Fri. May 6th
As you know, UDance, the largest student-run philanthropy on the campus of the University of Delaware, is one of our most important fund and awareness raising activities. Believe it or not, planning is already underway for UDance 2012. I am very pleased to announce that UD students (not me!) have selected Ali McDonough and Eric Oppenheimer as the two Co-Chairs for UDance 2012. Needless to say, I kind of know one of them pretty well and I know she’s going to do a great job. I’ve also had the pleasure of working with Eric for the last couple of years and can tell you that he is a very passionate advocate for the B+ Heroes and our fight against childhood cancers. I am very excited to work with Ali and Eric in their new roles and I’m so confident that UDance 2012 will be the biggest and best yet! Congratulations, Ali & Eric!
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I’d also like to thank the students at the following schools who recently held successful B+ fundraising/awareness raising events:
Virginia Tech
Clemson
UNC – Greensboro
Radford
Georgia Southern Univ (tonight)
Laney HS (Wilmington, NC)
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Back in December, we lost a beautiful soul from this world – Rina Goldberg. Rina came to “know” Andrew through Caringbridge. Even though they never met in person, Rina felt so connected to Andrew and embraced the B+ message as much as anyone I know. As you may recall, for her “Make A Wish”, she opted to have a ‘makeover’ done in her house and featured prominently in the room is a B+ message on the door. As you’ll see below, one of Rina’s legacies is a movie that she was working on called “The Magic Bracelet”. As you’ll see below in a note from Rina’s parents, they are seeking help in bringing Rina’s dream to the big screen. Please take a look at the note and, if you think you can help in any way, please feel free to contact me (joe@livelikeandrew.org) or contact that Goldbergs via the movie site URL listed below. Thanks!
It was Rina’s dream to see her movie on the big screen. Before she passed away, she asked us to “take care of her movie”. With full intent, we promised her that we would make her dream a reality.
Therefore, all of our attention is to networking and spreading the word in order to do so.
We hope that thru the mass efforts, her story will get noticed.
We can use your help in outreach to big names in the entertainment industry. On the top of the list:
Ellen, Oprah, Jack Black (who has a relative affected by mito), Chandra Wilson (whose daughter was recently diagnosed with a form of mito), Disney CEO and Jeff Lurie, owner of the Eagles who is a major movie producer. We enourage you to not limit yourself and if there are other connections you might have to make those. The more these people hear about Rina and her movie from various sources, the greater the chance of a connection being made.
To say that Rina’s spirit was remarkable is an understatement. Despite all that she faced medically, her spirit always soared, seeing the positive and good in everything. Rina was incredibly creative.
Rina lived each day to the fullest, pushing aside her illness and seeing the good in every day.
For those of you who don’t know, a bit of background:
Mitch Eiven, a friend, was starting a movie and production company and in an effort to provide distraction from the impact of the progression of the mitochondrial disease, he asked Rina for an idea for a movie.
Little did he know what would come of it. Rina took the offer and ran with it. She came up with a movie idea instantly and with incredible drive created together with our friend, her movie “The Magic Bracelet.”
The movie team worked at incredible speed, racing against the progression of the disease to try to finish Rina’s movie. Together with Rina as Jr Producer, director and co-writer they finished the initial script.
The movie is about a bracelet with a mysterious past and mystical powers that link two teenagers, best friends -one with a cheese obsessed dog and the other with a life threatening illness – and their families. The movie is targeted to tweens, young teens and their families. The underlying messages are always to love life, maintain a be positive attitude and remember to laugh and smile.
This is your opportunity to stay connected to Rina and bring her voice and vision to the world in her memory and on her behalf. We hope that you explore all parts of the web site, but we wanted to let you know that there is sub page of how to get involved as well as staying in touch which will allow you share your commentaries.
We will forever be grateful for the continued support, friendship and love. We ask that you always continue to keep Rina’s CB sisters in your thoughts. Stacy and Ari B+
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Featured Family of the Week
Leon is a 13 month old boy from Newark, DE. He has Downs Syndrome and AML (leukemia). I understand that children with Downs Syndrome have a greater likelihood of being diagnosed with leukemia. Over the past 4 months, Leon has spent a lot of time in the hospital for aggressive chemotherapy. He has many months of treatment ahead. Due to his serious health situation, his Mom has stopped working to care for Leon so the family is down to one income and facing some serious financial challenges. Thanks to your generosity, The B+ Foundation will be helping the family this week with some past due bills. Thank you for your continued support. The needs of our families is so great.
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Well, the weekend is upon us. What kind of weekend are you going to have?
MAKE it a good one…it’s up to you.
Live Like Andrew — B+
Ali & Andrew’s Dad