You don't have to, you get to

A good friend of mine called me out a few months back for a statement I said. I was running around our house trying to gather my things and when he asked me where I was heading, I responded with- “I have to go to a meeting for Dance Marathon.” He piped in with a statement that stopped me in my tracks and I have lived every day by since. He said to me, “You don’t have to, you get to.”

I don’t have to do Dance Marathon. I get to do it.

I don’t have to go to the meetings I have. I get to go to them.

I don’t have to fundraise for the kiddos. I get to.

There’s a fine line between what we have to do and what we get to do, and that line exists between what we choose to do or not. We make hundreds of choices every single day, and this year, early on, I made the choice to live Everyday FTK and do all that I can to help kiddos at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Those kiddos at the hospital, they don’t get as many choices as we do though.

They didn’t get to choose to whether or not they got sick, they have to live it out.

They didn’t get to choose whether or not they go through treatment, they have to in order to have the best chances to live.

They don’t get to sleep in the comfort of their own bed, they have to call a hospital bed home.

Ever since my friend called me out for my choices of words, I’ve made an everyday decision to do as much as I possible can to help kiddos at the hospital.

I don’t have to do Dance Marathon, but I get to do it- for the kids.

I don’t have to go to all the meetings I have, but I get to go to them- for the kids.

I don’t have to fundraise for the kiddos, but I get to do it because I believe that what we here at UNI do is important.

I believe we can make a difference and I believe that if everybody pitches in, we can raise a lot of money so that someday, no kiddo has to go through treatment for an illness because we will have found cures for them all!

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Daniel Vorwerk

Executive Co-Director