Honored and hard-working

Brainerd High School student Kathryn Sundquist has an ambitious goal to achieve during the next three months.

Sundquist, 16, was recently recognized by the Arthritis Foundation as a 2017 Walk to Cure Arthritis National Young Adult Honoree. The job comes with two goals: to raise $10,000 for the Arthritis Foundation and to promote the local Walk to Cure Arthritis, which is May 20 at the Northland Arboretum.

It's a lot for a teenager to take on, especially when Sundquist is also balancing her schoolwork and dance practices. Two years ago, Sundquist was the honoree for the local Walk to Cure Arthritis. She waited a year before submitting her video application to be the 2017 Walk to Cure Arthritis National Young Adult Honoree. Her mother thought the $10,000 fundraising goal was too high, so Sundquist wasn't even sure if she would apply.

"We probably won't get it anyways and we can at least have the experience under our belts," Sundquist said.

When Sundquist found out she had been named National Young Adult Honoree, she was terrified, she said. Still, she's excited for the fundraising challenge. It's been humbling to ask local businesses for donations, she said, but she's also grown because of it.

"It was definitely stepping out of my comfort zone," Sundquist said. "Even though it's not over yet, I've still learned a lot from it already."

Not held back

Sundquist was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis when she was 7 years old. She participated in tennis and dance and would complain about pain, she said. Her parents thought she was embellishing, she said, only to later be diagnosed with arthritis. She was referred to a hospital in the Twin Cities and has been seeing the same doctor since her diagnosis. It's been a long process of switching medications and finding the right one to manage her pain, she said.

When Sundquist worked with the Arthritis Foundation when she was younger, people would tell her she's too young to have arthritis, she said. It wasn't until she started getting involved with the Walk to Cure Arthritis and camps for those with juvenile arthritis that she saw the disease affects more people.

"It's hard for me, just as a 7 year old, to try and explain this to them," Sundquist said.

Sundquist has met people with more severe cases of arthritis than her own, she said. She's managed her case well, she said, and is still able to dance at Just for Kix and as a member of the BHS dance team. She experiences flare ups of pain every once in awhile, but changes medications to keep it under control.

"It's one of those things when you've seen people who have it so much worse than you," Sundquist said. "You really can't be anything but grateful."

Prior to this recent recognition, few of Sundquist's friends knew she had juvenile arthritis, she said. Going through middle school and high school, she didn't want to stand out so she kept her diagnosis to herself. But since she's been talking to more people about juvenile arthritis as she's been fundraising, she's more comfortable telling more about her diagnosis. "This is the first time for people on my dance team finding out I have arthritis," Sundquist said.

Fundraising

A lot of the fundraising ideas proposed by the Arthritis Foundation are aimed at honorees who live in larger areas with larger businesses, Sundquist said. However, the smaller, locally owned businesses in the area have stepped up and supported her efforts, she said.

"People have been so incredibly generous," said her mother, Denise Sundquist.

Sundquist's fundraising efforts so far have included sending about 100 letters soliciting donations to select friends and family. Those efforts have resulted in about $4,500 in donations, nearly halfway to the $10,000 goal.

Sundquist has three fundraising events set up as well, the first of which, "Bend and Brew," or "Bike and Brew," is April 29 at Roundhouse Brewery. It'll include yoga and live music at the brewery, with participants encouraged to make a donation to Sundquist's cause.

During the month of April, patrons at Boomer Pizza who purchase a certain kind of pizza will see $2 from their purchase donated to Sundquist's effort. She's yet to determine which type of pizza will be included in the fundraiser.

There will be a fundraiser on May 6 at the Just For Kix spring show where participants will be able to dance with the kixsters, Sundquist said. There will be games, face painting, dancing, music and more.

Sundquist will be making the rounds and speaking to different service organizations in the community, like the Sertoma Club or the Kiwanis Club. To make an impression at those meetings, she'll bring homemade cupcakes and cookies. Both will be heavily decorated in green, the color associated with arthritis. The cookies look like the arthritis flag, which says "yes," and encourages those with arthritis to say yes to doing things and not being held back by arthritis.

Pageant connection

Sundquist also participates in pageants and focuses on raising awareness for juvenile arthritis for her pageant platform. She was named Miss Jr. Teen Minnesota for 2015 and that experience ties closely with her previous experience as the local honoree for the local Walk to Cure Arthritis.

"For the pageant stuff, I was able to be really successful in it because of the work I had done with the Arthritis Foundation," Sundquist said.

Before starting pageants, Sundquist couldn't order from a menu in a restaurant due to nervousness, she said. Now, she's a comfortable public speaker and can see how much she's grown since she started. It also taught her a lot about service, she said, and showed her how to put the needs of others before her own.