Sunday, March 15, 2009

Help for a Friend's Child


Those of you who know me, know that I never, ever send out spammish letters like this. Heck, I don’t even forward cute LOL cat pictures. However, today, I’m making an exception.

Allie Gagnon is the daughter of a good friend of mine in the local Mothers of Twins and Triplets club. Allie is just a bit younger than my twins, and I’ve known her since she was born. Sweet girl. Great family. Awesome mom. As sometimes happens with multiples, Allie has cerebral palsy. She needs a fancy-schmancy wheelchair to get around, and a special van to transport it. Unfortunately, the family has 4 other kids, including others with special needs. Mom is in school to become a nurse so she can get a better paying job to help with the crippling finances. Dad works... and works and works. But still, the cost of caring for a child like Allie is astronomical.

My mothers club has decided to solve the problem. We’re doing charity walks, spaghetti dinners, auctions, etc. In addition, we’ve discovered that Luvs diapers is having a contest to win $1000. People register a child or charity as a recipient and friends go the the Web site and vote. You can vote every day, as it turns out. We’ve got Allie as one of the kids you can vote for, and for a while she was in the lead. But now, we need more, which is why I’m writing to you.

Please go to the Luvs site. There, you'll see a list of all the “signs” of people hoping to win the money. Type “allie” in the search box (lower case). This will take you to a sign that is by Tina of Montgomery (Tina is the club member who found this resource).

Vote.

Yes, you’ll have to “register" and give them your information—I suppose this is where the gimmick is that makes it worthwhile for the Luvs company to give away money.





To learn more about the Spreading Sunshine For Allie project, visit alliegagnon.org.

Thanks for whatever help you can give, even if it’s just a click a day.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Membership Milestone

Today, American Mensa has 56,935 members. This is the highest membership level ever, surpassing even the 1989 high of 56,929.

And to think, some members are wailing that Mensa has lost its way. If so, the numbers do not seem to support that theory.