Dakota Lane Johnston 1999 - 2008
Dakota Lane Johnston Foundation
Est. 2009
"To raise awareness and money for research for
The Aneurysm and AVM
Foundation."
October 30, 2009
On October 17,
2009 the Dakota Lane Johnston Foundation hosted the 2nd Annual
Dakota Lane Chili Cook-off . Our goal is to raise money for The Aneurysm
and AVM (Arteriovenous Malformation)
Foundation. Saturday was a very
successful day with anywhere from 175 - 200 people attending the event. We raised a total of $7795.22.
Steve and Kelly introduced Dakota’s little sister, Graci and little
brother, Cash to everyone. Graci and
Cash were born July 28, 2009.
There was a tree
ceremony in Dakota’s honor. A red oak
tree was planted and Dakota’s children’s pastor, Matt Oxley said a prayer. We had a silent auction along with a
raffle. There were two big raffle items,
a Wii and a 12 gauge shot gun. The
DePauw family won the Wii and the winner of the 12 gauge shot gun was Dakota’s
Grandma, Cathy Johnston. She is saving
the shot gun for Dakota’s little brother Cash.
Dakota was an
organ donor and because of that five peoples lives were saved and they all are
doing well. One of those was a 6 year
old boy in Houston. We invited LifeGift
to set up a table at the chili cook-off to register organ donors. Forty-two people became organ donors that
day. What an awesome tribute to Dakota.
There were 15
teams that competed against each other for bragging rights. We had three judges, Bud Kennedy (Star
Telegram Eat Beats), Jennifer Villines ( Vice Principal at Sonny Alegra Nance
Elementary), and Brandon Calvin (Sgt with Tarrant County DPS). When it was all said and done the winner of
the 2nd Annual Dakota Lane Chili Cook-off was “HEARTBURN” our
LifeGift team. The team members were Deb
Powers, Will Powers, Lydia Stoner, Gary Stoner, Leah Gotch, Brenda Aparicio,
and Stacey Alford.
Why we cook
The Dakota Lane Chili Cook-off is an opportunity for us to celebrate the life of Dakota Lane Johnston and welcome friends and family to an afternoon of fun and good food.
In doing so we hope to raise awareness of AVM (Arterio-Venous Malformation- is a tangle of arteries in the brain that bypasses normal brain tissue and directly diverts blood from the arteries to the veins resulting in devastating hemorrahages, headaches and seizures.) and raise funds for AVM research with the help of The Aneurysm and AVM Foundation (TAAF).
