Download a Coupon for 30% Off with 5% going to LLS

Leukemia survivor, Lance Bigelow, is someone who knows first-hand the importance of Gap’s Give & Get program benefiting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). He participated in the spring campaign. Lance and his family knew that taking advantage of the Give & Get program’s 30% discount, they would also be contributing to LLS’ blood cancer research efforts, research that helps kids like Lance — research that fights the number one cancer among children.

Thanks to the efforts of families like the Bigelows, the spring campaign raised $600,000 for research to find a cure.

By participating in our summer campaign you can help blood cancer patients live longer, better lives — and look good doing it!

Then visit any Gap, Inc. store from July 30th to August 2nd to take advantage of the 30% discount offer. Please note that this offer is good from July 30th through August 2nd only! The Gap Give & Get coupon is good for purchases at any Gap, Inc. store, including Gap, Gap Outlet, Banana Republic, Banana Republic Factory Stores and Old Navy. The coupon is for in-store purchases only and is good in both the United States and Canada.

Remember, when you download a coupon for discounted clothes from this site you’re helping The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society fight the number one cancer among children. Send this page to your friends and family and help our cause even more!

more info: http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org//all_page.adp?item_id=552506

Lance’s Story: http://community.lls.org/blogs/atlls/2009/07/27/licking-leukemia-with-lls-and-gap

Coupon (English): http://www.gapinc.com/giveandget/lls/

Coupon (French): http://www.gapinc.com/giveandget/fr/lls/

Source: LLS.org

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

William George Jordan
1864-1928, writer

When Friends of Heroes first started as a Light The Night team in August 2004, we had nothing but a blank slate before us.

We were inspired by the stories of pediatric blood cancer patients like Allie, Sam, Wesley, Noelle, Matthew, Courtney, Jackson, Ethan, Marco, Logan, and so many more. Their sweet faces reminded us of why Light The Night is so important to patients and families like theirs who deal with cancer on a day-to-day basis.

Our team was united with one focus: to help find a cure for blood cancers. We kept that goal in sight and that became the driving force behind the efforts of each walker in cities across North America.

Now four years later, we are still moving forward and making a difference.

Through the compassion, creativity and even a small dose of friendly competition, Friends of Heroes has raised over $970,000!!

Did this happen overnight? No…

Did we land six-figure sponsorships? Not really…

Because of the joint efforts of each of our walkers and teams, our local totals add up to nearly a million dollars! But we won’t stop there. Lives are still at stake. There is work to be done.

In the past ten years, so many advances have been made with the funding from events like Light The Night. Can you imagine what is in store in the next 10 years?

I hold fast onto the hope that every small difference I make now – whether it is advocating for better health care or funding, raising awareness in my community for much needed research or raising money for my Light The Night walk – these actions will translate into another step closer to a cure.

As we begin our fifth season of Light The Night walks, I invite you to join us and to make a difference – small or large. Every single effort counts!

There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.

Denis Waitley

Here are three things you can do right now that will help:

1) Join our Light The Night team and commit to raising money for blood cancer research and services.

2) Start your own Light The Night team and affiliate with Friends of Heroes. Be part of our first $1 million dollars!

3) Donate to our cause and help SAVE LIVES.

It’s up to you and the small differences you can make on a day-to-day basis! Together we can make a big impact. I would love your company at the finish line!

Will you stand with us and walk the distance?

Sincerely,

Jenn B.

To qualify to win, leave a comment with an answer to the question after reading the post.

So far we’ve blogged about the importance of blood cancer research and the Light The Night Walk. The one important component that ties these together is money.

Not only is the Light The Night walk an evening to honor blood cancer patients in the biggest battle of their lives, it is also to celebrate the teams of volunteers who fundraise to support blood cancer research and patient service. Funding is absolutely necessary for research to continue and this research will SAVE LIVES.

HOW YOUR DOLLARS ARE USED:

75 cents of every dollar spent goes directly towards supporting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s mission of a cure. Society-funded research has led to key advances in understanding blood cancer and the life-saving drugs to fight them.

• $500 provides a patient with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma with Patient Financial Aid to support medical treatment, medications and travel to medical appointments for one year.
• $500 allows 10 patients to login to a Webcast and receive the latest medical breakthroughs.
• $400 funds a Family Support Group program for one year.
• $100 provides three patients with access to an information teleconference.
• $100 allows four patients to make a first connection with a trained peer counselor.

