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Communications Director Audrey Williams strikes the “Front Row Pose.” Calling it a “release of joy,” Williams says the Front Row Pose symbolizes Front Row, and recipients make it in their keepsake pictures.

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'Living life in the front row'
9/28/2015 2:43:46 PM

 

Submitted photo
Kaile Monroe, Gina Moriarty and Audrey Williams prepare for Gina's Front Row experience at the Miranda Lambert concert at the Spokane Arena last February.

By Benjamin Shedlock
Splash Contributor

On a February Thursday night at the Spokane Arena, Gina Moriarty's oxygen tank was pumping adrenaline. She stood, unbowed by her Cystic Fibrosis and transfixed by Miranda Lambert. Her energy ran as high as the stretch SUV that picked her up that afternoon was long. In it, she had found a gift bag and a bouquet of her wedding flowers. Hair done and face made up, Moriarty, along with her husband, sisters and girlfriends, headed to Milford's Fish House for dinner, and continued to the concert, where she met Miranda backstage and had a private box waiting for her. 

The pieces of this family mosaic were arranged by Audrey Williams and her colleague, Kaile Monroe, for the Front Row Foundation. Moriarty's live experience was the only one produced in Spokane by Front Row, a national nonprofit based in Blackwood, N.J., that helps people with life-threatening illnesses to "live life in the front row," to forget their illnesses by sharing a live experience with family. 

While Monroe has left Front Row, Williams, a Liberty Lake resident, remains its director of communications and the West Coast spokeswoman. She is trying to spread the word about Front Row to create more events like Moriarty's in the Inland Northwest. 

Front Row focuses on experience. Instead of fundraising for research or commemorating those who have died, the organization celebrates the living. Williams points out how often seriously ill patients are "poked or prodded, and told how, and told when, they're going to die."

By creating a Front Row experience, Williams tries to facilitate joy that recipients can share with their families.

"Family members say, ‘I forgot what it looked like to see him smile. I forgot what that joy looked like,'" Williams said. "That's the reason why we do what we do." 

Moriarty's family also appreciated a reprieve from the round-the-clock caregiving they have provided since her diagnosis. 

"It was nice for them to come in," said Moriarty's sister, Lori Ullman. "That way we can really all connect with each other again and hang out." 

When Moriarty's husband leaves on business for weeks at a stretch, maintaining their insurance, Ullman becomes her primary caregiver. 

Ullman enjoyed seeing Moriarty get ready, as if for a wedding. 

"That was a neat feeling, and I think it was good for her husband to see that, too," she said.

Front Row events are not as expensive as cures, but they don't come cheap. The centerpiece of the event is the seats, but Front Row also gets passes for backstage meet and greets. Gina met Miranda, and "she lit up like a little girl in a candy shop," Williams said.  Williams also managed an event where a recipient met country star Alan Jackson, who gave him a signed guitar, but more importantly a compliment on his beard. 

The before and after is just as important. Front Row flies in friends and family and puts them up in luxury hotel suites. Before their show, recipients have a fancy meal with their families and make a VIP entrance at the venue in a limousine. Everyone in attendance receives a gift bag. Each event is customized, and Front Row's event directors work with recipients for six to eight months to make sure their event has details just for them. 

"I think there were 12 of us, so it was definitely a big ordeal," Ullman said. "I was really impressed with the way they did things." 

To commemorate the event, Front Row takes pictures and video of the event and turns them into keepsakes that recipients can continue to enjoy with their families.

Once they secure tickets, Front Row stages a surprise unveiling, when a family member delivers a letter to the recipient. Moriarty "was super surprised," Ullman said, when she opened a magazine with Miranda on the cover and found the letter. 

"We want each event to be special, so we tend to go all out," Williams said.

Raising enough money to provide Front Row experiences is key to Williams' role. She started as a half-time volunteer, becoming full-time to focus on fundraising and communications. She keeps up with 150 Front Row Ambassadors, donors whose monthly gifts keep Front Row's finances stable. She has also built a robust social media presence, cultivating over 8,500 Facebook page likes and 2,500 Twitter followers. 

Resources determine how many events the organization can provide each year. Currently, the count is about 13. The main fundraisers are an annual gala and a golf tournament held every other year.

Individuals can also contribute by becoming a Front Row Ambassador, by participating in online auctions, or by starting fundraising pages. 

Front Row sponsors live experiences through local fundraisers, like the wine and cheese party and silent auction that supported Moriarty's experience. But to have these, someone needs to be nominated.

"We never get nominations on the West Coast," Williams said. "We need more in this region."

Front Row has a stringent nomination process and meets with families prior to the event. Family members, friends or others who know the recipients can nominate someone, but nominees cannot know.

Ullman took three hours to input medical, personal and narrative information about Moriarty. 

"They want to make sure the applicant really needs it," Ullman said. 

Once an applicant is selected, the planning begins. 

Front Row rejects applicants that do not align with the mission, who are not healthy enough, or if there are not enough resources to produce an event. 

So far, Williams has not rejected anyone. If Front Row cannot help, it tries to direct applicants to organizations that are a better fit. 

Among organizations that serve severely ill people, Front Row filled the niche of live experiences. Front Row's founder, Jon Vroman, realized people close to the action were part of the show, not thinking about their daily lives. He wanted to create an organization "with this philosophy of being an active pursuer of life, instead of being a spectator of life," Williams said.

• • •

You can help
For the most up-to-date information on local events and how to give, follow "Front Row Foundation" on Facebook or Twitter. 

Other specific ways to help:

• Nominate recipients 

• Donate at www.frontrowfoundation.org (becoming a monthly donor helps Front Row create a stable stream of income) 

• Buy merchandise online or participate in online auctions

• Create an online fundraising page

• Host a fan fundraiser such as a lawn game event


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