When you think of Apple, you cannot help but think of Steve Jobs. When you think of Disney, you think of Walt himself. With many of today’s events, do you know who the faces are behind them? Do you know why they are?
We are not only The Great Candy Run, but we are a real charity with an amazing volunteer management team behind it. We have a passion for creating a fun family centered event, for getting families out there doing something fun and active together, and for making a difference in the battle against fetal syndromes.
Over a decade ago, I had this idea to truly create an event that would not only raise money for the charity we founded, but also finally create an event that truly did have something for all ages. Something everyone in the family could do together and enjoy. I had a vision, much like Walt Disney, but like Disney, I didn’t do it alone. There are so many that have done so much and will certainly be recognizing in my blogs in the future (including my wife, but hey.. she married me and was stuck supporting – and still does – bigger than life ideas), but two in particular have stuck by my side for 10 years now and I want to introduce you to them.
First is my dear friend Tammy Smith. Tammy went through the same terrible fetal syndrome that afflicted my daughters, Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome. Sadly 
she lost her son Nicholas to this horrible syndrome, but Zachary survived. Zachary has been as much a part of our family as our own nieces and nephews. He is a bright and caring boy and his smile and heart certainly leave an impact on everyone that meets him.
Tammy has been here since early on. She is not only a big reason why our foundation is what it is today, but she has also been the main driver behind the post event activities for The Great Candy Run (and its various legacy names). She can always be easily spotted on event day by her bright smile and pink garb! But in all seriousness, Tammy has been a big part of this event, planning and supporting it nationally and being the rock that kept us sane. For that, I am eternally grateful and indebted to her.
If you ever wanted to meet Martha Stewart’s mini me, well you don’t have to go farther than meeting Talitha McGuinness. Talitha is probably the only other person I know who has as big and crazy ideas as I do and tries to do them all, usually very successfully. She has to be one of the busiest but yet most responsive people I know. She is always beating deadlines and exceeding expectations. Talitha also battled TTTS with her daughters. Today Caelie and Ella are beautiful girls and I remember bringing them Care Bears for them before they were one year’s old. These two are the only girls, outside of my own daughters, that have me wrapped around their little fingers.
Talitha has been instrumental in all we do. She handles all our fundraising efforts, the marketing for the events as well as for our Foundation. But she wears so many more hats than that for us. She takes my ideas, many of them in worse shape than a sketch on a napkin, and brings them to life. She tells our foundation stories, she brings out the fun and meaning in our events, and despite us being a true grass roots organization, gives us a professional look better than many organizations with seven figure budgets. She has been an amazing partner in all of this and has never wavered in her support and willingness to do so much for the event and the foundation. Thank you so much Talitha!
What I love about our event and organization, we are all just like you, we are real people working to make a difference and for that, we thank you for being part of our events and our foundation.
Sweetcerely,
Lonnie
Chief Sweet Officer