THE TRIUMPHS:

• A newly FDA approved drug, Gleevac, has been shown to normalize blood counts in nearly all patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Dr. Brian Druker, a Society-funded researcher, is responsible for this remarkable innovation in cancer research.
• In 1974 the 5 year survival rate for children with the most common form of leukemia was just 53%. Today, 86% of children diagnosed will survive.
• The five year survival rate for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma has nearly doubled from 40% in 1960 to 83% today.

PUTTING THE FUN IN FUNDRAISING:

Fundraising does not have to be a chore! The local Light The Night Staff is trained to help teams raise money and has easy and free tools available. To get new walkers started, some fundraising ideas include:

• Partnering with a business to sell Light The Night Paper Balloons can help contact donors that you wouldn’t normally reach. (Check our Walker Resources or this post for details.) Sometimes companies also have a matching gifts program to boost fundraising dollars.
• If you register for Light The Night and provide an email address, you’ll automatically have a secure online fundraising page created. You can personalize the page like this one or this one and send the URL to family and friends. Participants using the onine fundraising tend to raise about 200% more than those that don’t!
• What do you enjoy? Bowling, scrapbooking, barbeques, golf… turn it into a fundraiser! Visit our Fundraising Idea Sheet or the FOH Newsletters for more ideas.
• Anyone can fundraise! All it takes is a little creativity and passion. One of today’s sponsors is 5-year-old Tasha who sells her handmade soaps to help raise money for her two young friends with leukemia. If she can do it, so can you!

For even more ideas, see all posts under the Fundraising category.

ENTER TO WIN TODAY’S PRIZE:

For a chance to win, leave a comment answering

“How much of every dollar donated goes directly to
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s mission?”

For an extra chance to win, leave another comment with an answer to this question:

“If you were raising money for Light The Night,
which fundraising activity would you pick?”
(or post your own creative fundraising idea!)

Ends at MIDNIGHT PST today.

You’ll also be entered for our grand prize to be drawn Monday for a $900 Timberland and Lacoste product assortment, courtesy of Samsonite. (Comments are moderated.)

Make sure to stop back all week for more information and even more chances to win!

Source: LLS.org

Consider approaching establishments that interact with each customer (banks, fast food or Denny’s type of restaurants, ice cream shops, coffee shops, local grocery stores, franchised locations, etc.) Also think of businesses you frequent.

If the business is known for strong customer service, they can be very successful with the paper balloon program.

If you don’t like asking strangers for money, this is an effective way to get someone else to ask for you!

10 Helpful Tips:

1. Stock up on Paper Balloon pads and promo buttons from your local LLS chapter and posters/marketing docs from the FOH Team Kits.

2. Use the a) Paper Balloon Cover Sheet template, b) FOH Fact Sheet and c) Affiliate FAQ Sheet when you approach a manager or store owner. Be sure to include your contact info. Also, read the Cover Sheet for more benefits to the program. Download docs from our Walker Resources

3. Emphasize that this helps the community and that the money goes towards cancer research and patient services.

4. Emphasize that this is a short-term fundraiser. They only need to ask for donations for a month (or whatever your time frame is).

5. Buy their first balloon(s), so they can see what to do and have something to post.

6. Stop in once a week to see if they need more balloons, tape, pens, buttons, etc.

7. Collect a check (makes it tax-deductible to them) at the end or designate a pick-up time.

8. Avoid large chains unless you have an inside contact. Many times you’ll be referred to corporate.

9. Don’t be afraid to follow-up! If you “fizzle out” with your contact, they won’t be as motivated to sell balloons. Give them Relentless bracelets as a small incentive/thank you.

10. Invite them to Light The Night with Friends of Heroes!

Friends of Heroes has always been such a family oriented group. Many of us met online on our birth boards, others at play groups, or just word to mouth. Just looking at our Light the Night photo albums just shows that a major part of our teams are our kids!

It is so easy to let them get involved and make a HUGE difference.

Here are a few tips and idea to get your child involved. They will feel so great for helping out! Lets plant the seeds of giving and watch them grow.

Talk to your child, let them know why you are fundraising. Let them ask questions. A great movie to watch for explaining cancer to a young child is “Why Charlie Brown? Why?” Most Leukemia and Lymphoma Society offices will have a copy to borrow. Be sure to let them ask questions as well.

