October 23, 2016 – the day my life changed forever. My sister, Denise, who was pregnant with twins and only a week from her scheduled C-section, passed away tragically in her sleep due to a brain aneurism.
My sister was a Wake County teacher at Banks Road Elementary School in Raleigh, NC. She loved her 4th grade students as if they were her own. She was always spending time improving herself as a teacher, reading books about how to more effectively teach a certain subject, taking training and becoming Nationally Board Certified. Denise loved to spend time volunteering with her school’s chapter of Girls on the Run. Mentoring these kids and teaching them to be the best version of themselves was so important to Denise and she enjoyed every minute of it.
My sister was a Wake County teacher at Banks Road Elementary School in Raleigh, NC. She loved her 4th grade students as if they were her own. She was always spending time improving herself as a teacher, reading books about how to more effectively teach a certain subject, taking training and becoming Nationally Board Certified. Denise loved to spend time volunteering with her school’s chapter of Girls on the Run. Mentoring these kids and teaching them to be the best version of themselves was so important to Denise and she enjoyed every minute of it.
Out of the grief and disbelief, my family along with my brother-in-law, Levi, wanted to do something that would keep Denise’s memory alive, but that would also give back to the community and the profession she loved. Thanks to the help of some dear friends, we created the Denise H. Moore Memorial Fund through the North Carolina Community Foundation. Initially, we created the fund as a way for friends and family to donate to her memorial following the funeral. But the outpouring from not only friends and family, but also the community and even people who had never met Denise but were touched by her story was overwhelming.
My brother-in-law, who is also an educator and an avid runner, wanted to do more to sustain the growth of the fund for years to come. He reached out to some of his running buddies and the “Run for Dee Dee 5K” was born. We ran the first race on June 24th, 2017 in Holly Springs, NC and the turnout was amazing! In 2018, we offered a new option where donors and sponsors could sponsor a child to run the race! In 2018, donations to the race allowed over 50 kids to run the race for free! In 2019, Levi hopes that the race will take on a different twist by asking the students at his school to take the lead in planning the race and really get more involvement from kids which is what my sister would have wanted.
My brother-in-law, who is also an educator and an avid runner, wanted to do more to sustain the growth of the fund for years to come. He reached out to some of his running buddies and the “Run for Dee Dee 5K” was born. We ran the first race on June 24th, 2017 in Holly Springs, NC and the turnout was amazing! In 2018, we offered a new option where donors and sponsors could sponsor a child to run the race! In 2018, donations to the race allowed over 50 kids to run the race for free! In 2019, Levi hopes that the race will take on a different twist by asking the students at his school to take the lead in planning the race and really get more involvement from kids which is what my sister would have wanted.
With the creation of a race in my sister’s memory, running also became an important part of my life as I started running more frequently to deal with my grief. Denise and I had always talked about training for a half marathon together someday, but not just any half marathon, the Disney Princess Half Marathon was at the top of our list. Instead of waiting for someday, I signed up to run the race and began training with my good friend. On February 25th, 2018 I finished my first ever half marathon with my friend Kelly by my side. It was an emotional race and there were times in the last 3-5 miles where I didn’t think I would finish. But I had signed up to do this in memory of Denise and I was determined to cross that finish line. I ran that race with my sister’s picture in my pocket and I’m pretty sure she helped me finish that race.
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To date, the Denise H. Moore Memorial Fund has donated over $7700 to education in Wake County and Girls on the Run and we are just getting started. We plan to do more and continue to support the things my sister loved most including donating to school libraries, Girls on the Run, providing school supplies and backpacks to schools and kids who need them most and helping the PTA at the school where she last taught. Even though the pain of losing my sister and best friend remains, knowing that we are keeping Denise’s memory alive in a way in which she would be proud of helps a little.
“I realized, it is not the time that heals, but what we do within that time that creates positive change.” ― Diane Dettmann
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