Wednesday, June 23, 2009

Time to help...Call to action!

You are all familiar with Hannah's Cans for Cancer program. Now that some of our own personal dates are over (Hannah's BD, Relay, and school-almost) it's time to focus on some new fundraising ideas that have been brewing.

I have not given an update on Cans for Cancer in a while. Briefly, to date, we have raised over $14,000! We are so excited about all of the children and their families we have been able to help. We have donated over $13,000 of that money raised, so our fund balance is currently under $1,000. Hannah has been talking about some other things she would like to do to raise money. Hannah ALWAYS talks about doing things to raise money-mostly focused around baking.

Some of the ideas we have been throwing around are:

• bake sale
• car wash
• "honk" for Hannah-Pam's idea
• basketball 3 on 3 tourney
• online fundraisers

We have also been working on organizing Cans for Cancer as a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation. This process isn't difficult, just time consuming. We would like to get all of our things in order to be able to do business officially as "Hannah's Cans for Cancer."

_____________________________________________________________________

Through all of my web site connections to other kids with cancer, I have come across the most adorable little girl-Sarah- and her family. You can read Sarah's story HERE. This little girl has Familial Mediterranean Fever a rare incurable life threatening disease. I was just drawn to Sarah and her family, and read all of their blog updates. Sarah has suffered so much in her young age. Her family lives in upstate New York, in a very remote area. Neighbors and supporters are few and far between. Their only fundraiser organized by friends and family brought in minimal amounts.

Sarah's health care costs are numerous, and are rising. Her father's wages are already garnished, so the pay he does bring home is not nearly enough to cover her medical costs. Recently, the family was struggling to even buy the simple necessities, including Tylenol for Sarah. Sarah has not been able to go to the doctor lately, again due to costs. My heart really goes out to them. Cancer is not the only thing-by far-that our kids suffer with. No one deserves or should ever be in this position.

Here is where the CALL FOR HELP comes in. I have decided to put together an online fundraiser for Sarah and her family through ebay. I have been scouring my house for things I can sell on ebay to bring in money for their family. Some of my things are new, some are not, but ebay is good for both. This is like an online yard sale!

I would like to ask that you all do the same-look through things you would like to offer up for sale. Possibly you have season tickets to a Mets/Yankees or Red Sox (oh my) game that you donate to be listed. Perhaps you have other things like:

• clothes
• games
• artwork
• collectibles
• your house...just kidding, you know you can sell anything on ebay these days

Do you sell something for a living like Mary Kay, Isagenix, Arbonne, or ??? Everyone surely has something they can donate to this very worthy cause. Can your company help, will they match any funds donated?

Here is how it will work:

1. Please look around your house and collect the items you would like to donate for the ebay sale
2. You may list the item(s) yourself on ebay, or send me a photo(s) and a description and I would be happy to list them for you. If you would like me to list something, please email me directly and I will provide you with a list of description items I need for the ebay listing.
3. Donate monies raised to Sarah and her family. This can be done directly via paypal at NO COST. Old fashioned checks are always good too.

There are a few other details such as how we get the money to the family, when will our ebay sales will start and end, etc. Since this post is very long already, I will be posting again very soon with some more of the details. But for now...go look around your house...PLEASE!

That's it! I know the economy is still not great for many of us, but I am hoping that we all can come together to help a family in true need. We may not be able to give cash (but if you can, that would be GREAT too!) but, if you can find just a few items around your house, even ONE item in your home that could be donated to help another family, that is our purpose. Please look around now!

The ebay auction will be starting within 2-3 weeks (hopefully) so let's get started! Please email me with any questions. Sarah's mom Kim is fully aware of the fundraiser but I'm not sure if she is still online again-not enough money to keep their online service, so please contact me instead.

Give from your house, Give from your heart...LET'S HELP SARAH!

♥Kim