Globally, Munzee is a network of players bound together by one simple thing, a love of the game, and passion to build our community with other like-minded people. Munzee provides us with an outlet to get outdoors, do something special with the family, see new sights, and make new friends. We’re all different, and we each have our own amazing personal story that makes us stronger, and makes this the most amazing group of players (and people) to be a part of. This week’s Players of the Week are no exception to this. The Reed Family (Derik, Kathryn, David and Julia), are near and dear to our hearts. Their love of the game and love of their son David resonate throughout the Munzee community. Today, we want to make them “shine” worldwide with all of you! Read below and get to know this week’s courageous Players of the Week!
1. Who are you? Let us know your “names” and introduce your Munzee family!
We are derikkathryn, Derik Reed, lilgeodave, and lilgeolia. My kids have their own accounts, at their request when we started playing together.
2. Where in the world do you live? We live in East Helena, MT, USA
3. How long have you played Munzee? (Derik) I began playing in January of 2013, 15 months ago.
4. How did you find Munzee? Did someone in your family “take” to Munzee first, or was it a passion shared amongst you all?
I discovered Munzee while overhearing it being discussed at an event of the other Geolocation-Game-That-Must-Not-Be-Named. I think they were actually making fun of it; I downloaded the app, and discovered that there were no more than a dozen in the area I was covering (including my home and Spokane, WA). It took me over a month to get to 100 points, as I had not discovered “armchair munzees” yet. My son David had been diagnosed with ALL, T-Cell Leukemia in October of 2012, and was living with my wife at the Ronald McDonald House in Spokane; munzee provided me with a needed distraction and activity (mostly deploying) while driving back and forth between here and there. My kids both have active accounts, and have played in clan battles with me, but mostly like to go on walks, and sometimes are ready to be done way before me!
5. What do you enjoy most about Munzee?
I enjoy the opportunity to get outside and exercise, the chance to meet new people with similar interests, including planning local events, coordinating strategic Munzee attacks so that our local clans can compete with the “Big Boys in Europe” and on the Coasts during clan battles.
6. How has Munzee impacted your relationship with your family, especially your children?
My family frequently munzees together, but I have way more drive than the kids. Our connections with others, especially while in Spokane, have been greatly augmented by Munzee and the other “Geolocation-Game-That-Must-Not-Be-Named”; also, my connections in that other game have triggered an interest in Munzee in Spokane, where the map has grown from just a few to over 5000 deploys in the last year. Also, another Munzer visiting Spokane capped some Munzees we deployed while walking to Riverfront Park from the Ronald McDonald House on Easter of 2013; she was so moved by our deploys that she made contact with my wife (at R.M.H.), and provided a significant amount of financial, emotional, and spiritual support while we were in Spokane! The people I play with have become close, personal friends, and their prayers and encouragement have been essential to our navigation of the last year. More locally, at a recent event in Helena, another player’s son, who is a survivor of childhood leukemia, was able to meet with my son. We are forging lifelong connections through this game!
7. What is on your wish list?
Most of my wishes have come to pass in the last year–i-nigma on the iPhone, locally planned events, better functionality for conversion and other functions within the app; but the greatest desire I have right now would be for some (or all!) of MHQ to come to one or more events in Montana and Spokane this summer! It would be an acknowledgement that we in the hinterlands are having an impact on the game!
8. Tell us more about your son’s treatment, and how the last 18 months have been for your family:
David was diagnosed with cancer on October 8, 2012, two days before his seventh birthday. He was in critical condition, and within hours of his diagnosis, he was life-flighted to Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital in Spokane, Washington. During the first eight months (the most intense phases) of his three and a quarter years of treatment, he and his mother were required to live in Spokane. The Ronald McDonald House of Spokane became their home away from home. Without the Ronald McDonald House and all of the support it offered our family, those eight months away from home, friends, and family would have been even more difficult. The House provided us a safe place to live, play, and interact with other families with children with significant health issues.
We moved home Memorial Day weekend of 2012, but we visit the Ronald McDonald House every time we’re in Spokane to drop off donated pop tabs and to visit; we will always be grateful to the staff and supporters of the House.
David’s treatment consists of five phases, four of which were completed while we lived in Spokane. The first four phases involved IV chemotherapy, intrathecal chemotherapy, oral chemotherapy and steroids, as well as full cranial radiation. The last phase of treatment requires daily oral chemotherapy, a trip to Spokane every four weeks for IV chemotherapy, and a trip to Spokane every twelve weeks for a lumbar puncture and spinal chemotherapy; this cycle is repeated until the end of treatment. David will complete his final chemotherapy and ring the bell as a childhood cancer survivor on January 18, 2016.
Team Munzee is proud to have the Reed Family as this week’s Players of the Week. The passion and strength they bring to their everyday lives and the game is an inspiration to us, and hopefully, an inspiration to you! We’d like it if the Munzee community could rally together and capture this very special Social we’ve deployed for lilgeodave:
A note from our President: The Reed family and their story have inspired Team Munzee. Coming very soon we will celebrate and honor their Munzee connection with the Ronald McDonald House of Spokane. Prepare for special charity gamepieces, icons, and badges. More information coming very soon!
Thanks so much for taking a moment to read this important Player of the Week Interview, and capturing this Social. Keep your eyes on the blog, and on our Social Outlets for the big announcement from Team Munzee. You can help make a difference in this world! “Expect the Unexpected” this 2014!
Munzee will have special icons on the map in remembrance of the events of November 5, 1605, when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives placed beneath the House of Lords.
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