Hey Broncos Fans!

My name is Michelle and this is my first year as a Denver Broncos Cheerleader. Let me tell you, this has been the most eventful and memorable year of my life thus far, and I am just so honored to have been chosen as a member of such a prestigious organization. Not only do I get to cheer for my favorite team in the NFL, but I have so many opportunities to interact with the Broncos community and the die-hard Broncos fans – to me, the most rewarding part of my job.

One of the most memorable aspects of this team is that I have the opportunity to be a Junior Denver Broncos Cheerleader (JDBC) Instructor. I really enjoy working with two groups of girls from ages 9-11 totaling about 30 girls. These girls are so refreshing and full of energy. I find myself so excited to see their smiling faces early in the morning. I honestly have so much pride in my group of girls and I feel so honored to be working with them.

The JDBC organization follows five virtues that we constantly try to instill as founding values of the organization that we hope the girls will embrace. One of these values is community. We emphasize how important it is to give back and realize that we all are much more important than ourselves and how we can truly leave a lasting impact in the community. Thus, our junior cheerleaders are encouraged to volunteer for a variety of events.

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, the girls had the opportunity to volunteer for the Susan G. Komen, Race for the Cure, which was held on the chilly morning of Oct. 3. Myself, along with two other Broncos cheerleaders, met at 6:45 a.m. to make our way to the race.

At the time, we had no idea the magnitude of the event and that there were over 50,000 people flooding the streets of Denver and turning the city pink. We checked in about 150 Junior Cheerleaders all sporting their pink attire and we positioned ourselves at the finish line of the Family Walk.

With pink pom-poms in hand, the girls cheered on the participants, “Pink and Proud!” The walkers strolled towards the finish line some of which were high-fiving our junior cheerleaders and some of which were giving us their gratitude. But there is one moment that will stay with me forever. As I was chanting along side the junior cheerleaders, a woman grabbed my hand. With tears streaming down her face, she whispered a soft, “Thank you.” As she turned her back, I could see the paper attached to her back: “In Celebration of: MYSELF.”

With tears in my eyes, I embraced this moment as one that I will never forget. The Junior Cheerleaders left with big smiles on their faces and a memory of a lifetime. Although the struggle against breast cancer may be one concept many of our Junior Cheerleaders are unable to fully grasp, the girls now know the importance of giving back. By just simply showing our support, we made life-long impacts on the participants. One of the Junior Cheerleaders standing next to me asked, “Why are the runners so happy we are cheering for them?” And I told her, “Because you are here.” She looked at me with question in her eyes and I told her, “Sometimes the best thing you can give back is your presence.”

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you all at Sunday’s game against the New York Jets, as the Denver Broncos Cheerleaders and players will be wearing pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. GO BRONCOS!

Michelle

Look for more thoughts from Michelle and other Broncos cheerleaders throughout the 2010 season.

Tags: 2010, Cheerleaders, Denver Broncos, Komen for the Cure, Michelle

This entry was posted on Friday, October 15th, 2010 at 9:45 am and is filed under Cheerleaders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.