We handed out so many ribbons this month, and the kids loved wearing their "cancer ribbons" every day. We heard stories from family and friends about how they were able to raise awareness through wearing them and people asking about it. Thanks a million to everyone who participated. It only take a few people sometimes to make a difference :) We have one week left, and I am not going out quietly, so I made some more ribbons tonight to pass out our last week. We are already making bigger and better plans for next year....


Now it's time for step two. I have been thinking about this so much. There are so many great organizations to support out there, and my ability to get actively involved is limited for obvious reasons, so I am in a situation where I must pick and choose. I have decided to spend most of my efforts to support research. To get right to the center of the problem and do what I can to help the people whose goal is to eliminate childhood cancer by finding a cure. I have been doing my homework and have decided to host a lemonade stand with Alex's Lemonade Stand.

It is an incredible story about a girl named Alex with cancer who wanted to find a cure through selling lemonade outside of her house. She did it every year for 4 years, until her death, and they have continued the organization. To date they have raised over $25 million to help fund research for childhood cancer. I like this charity because it is specifically for childhood cancer, which is a whole different world of research. Here's how it works: you find a place to host a stand (right outside of your house, or go bigger) and register it with Alex's Lemonade. They send you a banner to hang up, and the rest is up to you. You can get donations for supplies so you are not spending your own money by writing to local businesses. Then you hold your event, and send them the money. Simple as that. You can do it in someone's honor or memory, so we are doing it in honor of Brinley.

We will be hosting our stand on Oct 31 (halloween!) from 11-4. The place is TBD, I am working on that part right now. Soooo, be prepared to hear a lot about it this next month! It is looking like it will be an annual event. We are very excited, it is such a great way for the kids to be involved and it can be done on whatever level you want. As our first year, we are starting small and testing the waters, and hopefully next year we will get a little bigger. I love the concept of kids helping other kids, and this organization is big on that.

Here are some more great organizations I am finding out about:

CureSearch - a great organization dedicated to finding a cure to childhood cancer.

Candlelighters - focus a little more on support of families going through childhood cancer. BTW, there is a 5K coming up locally for everyone who is around here. It will be held Oct. 17 in Liberty Park. I thought about setting up a team, but I don't think I can manage 2 fundraisers at the same time, so I had to give that one up. But anyone can sign up for the 5K run. Just go to http://www.childhoodcancer.org/ to register. It would brighten my day to hear about anyone running in it, so please let me know if you are going to!



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