FA Family Newsletter - Fanconi Anemia Research Fund

Everything Old is New AgainBy Jeanne AtkinsonSpecial friends of ours,Vicky Stone and ChristineFlaum, came up with theidea to have a jewelry salefeaturing mostly recycled andrenewed pieces. They knewthat women often tire ofwearing the same jewelry orperhaps they no longer wearthat cute blue dress with thematching blue earrings. Sowhy not ask people to donatewhat they no longer wear, polish the pieces and inviteeven more people to a jewelry party featuring jewelrydesigns from today and yesterday at great prices, all tobenefit a great cause?For this event, gently-used jewelry was obtained viae-mail request and networking between friends, coworkersand family. The request included the suggestion thatpeople might have vintage jewelry from a mother orgrandmother that they would like to give to a good cause.One woman sent us two boxes of her mother’s belovedcostume jewelry, saying that she was thrilled to findsomething meaningful to do with it. We offered a drop-offspot or pick-up service for those providing jewelry.People were invited to come and enjoy a glass of winewhile shopping for great jewelry deals. The list of peoplecame from our past fundraising efforts and from Vickyand Christine’s contacts. The sale was held at Christine’shome from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on a weekday. In theend, around $3,000 was raised for FA research, and allinvolved voted it a big success!FundraisingSocial Networking Pays Off – FA Families UseOnline Tools to Raise FundsFacebook, Twitter, LinkedIn—thelist of online social networking toolscontinues to expand. Families affectedby Fanconi anemia are harnessingthe power of these tools to increaseawareness of FA and to raise funds.Families have participated in Facebookcontests and launched onlinechallenges to help spread the wordabout our worthy cause.FA parent Mary Nori saw anopportunity to land some muchneededfunds for research andsubmitted the Fanconi AnemiaResearch Fund’s name for the ChaseCommunity Giving Program’s FacebookContest in April. This contest soughtto identify the top nonprofits in theUS based on Facebook user votes.Nori used her online network and theFund’s e-group to spread the word andrecruit voters. The Fund placed in thetop 100 vote-getters in the first round,winning $25,000 from Chase.Michael and Katharine Ormond,parents of 3-year-old Elias (who hasFA), are no strangers to using socialmedia for social good. For the past twoyears, they’ve held an online givingchallenge in honor of InternationalFanconi Anemia Day. According tothe razoo donation site, to date theOrmond’s challenge has raised morethan $7,500.The Internet can be an excellentresource for fundraisers. Whetherusing Facebook to spread the wordabout a contest or simply emailingcontacts about an upcoming event,social networking is an effectiveway to gain some attention for agood cause. Follow the Fund onFacebook at www.facebook.com/fanconianemiaresearchfund.Fanconi Anemia ResearchFund’s Board President,Barry Rubenstein, accepts a$25,000 check from “Chase”the dog. Thanks to strongsocial networking efforts fromour community, the Fundwas a winner in the ChaseCommunity Giving Program’sonline challenge.Family Newsletter #50 19