About Bridget
About Cerebral Palsy
About Team SMILE
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 About Team S.M.I.L.E.
The evolution of
Team S.M.I.L.E.
began back in June
2008 with a chance
meeting between
Bridget, her parents,
and Bonner Paddock.
Bonner is a 33
year old man with
cerebral palsy
and when they met
him, he was training
to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise $250,000 for the UCP-OC Early
Childcare and Education Center in Orange County. Bonner was
also trying to face his own challenges and fears in this climb,
to push himself beyond his limits. Bridget decided she wanted
to help him by having a lemonade stand. Two days later for 2
hours Bridget and her friends had a lemonade stand where they
gave away free lemonade and treats, asking for any size donations
in return. She raised over $700!
Bridget was inspired from the success of her lemonade stand to start her own charity group with her
good friend, Sophie. While swimming in the backyard, they came up with a charity group called Acts of
Kindness and invited 14 of their friends to join. Bridget and Sophie are the co-Presidents, and each
member has a job, from secretary and treasurer, to photographer and advertiser. The charity works in
such a way that each month, one girl will choose a charity and activity or fundraiser to benefit that
charity. Bridget was the first to choose, and again, she chose to help Bonner with his cause. The girls
had a bake sale outside Albertson's, raising $345.
In October, Bridget received the UCP-OC "Life Without Limits" award. During her acceptance, Bridget
announced that she was going to set a goal to complete a 5K at the Orange County Marathon in May, 2009 and
in so doing, she would raise $100,000 for the Childcare Center. Her team is called Team S.M.I.L.E.(Strength,
Motivation, Inspiration and Limitless Enthusiasm). With the encouragement of her family, Bridget has decided
that she wants to push herself and her abilities to live her life without limits while also helping a wonderful cause.
Bridget has been incredibly inspired by Bonner's accomplishment of his goal to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.
She has also learned and continues to learn that she can make a difference and hopefully help many other
children with a multitude of disabilities receive services that can help them live their life to their fullest potential.
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