Well we are at the halfway point. It's hard to believe where the time has gone. It just seemed like yesterday when I accepted the nomination. It was at that point I knew exactly who I would like to honor with this fund-raising campaign and it was by asking they gave me the gift of saying yes.
I have learned so much about Tressa by reading the journal filled with raw emotion of what Tressa and her family wrote trying to understand what's happening to her, the fears, and the despair to the highs of seeing improvement to the tragedy of her death. I admit I cried through most of it, it was so hard to hear about her battle with Leukemia and so many times when it returned she was so brave fighting back. But this disease shows no mercy or favoritism it doesn't know age or care and every time I open to write this daily blog I see her beautiful face and am always reminded why this campaign has to be successful.
And every morning when I open to see the new heartfelt dedications to other loved ones diagnosed and fighting or a now a memory of a sister, a mother, a teacher or a mere child on Light The App again I am reminded and driven to see the fund-raising continues and with your help reach the goal.
So at this halfway point I am reporting to you that we still have such a long way to go but I trust in people that if they understand a cause and they can believe in it they will rally and get behind the goal and make it happen. There are so many prayers being made for the 900,000 affected by this disease and tears being shed every 10 minutes when a beloved is lost to blood cancer. So as we reach out we are asking for help in spreading the word. It's simple with donations we can fund research and find a cure so we never lose another life to blood cancer.
Make a donation: http://in.llsevent.org/PAM
Light The App site with link: http://lighttheapp.org
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Day 48 of...98 Days...Heavy Lifting
It's Friday and a lot of the heavy lifting up to this point has been done but there is still so much more to accomplish in a very short amount of time. After this weekend all Ask letters will be out and then besides follow up calls it's supporting that effort with e-mails.
The last piece is the events and we have walked down several very different paths going the road less travelled and definitely hit some stumbling blocks. We were initially thinking big events and two would have been perfect but we may have to quickly rethink our path and albeit short turnaround we can still do several quick events that we can put together gather some steam and will work.
The importance of the events is to pull many people together at a gathering place for some type of entertainment that they are willing to pay to participate knowing that the dollars go to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It does have the potential of bringing people to an event that may not otherwise consider giving a donation.
With some of the heavy lifting completed the fruits of our labor will start to come to fruition both online, offline and at the events. And for all of those that have contributed and joined our fight to fund research and find a cure for blood cancer I thank you from the bottom of my heart. For those of you soon to be involved I can't wait! Maybe I will see you at the events to be announced. However you decide to surface the feeling you will get knowing you are doing something that can make a difference in someone's life affected is absolutely priceless!
The last piece is the events and we have walked down several very different paths going the road less travelled and definitely hit some stumbling blocks. We were initially thinking big events and two would have been perfect but we may have to quickly rethink our path and albeit short turnaround we can still do several quick events that we can put together gather some steam and will work.
The importance of the events is to pull many people together at a gathering place for some type of entertainment that they are willing to pay to participate knowing that the dollars go to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It does have the potential of bringing people to an event that may not otherwise consider giving a donation.
With some of the heavy lifting completed the fruits of our labor will start to come to fruition both online, offline and at the events. And for all of those that have contributed and joined our fight to fund research and find a cure for blood cancer I thank you from the bottom of my heart. For those of you soon to be involved I can't wait! Maybe I will see you at the events to be announced. However you decide to surface the feeling you will get knowing you are doing something that can make a difference in someone's life affected is absolutely priceless!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Day 47 of...98 Days..Stripped Down
When you strip away everything all of the hype of the campaign take out all of the raw emotion what is it really that we are all trying to do. It's about life it's about saving lives of people who have been diagnosed with a blood cancer and are going through intensive therapies to live. There are survivors and great progress has been made but yet there are many who have done everything they were asked endured the fight of their life and in the end this relentless disease overtook them and they are no longer with us.
So it's about life and not a campaign but the only way we can start saving lives is by funding the top researchers so a cure can be found. If you need to see the faces of what we lose look at that beautiful face on this page a precious life at 21. So when we talk about fund-raising what you hear me saying is we are trying to save lives so not another parent loses a child. We don't want to see another one taken and however you want to contribute know that it goes to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society it's going to fight blood cancer and find a cure. So stripped down version of the campaign help us save a life.
