Please Help a Future Husky in Need
For more info, read the email below from Tom Melgar to friends
and family (November 2007). To see a short video from WABC TV about the cookie
sale and the Band of Parents, click
here.
Dear Friends and Family,
First let me apologize if you have received multiple copies of this message
or if you already know this information. We are sending this to everyone on
all of our e-mail lists. Yes, it could be considered spam but if there was ever
a good reason to send spam this is it. Almost all of you know of our struggles
over the last two years fighting Austin's cancer, neuroblastoma. We are grateful
for all of your support over that time. We are quickly running out of treatment
options because he is exhausting all of the available clinical trials and yet
his cancer persists and progresses. We along with 100 other families, the Band
of Parents (www.bandofparents.org),
whose children are treated for neuroblastoma at Memorial Hospital Sloan Kettering
Cancer Center (MSKCC) have come to realize that one of the most promising treatments
available for this cancer will never be developed by a drug company because
so few kids have neuroblastoma that the treatment will never provide any financial
return on their investment. We have partnered with the physicians at MSKCC to
develop the drug ourselves. Parents are developing a drug for their kids because
no one else will. Our goal is to raise $3,000,000 to achieve this. We have raised
about $400,000 of this in the past few months. We are seeking your help this
holiday season in a few ways.
- If you like to do your holiday shopping on the internet you can raise money
for the band of parents at no cost to you. By registering at www.igive.com/bandofparents
each purchase you make on line at any of more than 650 stores will send anywhere
from 1% - 26% of the purchase price to the Band of Parents. The price for
the customer remains the same. The extra money comes from the commission for
the referral to the store. This is a simple way to help by doing what you
ordinarily do. Think about this. We are 100 families with about 100 friends
and families each. That is 10,000 people. If you each e-mail it out to 10
more that would be 100,000 people each earning $10.
- The Great Holiday Cookie Sale was launched on November 16th. A huge network
of people were put together to produce 8,000 packages of gourmet cookies supported
by the TV Food Network and Epicurious. All of the materials, kitchens and
labor are donated. The cookies will cost $30 per package and will be sent
to the address of your choice in mid December. The package will contain information
about the cause. Your gift will not only taste good it will feel good because
it is good. Since the materials and labor are donated a significant portion
of the purchase price may be tax deductible. We ask that you consider sending
cookies as your holiday gifts this year. We also ask that if you know of someone
who orders holiday gifts for their company that you pass this information
along to them. You can find more
information about the cookie sale at www.cookiesforkidscancer.org
. Shipping is free with orders of 25 packages or more.
- The Band of Parents (BoP) has an online store called The
BoP Shop (www.cafepress.com/bandofparents
) where we sell merchandise bearing the Band of Parents logo, artwork of kids
with neuroblastoma, their siblings and friends, inspirations quotes and artwork
donated by supporters. 20-50 percent of the purchase price of items in The
BoP Shop goes directly to the cause. Please visit the store and consider shopping
there this season.
- The more people that know about these things and use them the sooner we
will get to our goal. If there was ever a time to send e-mail to your entire
list of your friends and family this would be a good time to do that.
Finally if you want to check up on Austin's progress his web site is located
at: www.caringbridge.com/visit/austinmelgar
Thank you,
Tom, Fran, Brianna, Danielle, Sarah, Ryan and Austin