Monday, October 12, 2009

Year Long Fundraiser for JSF

I would like to introduce the new fundraising campaign for the Joubert Syndrome Foundation called the 10 by 10 Campaign. The idea behind the campaign is to ask 10 people to ask 10 other people to donate $10 for Joubert Syndrome. It is a year long campaign which kicked off this October 10th and will end next October 10 (get it???? 10/10/10)

Joubert Sydrome is a really hard thing to raise money for, especially in the current economic climate. Fundraising in general is hard to do, even for the more widely publicized diseases and conditions. Because Joubert Syndrome is so rare, the fundraising is truly a grass-roots effort mostly depending on families affecting by the disorder going out and raising money and awareness and often donating money themselves. We end up asking the same people over and over again to donate therefore our base of support is not growing. One of the goals of this campaign is to help bring in second generation donors and broaden the network of fundraisers. My personal hope is that one day JS will have even half of the recognition that some of the other disorders do. Money raised for and by the Joubert Syndrome Foundation will help further research into the genetic causes of JS, possible treatments/cures, strengthen the network of support provided by the JSF to families and individuals affected by JS, raise awareness for JS to aid in earlier diagnosis and easier access to treatments and therapy, and the list goes on.

The easiest and quickest way you can help is to simply visit the 10 by 10 website and donate $10 in Haley's honor. Be sure to put in the "purpose" blank "10by10 campaign in honor of Haley Buchanan" so they can track where the donations came from. You can take it a step further and ask 10 (or more) of your friends to donate $10. I plan to host an event at some point in the coming year (most likely AFTER the holidays LOL) asking for a $10 donation from all that come. If you were so brave enough to host an event yourself that would be icing on the cake!!! Something as simple as a car wash, or spaghetti supper at church would be great! But I know any help/donation is a lot to ask in these hard times, and it is totally understandable if you are unable to help at the moment. We are just grateful for thoughts and prayers if that is all you can offer.

I'm hoping that this is making sense to everyone, because when it was first presented I myself was a little confused about the concept. There is no one big event that will take place on 10/10, WE are the event. 10/10/10 is just a way to help us remember to concept I suppose. This is a year long effort, so you will see me post about this periodically (and you will probably get sick of me talking about it) so hopefully this "squeaky wheel" will get some oil so to speak. Thanks for your help, and if you have any questions or want to help in any way please let me know.

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