So it's about life and not a campaign but the only way we can start saving lives is by funding the top researchers so a cure can be found. If you need to see the faces of what we lose look at that beautiful face on this page a precious life at 21. So when we talk about fund-raising what you hear me saying is we are trying to save lives so not another parent loses a child. We don't want to see another one taken and however you want to contribute know that it goes to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society it's going to fight blood cancer and find a cure. So stripped down version of the campaign help us save a life.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Day 46 of...98 Days...The Big Red Kettle...
When you have a big goal you break it down into bite size pieces. It's the only way to get it down to a manageable amount. You just have to keep chipping away so you can ultimately reach the goal and accomplish the task.
For us we have a goal for this campaign to raise $50,000 and we are doing everything we can to chip away at it. There are days it seems huge a bit overwhelming but yet we remain very confident that our approach is the right path. The idea again bite size pieces. We recognize most people can't afford large donations. But if we reach out to many people and ask them for only a $1.00 contribution that is much more palatable and doable for everyone to be involved. It's as if I am standing on a corner ringing a bell with a big red kettle and as you walk by you stuffed a dollar in the kettle just like you would for other causes. It always made you smile and you felt so great about your contribution because you knew it was going to such a great cause.
So as you walk through cyber space today click the donate link and put a $1.00 in or maybe more you have done such a wonderful thing it just went into the big red kettle to fund research and find a cure for blood cancer so not another life is lost and that's how we accomplish this goal together.
Click here to Make Your $1.00 (or more) Donation
For us we have a goal for this campaign to raise $50,000 and we are doing everything we can to chip away at it. There are days it seems huge a bit overwhelming but yet we remain very confident that our approach is the right path. The idea again bite size pieces. We recognize most people can't afford large donations. But if we reach out to many people and ask them for only a $1.00 contribution that is much more palatable and doable for everyone to be involved. It's as if I am standing on a corner ringing a bell with a big red kettle and as you walk by you stuffed a dollar in the kettle just like you would for other causes. It always made you smile and you felt so great about your contribution because you knew it was going to such a great cause.
So as you walk through cyber space today click the donate link and put a $1.00 in or maybe more you have done such a wonderful thing it just went into the big red kettle to fund research and find a cure for blood cancer so not another life is lost and that's how we accomplish this goal together.
Click here to Make Your $1.00 (or more) Donation
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Day 45 of...98 Days...Heard it through the Grapevine...
It's been such an interesting day. Both Tom and I heard from people that we haven't been in touch with for quite some time. You know how your days can get away from you and that can happen. Well today they heard it through the grapevine of our fund-raising efforts for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and wanted to find a way to help. It was really so heartwarming and wonderful to witness how all contributed in their own unique way to the cause and fight. Several posted to their Facebook and Twitter accounts with links to the donation page, mentioned Light The App, mentioned this blog, others made donations and others wanted to share their own stories of how this devastated disease had touched a beloved family member. We are so grateful to all and we hope the news continues to spread and those who are able join in and become involved any which way they can.
I will leave you with this one person today went so far to say that "certain cancers come front and center and right now it seems I know so many that are affected...is it the season of Leukemia?" That sentiment was very hard hitting and scary at the same time. It makes you take pause because out of the 900,000 with blood cancer someone special will lose their battle every 10 minutes. Please help us spread the word, because the more people that heard it through the grapevine the closer we can become to funding research and finding a cure.
I will leave you with this one person today went so far to say that "certain cancers come front and center and right now it seems I know so many that are affected...is it the season of Leukemia?" That sentiment was very hard hitting and scary at the same time. It makes you take pause because out of the 900,000 with blood cancer someone special will lose their battle every 10 minutes. Please help us spread the word, because the more people that heard it through the grapevine the closer we can become to funding research and finding a cure.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Day 44 of...98 Days...Cookie Jars
Cookie Jars they come in all shapes, sizes and colors and really are so versatile. They can of course store cookies but sometimes people love to stash some surprises in the cookie jar, like cash for a rainy day. You sometimes forget you even stored it in there and it's like finding money you didn't know you had and at the same time did not miss. It's the same idea when you put on a pair of pants or a jacket you haven't had in a while and you reach in your pocket and you find a dollar.