Let them come up with their own ideas! If is painting happy faces on rocks or planning a race, let them go for their dream. Just let them know that you are there to support them!

Tell them how great they are and what a big difference that this will make. I think that this is the part that is the most rewarding to my kids. They love to hear that they are helping!

Finally, reward them. You can take them out to ice cream, maybe even get them that toy that they have been wanting for so long, or print them a very nice certificate. But let them know that they did something so wonderful for others that it is there time to be honored.

Please be sure to share with us what your children are doing and take lots of pictures so that we can have some featured kid heroes!

Some fun ideas for your child’s fundraisers

• Lemonade stands,
• Kids crafts sale,
• Dance a thon,
• Walk or run a thon,
• Carnivals,
• Sell old toys,
• Skating party,
• Pennies for patients at their school (contact local LLS Chapter for more details)
• Selling candy bars

Submitted by Beck Marko

Here’s how it works:

Participants who raise money online receive free gas cards that can be redeemed at most major gasoline providers. Each participant who raises $250 to $499 will receive a $15 card, or for every $500 raised online, they will get a card worth $50. There is also a great Grand Prize, details of which will be announced later.

“LLS wants to help its dedicated Light The Night fundraisers during these times of rising gas prices,” said Nancy Klein, chief marketing and revenue officer. “We are grateful for their support.”

To register online to earn free gas, visit http://teams.lightthenight.org/friendsofheroes and walk with Friends of Heroes!

The answer will always be “no” if you don’t ask. The Light The Night staff has numerous fundraising ideas up their sleeves – just ask!

Here are our Top Ten Wrap Fundraising Ideas:

1) Host a Party: Organize a beef & beer, barbecue, happy hour, wine & cheese, or dessert party for your friends and family to attend. Charge $20 per person and then hold a 50/50 raffle at the event.

2) Letter Writing or Postcard Writing Campaign: Use one of our pre-written letters or write one of your own. Send them to everyone you know.

3) Paper Balloons: Sell Light The Night paper balloons for $1 or $2. Your coworkers can hang them in their offices. Or ask a local retail store to sell them during September (Blood Cancer Awareness Month) and collect the proceeds each week.

4) Bake or Garage Sale: Gather up the old stuff that you’ve been meaning to get rid of and sell it in your front yard! Pair that with selling baked goods and people will stick around even longer!

5) Sell Light The Night Plushland Bears & Friends: There are a variety of items you can purchase and resell to enhance your fundraising. Ask a Light The Night Staff Member for a full catalog!

6) Dress Down Day: For a donation of $5, employees can dress down on a designated day. Why not sell a month of Dress Down Days for $25 or even a whole year’s worth for $100? We can send you “I Dress Down for LLS” stickers too!

7) Brown Bag Days: Have employees bring a brown bag lunch to work on a designated day and ask them to donate the cost of what they would have spent at the cafeteria or a restaurant. You can even provide drinks or desserts and music to create a picnic atmosphere.

Corporate Matching Gifts: Many companies already have a matching gift program. Is your company one of them? If not, ask them to match the amount of pledges you receive from your fellow coworkers.

9) Extra Change in My Pocket Box: Create these little jars or boxes for your friends and family and have them place it on their dressers or desks so they can drop their spare change at the end of the day.

10) Online Fundraising! A personalized page has already been created for you! Emails to send to your supporters have already been written for you! Friends, family and coworkers can easily make a secure online donation to your website! Online fundraising eliminates the need to gather checks and address information from donors – they automatically receive confirmation and a tax receipt via email. Your page automatically calculates and keeps a record of your online donations and shows a running total so you can track your progress.

Go to teams.lightthenight.org/friendsofheroes to register and get started today!

Want more ideas? Peruse through our website or call your Light The Night staff member today!

As you are aware, we’re raising money for a grant naming bestowed by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in support of Dr. Joseph Wiemels and his pediatric blood cancer research. An important component of this campaign includes support from within Friends of Heroes – from our team captains, members and affiliates.

As an international group – whether you joined individually or as an affiliate on Friends of Heroes, Friends of Allie, or Allie’s Angels – you know the many needs represented by families stricken with blood cancers and the opportunity to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through Light The Night.

Did you know we are very, very close to achieving $100,000 for the grant naming? We’re only $1500 away!

