Thursday, May 26, 2011

Because this Could Be Your Son...

We all hate it when our kids have the sniffles, but we know they're going to get better and be as good as new in a few days.  I can't imagine what it's like for you moms who have a child with a serious illness or a disease that might never go away and/or will have a lasting effect on your child.

One of my friends has a son name Jackson.  He looks like a typical highschooler...and he is...he's a good student, involved in sports, great kid. 
He is also living with the effects of Histiocytosis.  He's stable now and doing great, but he is dealing daily with the effects of his disease. The disease affects his fine and gross motor skills, has slowed his speech and has made school and sports much more difficult. 



Never heard of histiocytosis?  I'm not surprised.  It's so rare that there is little research into its cause and treatment, and it is considered an "orphan disease," meaning it strikes too few people to generate government-supported research.  It's similar in some ways to cancer, but is different.  You can read more about Jackson here.

So why do I bring all this up on a craft blog?  Because Jackson's family is organizing a huge fundraising event in a few weeks.  It will include a bike-a-thon, bake sale, dinner, and other fun things.  I'm asking for donations of craft items (or really any items) that could be sold along with the bake sale or given away as prizes to the bikers.  All the money from the proceeds will be donated to Histio Heros Research Fund which supports the research of the main two doctors researching the disease and searching for a cure.

Besides that warm, fuzzy feeling you'll get for donating, as a thank you for your donation, I'll offer you a free sponsorship spot on my blog for two months.  Items valued at less than $15 will get a smaller button 100x100 pixels for your blog or shop.  Items valued at $15 or more will get a bigger button 225 pixels wide and up to 225 pixels high for your blog or shop.  I'll also do a highlight post showing the items that were donated as well as the blog or shop that they came from.  For higher priced items of $50 or more, we can negotiate a longer period of sponsorship.  I can also help you with the html code to make a blog button, if you don't already have one.  Of course if you want to donate money, I can get you the information for how to do that too.

You can reply to this post or email me at polly.helping.little.hands (at) gmail (dot) com if you're interested in donating and I'll email my address for where you can send the items.

This is a great opportunity for you to donate to an amazing cause and get some extra exposure for your blog or shop.

I've made this Faux Embroidery for Jackson's family to use as an example and people will be able to pay for a custom one made of their own family.  (A big THANK YOU to Coley from Twin Stitchers for giving me this Sandbox Family Pattern and giving the okay to make a few to sell for this event and for her generous offer to send some of her printed pattern kits.)

There's Jackson himself.

I'm also helping Firecracker's kindergarten class make a quilt that will be given to a newly diagnosed 1-year old boy with the same disease.  I went in and stamped their handprints onto fabric squares a couple days ago and now I need to sew the whole thing together.

We've also signed all three kids up to ride in the bike-a-thon...including Sweet Pea.  Daddy will help her by pedalling while she rides in the bike trailer.

2 comments:

  1. What a wonderful way to bring even more people into the helping circle. Good idea, Polly!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have actually heard of this disease. My nephew was diagnosed with it when he was small. Thankfully, it's been in remission (is that even the right word for this disease??) for years and he's a heathly nineteen year old now. I would love to donate a craft, but I don't have anything finished at the moment, and I'm having trouble thinking of a quick project that might sell... Any suggestions? (I can crochet, or sew -simple things, and maybe knit if it's a small project. I'm kinda slow...) What sort of things tend to sell at craft shows?

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