Tag Archives: pediatric cancer

Top 5 reasons NOT to donate to St. Baldrick’s

1. My tiny donation won’t make a difference.

2. They’ll never find a cure for cancer.

3. Those charities don’t give enough of the donations to the cause.

4. I won’t make a difference in the life of any one person.

5. It doesn’t really affect me.

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Do any of those sound familiar?

Here are a few facts:

1. Every dollar matters. I’m pretty sure no one reading this can donate a million dollars. But if everyone who reads this would share it with a few friends, and each one donated $2, we could put thousands of dollars in the hands of researchers in no time flat. (But just in case someone is reading this who can donate a million dollars, that would be really awesome!! In fact, if I can raise a million dollars I’ll shave my head, too!)

2. We can and will find cures. But it takes money.

3. Before getting involved with this event, I checked CharityNavigator.com, and was pleased with what I saw. I even pulled up a few other well-known charities for a comparison. Then I signed up. Click HERE to see their rating.

4. There are parents and children drawing hope every day from these fundraisers. I know, because Robot Boy’s mom is a friend of mine, and I see her getting more excited every day as this event approaches. She knows it’s making a difference.

5. I’ll be posting pics of the event, and I guarantee that seeing what hope and gratitude in action look like its going to make you feel good. And don’t we all like to feel good?

So…

Pay a visit to us over at Team Robot Boy’s Fundraising Page. We’re hoping to break our goal today, and are setting a stretch goal of DOUBLING it before the event Saturday! But we NEED you.

So click. And donate. It’ll feel good. And it’ll make a difference.

LINK TO TEAM ROBOT BOY’S FUNDRAISING PAGE.

And if you’d like to read more about Robot Boy, his Badass mom who’s going to let me shave her head Saturday, and St. Baldrick’s, grab a tissue and click HERE. You’ll be a better person for having done so.

Bald Badass Moms and Little Robot Boys

By now you may have seen one. Those fundraisers where people get their heads shaved to raise money for a good cause. It makes for cute bits on the news, and everyone gets all excited when the participants are rubbing their newly-chromed domes.

This Saturday, I’m going to be a volunteer at one of these events. I’m going to show up, get my free t-shirt, and shave someone’s head! I’m a little excited about it, because it sounds like a fun event and the person whose head I’m going to shave is another blogger who turned into a real-life friend, and I’ll get to meet some other bloggers and maybe even get my picture in the paper.

This is the t-shirt she’s going to wear after she gets her dome chromed!

And when it’s over, I’ll head home to my husband and my kids. I’ll watch a little tv and probably have a glass of wine while I talk about my day. And I’ll think about that friend whose head I shaved.

Because she won’t be going home to relax with her family and have a glass of wine. She’s going home to resume her duties as caregiver for Robot Boy.

Her three-year old son—who has cancer.

Robot Boy after his tracheostomy and g-tube surgeries. Source: http://doodlesrobotboy.wordpress.com

You can read a little bit about him and how he got the nickname Robot Boy here.

And about his mother’s thoughts on his last birthday here.

And if you’re not yet sobbing and need to read more, click this link and read the poem his mother wrote last summer.

And then go look around. Think about the children in your life. If none of them has cancer, then you need to count yourself among the lucky ones. Then click the link below and make a donation to St. Baldrick’s via Team Robot Boy.

Link to Team Robot Boy’s Donation Page

Do it so more kids can grow up. Who knows, one of them may be the one who finds the cure. But only if they get to grow up.

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Celebrate Love. Happy Donna Day.

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I had every intention of doing the usual commercially-driven Valentine’s Day festivities this year. You know, a basket of trinkets and sweets from the dollar store and fancy, store-bought cupcakes that we’ll ooh and aah over for a few minutes and I’ll toss by the end of the week while the kids are in school.

But I this morning I started reading Mary Tyler Mom’s post about raising money for pediatric cancer, and my plans quickly changed.

I remembered the flood of emotion I felt when I read Donna’s Cancer Story and my heart ached for her mother. I hope I never understand her pain. I hope you don’t either.

Photo of Donna used with permission.

I thought of Donna, of all the Donnas, who aren’t here to open Valentines and squeal over balloons. And I just couldn’t bring myself to get in the car.

I walked over to my pantry instead and pulled out a cake mix that was already there. I baked heart-shaped cakes for my family, with one extra. That one’s for Donna. For all the Donnas who aren’t here to celebrate with us. It won’t be eaten tonight. It will sit on the table as we have our dessert, and we’ll talk as a family about children with cancer. I’ll tell my boys that instead of spending money on trinkets for them, that we made a donation to Donna’s Good Things. I know they’ll approve.

The riches I have in my children are too numerous to count. Their love, their laughter, but mostly their PHYSICAL presence. Here with me.

For this I am grateful.

I’m counting on Mary Tyler Mom to remind me every year to celebrate real love with Donna Day.

Now it’s your turn. Make a difference today.

Go to Donna’s Good Things and make a donation. (I did!) Follow them on Facebook so you can keep up with their great work!
Find a St. Baldrick’s event near you. (St. Baldrick’s is a volunteer-driven charity that raises money for childhood cancer causes.) Volunteer, donate, blog it, Tweet it, Facebook it.