2011 - Lucky(?) Year Seven
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Join Ralph's Team! | |
| Team Wench team page | ||
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Personal Progress
Goal: $5,000.00 |
Team Wench Progress
Goal: $7,200.00 |
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Why I Do This
I do what I do for this cause because breast cancer kills people. I'll say it again. Breast cancer kills people. It's killed my friends. It's killed my extended family. It's forever changed the lives of scores of people I know and care about. And worst of all... in nearly every case, were the cancer detected in time, it could have been mitigated. It might have even been stopped in its tracks.
Every single year, I hope to make it through "another year" without anyone I know dying, being diagnosed, or losing a loved one to breast cancer. Since I started doing this in 2004, I'd never had such a year... not until 2009 (and until the second half of 2010 :-( ). Through some miracle, nobody I knew first-hand suffered a new breast cancer diagnosis in that time.
Check yourself. Check your partner. Get your friends and family to check themselves. Get out and make sure that nobody dies from ignorance.
Don't be silent. Don't be complacent. Get out and walk. Get out and crew. Get out and cheer. Get out and volunteer. And if you can't take an active role, then please consider donating towards someone who can. Someone like me. Someone like my Team Wench teammate(s). Anyone who is putting themselves out there to make a difference.
Don't just sit there. Do something. Do anything. But don't let another person's life get cut short by this disease.
Donations
You can help. You may not think you can, but you really can. No amount, no matter how big of small is wasted. If you can afford $10, donate it. If you can afford $1000, donate it. The exact amount is irrelevant until a cure is discovered. Then we can all say it was "enough."
You can make a donation to my fundraising campaign right here on the website by clicking on the "Donate Now" button. If you prefer to write a check, follow this link instead: http://awbcpaper.lhhf.org/
If you would like to donate more than you can donate *now*, Avon will happily set up a monthly donation for you. Again, just click the "Donate Now" link for more information.
As I prepare for this year's event, I plan to update this page as well as my LiveJournal so that all my supporters can follow my progress, so please visit often. While you're here, you might want to spend some time on the site to find out more information on why this event is so important, and the organizations and people that will be helped by the money we all raise.
Thanks again for your support!
More info on what I've been doing can always be found at
http://webqatch.livejournal.com/tag/bcsucks
Over the past seven years of trying, you folks (not me -- YOU!) have generously donated $36,000 (plus the amount shown on the right) towards my various goals. This link (http://bcfunds.lhhf.org/) will show you the year-by-year breakdown.
Y'all rock!!
Personal Losses
More than a dozen years ago, I met a woman at a DC area sci-fi convention. She had gorgeous red hair, an attitude that was piercing and fun, and was a lot of fun to flirt with. I remember meeting her downtown for lunch one day -- and getting my first exposure to the cuisine known as "mongolian grill." Through her, I met another couple of folks and through them even more. I went to my first (only) two Pennsic Wars with this intrepid band of Drunken Badgers. In May of 2007, Rise was taken from us after her battle with inflammatory breast cancer (http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/guide/inflammatory-breast-cancer).
Another part of my life was enriched tremendously during the late '90s when I met Bobbi (another redhead!). She was fiery and passionate and caring and was such a force of will that the first time I met her, I knew that my dear friends Nybor and Elspeth had perfectly chosen someone to join their lives. Then suddenly in 2004, she was gone -- yet another victim to breast cancer.
Large slices of my life have been enriched by the simple meeting of these women with the gorgeous red hair and the attitude... these ladies whom I miss so much.
In addition to these women who I miss dearly, I also rejoice in the knowledge of those who are still fighting. Every day I think of these friends (yes, especially you, L!) who have taken what this disease has to dish out and are still fighting. Thank you for fighting.
Furry Rumblings
Topics
A Leo Rosten quote - that sums it up nicely
"I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all."
by Ralph Nelson on Wed, Jul 07, 2010 @ 7:53 AM
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Breast cancer still sucks - even after seven years
[This was originally a post to my blog, but I decided it should appear here, too]
We still live in a world where friends and family hear words like "summation artifact" and "abnormal mass" and the immortal "I'm sorry to tell you this." We still live in a world with breast cancer and I find this unacceptable. I find it unacceptable that each month, my friends and loved ones perform their monthly exams knowing that they could find something that could scare the hell out of them. I find it unacceptable that other friends and loved ones do *not* perform monthly checks because they're scared of what they might find.
I have a dream of the future. I want to be (much) older and sitting around after some family event. I want to be kicked back in my comfy chair, talking to my grandchildren about "the old days." I want to remember a dear friend to them and tear up when I think about the memory of how they were taken from me so suddenly. I want -- so badly I want -- to hear one of my grandkids ask me "But why did they get breast cancer? Why wouldn't they just get the shot? Doesn't everyone get it?" I want breast cancer to be looked at the same way that polio and mumps are today... a terrible disease from a bygone era. I want it gone in my lifetime.
You can help make it go away.
Sign up to walk or crew or volunteer for the Avon Walk or the Komen Walk. Show up and cheer the walkers. Donate early and often. Do everything you can, every day. Do something. Do anything.
This fall, I'll be crewing my first Komen 3-Day for the Cure. If you can't participate yourself, please donate (http://www.the3day.org/goto/ralph).
Next spring, I'll be crewing my fourth (after walking three) Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. If you can't participate yourself, please donate (big pink button on the right!).
I'd much rather see you there -- by my side, working, walking, helping -- but I'd appreciate the donation if you can't. Donate $1,000. Donate $250. Both sites let you break up larger donations into smaller easier-to-manage chunks. Donate $50. Donate $20. Whatever you can afford. Don't say to yourself, "Oh right, I keep meaning to do that." Don't mean to do it. Do it. Do it for yourself, for your loved ones, for your friends, for your family. When I first started down this path in 2004, I didn't know anyone first-hand with breast cancer (or at least I didn't know that I knew anyone). I was a freak then. Now I'm a statistic.
by Ralph Nelson on Thu, Jun 10, 2010 @ 11:40 AM
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About the Avon Foundation
The Avon Foundation has been improving and saving women's lives since it was founded in 1955, and we are proud to be the largest corporate philanthropy dedicated to women's causes globally. Today our mission is focused on breast cancer and domestic violence, as well as emergency and disaster relief, touching lives across the country and around the world. Through 2009, Avon global philanthropy will have raised and donated more than $725 million worldwide.
The Avon Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) public charity. Our IRS tax-exempt number is: 13-6128447.
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