Jan 25 10
A Message From Ali --
I’d like to give a huge thank you to the 5,200 of you who voted for The B+ Foundation in Round 2 of the Chase contest. Thank you to those of you who helped us spread the word by emailing friends and family, posting it to your profile, etc. Unfortunately, 5,200 votes didn’t get us close to the $1 Million for 1st place or $100,000 prizes that went to 2nd – 6th place.
As we mentioned on The Foundation’s Facebook page, the Advisory Board of the Chase contest awarded an extra $1 Million disbursed over 17 charities. The Advisory Board consisted of:
1. David Robinson - former San Antonio Spurs (NBA) player
2. Eva Longoria - Entrepreneur, Philanthropist and Desperate Housewives star.
3. Nancy Lublin - CEO of DoSomething.org, the largest organization in America for young people and social change.
4. Elliot Schrage - Manager of Facebook relations with stakeholders around the world.
5. Kim Davis - Managing Director for the JPMorgan Chase & Co. Office of Corporate Responsibility and President of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.
Today, we got a call from Kim Davis saying that The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation was selected to be one of the 17 charities involved in the additional $1 Million. Thanks to your votes, we won $25,000 from Round 1. Though we didn’t make top 7 in Round 2, the Advisory Board awarded us an additional $37,000!!! Overall, we got a total of $62,000!!!!
Many thanks to the Advisory Board for understanding our Foundation, realizing its importance, and giving us the ability to help families when they need it most – as they fight to keep their child alive.
Although none of the 3 pediatric cancer organizations in Round 2 (us, Okizu, and kidsSTRONG) won the $1 Million or $100,000 award, collectively, we won $112,000 for children with cancer!! Though the money will be extremely helpful in helping so many families, and I’m so grateful, this contest enabled more people to learn about pediatric cancers and allowed us to spread childhood cancer awareness. During the week of Round 2, approximately 300 children were diagnosed with cancer. We’re spreading awareness so people will realize pediatric cancers are a serious problem and we NEED funding.
I think this contest said a lot about our Foundation. It put us on the map with over 500,000 non-profits across the country. Although we were one of the youngest and smallest organizations in the contest, we finished in the Top 100 (56th place). By finishing in the Top 100, we proved that we are real. We really do have a support group (thank you all!). We really do help families. We really are honoring Andrew. By being awarded the additional $37,000, it reassured me that we are doing the right thing with this Foundation. The Advisory Board noticed what we’ve done and agreed with our mission. That feels so good.
Thank you, B+ Supporters, for your help in spreading the word and voting. Thank you Advisory Board. Thank you Andrew for being you, a great example for us as we work to honor you through your Foundation.