Project 40 (the cheerleaders)

On October 11th a group of 6 people from Westwood volunteered to be Cure/cheer leaders for the Race for the Cure. We had the amazing opportunity to witness the 15,000 people who walked, ran, and just took part in this amazing event. The people gave us a chant to say "Evey Person Everywhere I am the Cure." We helped to encourage people on there first mile to keep on going to the finish line.... here are some pictures: (check out Sydney's level of enthusiasm, it's amazing that she can still talk after how much cheering she did!)

-Courtney West

Project 39 - by Caleb Hughes

On October 5th, 2008, from 0800 hours until 1300 hours, many 8th grade young men changed the lives, or at least the mornings, of several people. We were the helpers, or the phrase i coined, "blood buddies," of several donors for the blood drive at Westwood's campus. Since it was a Sunday morning, as you can imagine, we had many if not all of our regular life group attending guys. There were more than enough guys there to help out. And for that I am well-pleased and very thankful. As far as i know, there was only one complaint about my group and it wasnt even a big deal...something about one of my guys talking to the "blood bus" workers too much which i though couldnt possibly be true... *wink* They take after their main man DJ Cabes, so they just like to communicate their points of emphasis. But in all seriousness folks, we had a good time serving the blood donors and passing out refreshments. It was also a great day in the Lord's house. Thank you for all the people who donated, even though i was cowering in a corner hiding from the blood sucking needles. Speaking of which, i was wearing a shirt that said "Give blood!" Now does that make me a hypocrite? I guess it would be about the same as me being a Barista at Starbucks who doesnt drink coffee. But i digress...(i dont know how to use the word "digress" in a sentence, I hope that was grammatically correct for Anne Stansell the greatest 8th grade English teacher ever). Ok, now im rambling, i hope i got my point across. The blood drive was a huge success and i am very thankful for my life-group's participation and serving attitudes in it. We got some pictures i think, check out me and my boy Madison "mean muggin'" (as the kids are calling it) to the camera in the group shot.

- Caleb

Project 40 (the race participants)

Today we did project 40; it was the Susan G. Komen Race For the Cure to help raise money for Breast cancer research as well as awareness. There were about 13,000 people walking, running, and volunteering. Lacy and I (Morgan Jordan) ran the 5k in 29 min.s, but the amazing, spectacular Preston Earnest ran it in 22 min.s. Beforehand, we made plans to meet after the race at the pink fountain in the middle of the park. However, Ellen Anne got a craving for some cotton candy, and disappeared... FOR THIRTY MINUTES. We finally wandered around and found her in the cotton candy line, and she just said, "what? i wanted some cotton candy?" It was funny. So then we gathered around for a group photo, and headed back home. It was awesome to get to race in honor of people like Lori's mom who is a survivor of breast cancer. All in all it was a great day filled with lots of pink.
* This amazing peice of art was written by the INCREDIBLE Morgan Jordan!!!

The runners/ walkers were Lacy Allen, Courtney Jordan, Alex Jordan, Jamie Jordan, Lori McKenzie, Ellen Anne Bentley, Janice Bentley, Whitney Emery, Cayla Crabb, Kelsey Dewberry, and Erica Hesse.