There are so many things you could do with that dollar or loose change. Let me share a story with you that might have you decide what do to with that dollar. Here is just one day in the life of our honoree Tressa who fought such a brave hard battle with such courage.
The doctors had a difficult time waking Tressa up after she was given morphine and Atavan (which she has had many times before) to help with her chemo. To say at that time everyone was frightened is an understatement. Tressa was very uncomfortable and scared. Her white cell count went from 120,000 last night to 3,000 (no typos either) that day. Because the drop was so drastic, they boosted her fluids through the IV to flush the dead blast cells because they acted as toxins in her blood. They were also giving Tressa medication so that her kidneys didn't fail because of the flushing of the cells. For Tressa and the family it just seemed to be one strange thing after another. Through that day again Tressa fought back again through another battle of the Leukemia returning once again.
We know Tressa lost her life along with so many others and the 900,000 fighting today knowing that every 10 minutes one will not make it due to blood cancer.
We can fund research and find a cure $1.00 at a time if we spread the word and all participate. Isn't that worth breaking open the cookie jar for?
There are so many things you could do with that dollar or loose change. Let me share a story with you that might have you decide what do to with that dollar. Here is just one day in the life of our honoree Tressa who fought such a brave hard battle with such courage.
The doctors had a difficult time waking Tressa up after she was given morphine and Atavan (which she has had many times before) to help with her chemo. To say at that time everyone was frightened is an understatement. Tressa was very uncomfortable and scared. Her white cell count went from 120,000 last night to 3,000 (no typos either) that day. Because the drop was so drastic, they boosted her fluids through the IV to flush the dead blast cells because they acted as toxins in her blood. They were also giving Tressa medication so that her kidneys didn't fail because of the flushing of the cells. For Tressa and the family it just seemed to be one strange thing after another. Through that day again Tressa fought back again through another battle of the Leukemia returning once again.
We know Tressa lost her life along with so many others and the 900,000 fighting today knowing that every 10 minutes one will not make it due to blood cancer.
We can fund research and find a cure $1.00 at a time if we spread the word and all participate. Isn't that worth breaking open the cookie jar for?
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Day 43 of...98 Days...Sweet Dreams
We created Light The App so people would have a community a place to share a virtual prayer, inspirational message, and words of wisdom to a loved one who has been touched by blood cancer. Today a loving friend or family member placed there a memorial sentiment.
It is brief and it is poignant. But in those two words, "Sweet Dreams", is the core of this campaign. Someone lost a loved one to leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma.
It does not seem right or fair it makes no sense, you get mad and you say never again. That's certainly the reaction I have to this devastating disease that has touched too many. The fact we lose someone's loved one who has been so brave and fought so hard like our honoree Tressa every 10 minutes is too much.
From that we need to double our efforts so we pulverize this monster of a disease. We are reaching out to all and asking to spread the word through your network of friends and family members. The viral online opportunities that exist today with vehicles like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. we can quickly raise awareness and help make this campaign a big fund-raising success so fund research and find a cure.
Anything one can do will be greatly appreciated: talking up the campaign, downloading the free iPhone app and sharing it with others, and if one is so moved, making a small donation - every dollar collected counts.
Web Links:
Make a donation: http://in.llsevent.org/PAM
iPhone app site with link: http://lighttheapp.org
iTunes (the iPhone app): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/light-the-app/id355561319?mt=8
It is brief and it is poignant. But in those two words, "Sweet Dreams", is the core of this campaign. Someone lost a loved one to leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma.
It does not seem right or fair it makes no sense, you get mad and you say never again. That's certainly the reaction I have to this devastating disease that has touched too many. The fact we lose someone's loved one who has been so brave and fought so hard like our honoree Tressa every 10 minutes is too much.
From that we need to double our efforts so we pulverize this monster of a disease. We are reaching out to all and asking to spread the word through your network of friends and family members. The viral online opportunities that exist today with vehicles like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. we can quickly raise awareness and help make this campaign a big fund-raising success so fund research and find a cure.
Anything one can do will be greatly appreciated: talking up the campaign, downloading the free iPhone app and sharing it with others, and if one is so moved, making a small donation - every dollar collected counts.
Web Links:
Make a donation: http://in.llsevent.org/PAM
iPhone app site with link: http://lighttheapp.org
iTunes (the iPhone app): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/light-the-app/id355561319?mt=8
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