You may recall that I was coming down with a cold during the last sale more than two weeks ago...well, I'm still recovering from the darned thing! What a nasty one, a very energy draining virus and the worst cold I've had in many years. Anyhow, I'm finally feeling much better and my energy is mostly back.
As many of you know, my little 2 year old niece Elena was diagnosed this spring with a rare genetic disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). This debilitating illness affects the nerves controlling the muscles in her body. Luckily her condition is of the less severe variety but nevertheless it is doubtful that she will ever be able to walk and she has a number of associated disabilities that will require constant lifelong care.
My sister Megan realized that the family would need a van with handicap accessibility and was quite shocked to discover how expensive they are. So they held a couple of fundraisers over the summer including an online one. I had posted a small link to it on the blog here (which I have recently taken down). I can tell you that we were all absolutely blown away by the MANY kind and extremely generous donations as well as the supportive words. Truly we cannot thank you all enough! It's very humbling indeed.
Well, Megan's original goal of a brand new van turned out to be a little ambitious but she finally settled on a more affordable used Honda Odyssey with low mileage. The family is currently having it outfitted with the necessary wheel chair accessible gear and it should serve them brilliantly for several years. Elena is doing pretty well all things considered and I look forward to seeing the whole family around Christmas time.
Today I have a cute little item to offer. I came up with this idea over the summer while thinking of my family situation and I gave it a lot of thought. The Atwood Sweetheart is a simple lightweight key fob design in 304 stainless steel, just a hair under 1/8" thick. The tool does feature a cap lifter but I think it's most important and meaningful function may be a bit loftier. Is there anything better than love in this world? I think not... With that idea in mind, half of the proceeds from the Sweethearts will be donated to charity, in this case Cure SMA, (curesma.org) which is the only organization devoted to Elena's illness. In future runs of Sweethearts, I might do something different as far as a charity target but this seems like a great place to start.
The Sweethearts will run $45 each plus shipping and the link is below. Once again, on behalf of my sister Megan, niece Elena and our whole family, I thank you all so very much and God Bless!
Sweethearts are sold out for today but I have a few more coming shortly. Thank you all once again!
Perhaps a CureSMA.org stamp on future releases? That way the meaning is not lost on the recipient when given as a gift?
ReplyDeleteGlad that the donations help, even though it didn't reach the goal, its still a good offset for the Odessey. As a previous owner, those Honda's last forever, even after 2 accidents (head on), mine still kept on going without a hitch.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea Peter. I can't believe how fast they sold out.
ReplyDeleteElena and her family will be in my thoughts and prayers. I look forward to the next run and helping the SMA organization however I can.
ReplyDeletefantastic, love this and the thought/heart behind it. glad they sold out so fast, despite being sorry to miss it! love the idea to have the stamp on it reminding us of the reason and so we keep folks in mind everytime we use it! :-)
ReplyDeleteMissed it, but made a donation directly.
ReplyDeletePerhaps those that have flipped them on eBay for a profit will donate their gains...one can hope!
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