EXIT Realty Shoals strongly believes in serving others, and we are grateful for the opportunity to give back. The Kruzn for a Kure Foundation is near and dear to our hearts because it was founded by one of our agents, Jessica Davenport. Her children, Kruz and Paizlee, suffer from a rare and fatal form of dwarfism called Schimke Immuno Osseous Dysplasia. In order to save their children, Jessica and her husband, Kyle, had to find a way to get research started and keep it going to find a cure and/or drug therapy for this disease. Through their foundation they have been working to raise money for research since Kruz and Paizlee were diagnosed.
There was a 1 in 80,000,000 chance that Jessica and Kyle would meet, marry each other, and produce siblings with SIOD. At diagnosis, Kruz was one of five children in the world with SIOD. Due to how rare SIOD is, they have not been able to gain access to any large philanthropic funding. Nearing the $3 million mark of at least $6 million the Davenports were told it would take to make a difference, researchers are now in the drug therapy development stage. With the advancement comes added costs and more doctors needed. KFK recently funded Phase 1 of drug therapy. On top of the $360,000 per year ($30,000 per month) that the foundation has to send for research, Phase 2 of drug therapy next year will require an additional $350,000. It’s hard to imagine the weight of the world on these parents as they know their children’s lives, and those of others with SIOD, depend on them and their community raising this money. We are very thankful for the opportunity to help anyway we can.
To help, EXIT Realty Shoals recently had our second annual Christmas Tree Giveaway fundraiser. Through our Christmas Tree Giveaway we were able to sell 183 individual tickets @$25 each ($4,575) and had 19 people buy 5 tickets for $100 ($1900). We also had a donation of $15, and a final $10 donation at the end to reach our goal of $6500. We deeply appreciate the hard work of all our EXIT associates to sell as many tickets as possible. Kruz and Paizlee are our local heroes, and they exhibit such joy and inspiration for others. Our community loves these two more than they will ever know.
A portion of every transaction fee received by EXIT Realty Corp. International is applied to its charitable fund. Through the Spirit of EXIT Charitable Program, EXIT offices and associates can raise money for local, approved, registered charities and apply to EXIT’s head office to have those funds matched from the company’s pool of funds. Kellie and the team at EXIT Realty Shoals raised $6,500 with EXIT Realty Corp. International donating a further $3,500 in support of their efforts, for a total donation of $10,000 to Kruzn for a Kure Foundation.
You can read more about the amazing Davenport family in this recent article in PEOPLE magazine, We’d Do Anything.
