UDance - NYC Party - Brave the Shave
UDance - Victoria - Bri
Tomorrow is the biggest event of the year for The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation -- UDance 2017! UDance, a 12 hour dance marathon, is the largest student-run philanthropy on campus and the 5th largest college dance marathon in the country. The efforts of the UD students enable us to help thousands of families of kids with cancer and fund exciting, cutting-edge research. UDance is open to the public ($10 admission fee) and runs from 9am-9pm at The Bob Carpenter Center. And, there's still time to donate. :) If you'd like to donate to Ali's team, please click here.
At UD, we have paired over 50 B+ Heroes (kids with cancer) with fraternities, sororities, student groups and sports teams. Please watch this great clip from Fox 29 (Philadelphia) about B+ Hero Victoria and her Sigma Kappa sisters.
Last week, I had the opportunity to meet a true B+ Hero, Bri. Bri is a Junior at the University of Delaware, an ADPi sister of Ali's, and she was recently diagnosed with cancer. Bri has already begun a few rounds of chemo and has several rounds to go. In spite of all of this, she has the MOST amazing positive attitude. And, she continues to be enrolled in school and goes to classes and take exams. If she feeling well enough, she will join me on stage at UDance on Sun. at 4pm. #Inspirational
NYC Chapter 3rd Annual Cocktail Party
College students embrace the B+ mission, but it doesn't stop when they graduate. Our NYC Chapter of young professionals, who partnered with us on their various college campuses, held their 3rd annual cocktail party in Manhattan on Fri. March 3rd. For the 3rd year in a row, it was a sell-out. They get a larger venue each year and they sell it out. Nearly 350 guests this year! It was an amazing party and everyone had a great time. And, they were able to net $45,000 for our B+ Hero Family Assistance Program and research efforts. Thank you!!!
"Brave the Shave"
It took me 55 years, but I finally made it to North Dakota! Several months back, a group of people from Basin Electric Power Cooperative reached out to me to ask if they could help us fund childhood cancer research. For the past 10 years, they've organized a multi-state head shaving effort called "Brave the Shave". The flagship event was held yesterday in Bismarck, ND. I had the privilege of joining them for a dinner with Brave the Shave honoree families (families of kids with cancer) on Thursday night and then the big event on Friday. A lot of money was raised and a tremendous amount of awareness generated. I did interviews on one TV station, one live radio show, and several online outlets. There is one additional event upcoming and then the final tally will be revealed. Last year, they raised about $350,000 for their family assistance and research efforts.
One of the interviewers asked me my first impression of North Dakota and I told him "It's REALLY cold up here, but the people have WARM hearts!" The people of Bismarck could not have been more engaged in fighting childhood cancer and they could not have been more hospitable to me. You want to find really nice, good people, visit Bismarck.
Thank you very much to the visionaries behind the event, Mike Eggl and Ted Cash.
B+
Ali & Andrew's Dad