Giving Thanks for Giving Back: fundraisers

March has brought us so many blessings!! It's overwhelming!! So many people make it possible for Madeleine's parents to stay with her every day supporting her and each other: our parents do so much for us every single day, from taking extra special care of our daughter Annalise to praying for us, encouraging us and doing "extra mile" things to help. Our extended families' constant positive thoughts, prayers, cards and phone calls keep us empowered and assured we are making all the best decisions for Madeleine. Our close, personal friends and strangers about to become friends in organizing events, prayer groups, donations and gifts who otherwise would not know us but are finding it within themselves to do something so special for Madeleine make it possible for our family to keep our home, our vehicle and our focus on getting Madeleine well to grow up into a beautiful, healthy little girl. I'm crying tears of gratitude as I write this, because I am at a loss for words to truly express how much every single person has touched our lives, both grand and small. In the simplest way, WE THANK YOU SO SINCERELY. <3

The Broomball and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center event was a huge success on March 11!

The students of Cold Springs Middle School in Reno, NV have spent all this month raising funds for "Madeleine's March:" an opportunity for the students to feel good about helping a family in need and the staff and faculty to teach about caring and giving. Veronica's 11-year old sister Jordyn, Madeleine's Aunt, attends Cold Springs, and her homeroom teacher, Mr. Joel Hurley has helped the students organize a month-long fundraiser to benefit Madeleine! A weekly coin drive has been engaging teachers with their students, and all the $5 wristbands sold out! As an added incentive, Mr. Hurley is offering candy bars to students sporting their wristband ;)

Friends both close and new have spent all this month collecting donations from local businesses in Grass Valley, CA for the "Hope for Madeleine Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction" taking place Saturday, April 7th at the Grass Valley Elks Lodge. Antonio Ayestaran Custom Catering has generously donated the main entree and preparation, and countless businesses in the Grass Valley/Nevada City/Lake Tahoe area have donated gift certificates for both the raffle prizes and silent auction. Shawn Coffey-Bryant is one of my oldest and closest friends for the last 18 years! She has spearheaded this Benefit for Madeleine,and I can't thank her enough for all of her time, efforts, networking and connections.

A special design was developed to honor Madeleine's strength and innocence by our creatively-talented friends behind the "Dear Madeleine" song by The Antique Toys.  Our friends Charley and Richard of the Scartissue Oddball Society have used their talents to personally express their empathy for our family as well as help financially. This design was made into a t-shirt now available online for $25.

And last but not least, we launched our Warrior fundraiser with the Don't Worry Be Happy Foundation. This foundation accepts tax-deductible donations on Madeleine's behalf to directly pay for medical expenses and offers the tax incentive for individuals and businesses wishing to help. In addition, they also offer an online store of Don't Worry Be Happy apparel merchandise for which approximately 40-50% of sales come back to help Madeleine, also for medical expenses.


Additional info on these and all fundraisers to help support Madeleine are saved on the Fundraisers & Donations page of the blog