With the final cut-off to fund raise quickly approaching, we’re inviting you to help us close that gap. If you have already donated or raised money, thank you, and if you are able, please consider a donation to your active.com to achieve the grant naming that we’ve worked so hard for.

If you missed the opportunity to donate before, please remember what the grant naming will mean to our honored heroes and to the countless others who will benefit from Dr. Wiemels’ research. His research could lead to a CURE!

Each $10 or $25 donation means so much over the next couple weeks. Let’s reach our goal before Valentine’s Day! It’s not important how much you give, but the fact that you’re participating in this incredible opportunity to save lives. Together, we can make a difference.

$25 x 62 people = $1500, PLUS the pediatric research grant naming!

Click the button or link to our team donation page: http://www.active.com/donate/ltnColumb/Friendsofheroes

Friends of Heroes continues to make an impact with the help of our priceless volunteers. If you are looking for an opportunity to do more to find a CURE, we are always looking for people who can commit a little time and effort at the national level.

Email Jennifer jenn@friendsofheroes.org or Lois lois@friendsofheroes.org if you want more information or if you’re interested to serve. Let us know what your skills or interests are so we can match you up to help!

For more information, visit http://www.friendsofheroes.org or contact teamleaders@friendsofheroes.org

Here are some of their beautiful charms!

To qualify to win:

1) Make a quick and secure donation on the national team’s active.com site to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Friends of Heroes National Light The Night Team!

Our mission is to help in the fight to cure blood cancers. Our Light the Night Team has a grant naming opportunity in support of pediatric cancer .

For every dollar donated, you will be entered to win while helping us raise money for a cure! Donations are tax-deductible and can be of any amount – the more you donate, the more chances you will have to win! Head over to the charm boutique and create a wish list! Your donation could be the one selected to win!

2) Help us promote this contest on your blog or website! (optional)

After making a donation on the active.com site (required), scroll down to add the link and graphic to your MySpace, blog sidebar or in a post to earn an extra chance to win! (optional)

Using the Mr. Linky, please link to your MySpace page, blog post or blog URL if you would like to be included for an extra entry to win! Please include a direct link to My Charmed Life at http://www.mycharmedlife.com as a thank you for offering this wonderful giveaway! New links will be checked frequently for validity.

Don’t delay, donate today! Contest deadline is October 15!

Good Luck!

Grab this button (width 150px):
<a href="http://friendsofheroes.blogspot.com/2007/09/my-charmed-life-charm-bracelet-giveaway.html"><img src="http://www.friendsofheroes.org/images/CharmGiveaway150.jpg" /></a>

Grab this button (width 200px):
<a href="http://friendsofheroes.blogspot.com/2007/09/my-charmed-life-charm-bracelet-giveaway.html"><img src="http://www.friendsofheroes.org/images/CharmGiveaway200.jpg" /></a>

Grab this button (actual width 750px):
<a href="http://friendsofheroes.blogspot.com/2007/09/my-charmed-life-charm-bracelet-giveaway.html"><img src="http://www.friendsofheroes.org/images/CharmGiveaway750.jpg" /></a>

Saturday, August 25, 2007

6:45AM-7:45AM Packet pick-up/registration
8:00AM Race Begins
9:00AM Family Fun Walk

Click here for a printable version of the registration form.

For more information, please contact Beth at beth@friendsofheroes.org

Join Our Sponsors

Are you up for The Challenge?

In last year’s walker survey, you asked for more help to develop your local teams. So, in response, we created a Team Point Challenge to support ways you can increase your local fundraising, recruiting and awareness activities!

By completing these tasks, each team will accrue points while boosting your team’s visibility and reaching out to potential walkers, sponsors and donors.

Team captains can keep a running total in a designated thread on the FOH message board and will be recognized in each newsletter. The final tally will be at the end of November with a prize for the team with the most points!

If you are ready to take your fundraising to the next level, don’t miss this challenge!

Points confirmed when walkers and/or donation totals appear in the active.com system. Stay tuned as more point categories may be added.

Point Criteria:	Point value:
Achieve MVP club: Local Team raises $2000+	15
Your recruited affiliate team raises $2000+	15
Get local PR (print, radio, tv)	10
Recruit an affiliate team	10
Recruit and register 5 fundraising walkers (Points count once they have raised $100 each)	10
Sign up a business to sell paper balloons	10
pan style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Verdana;">Raise $250+	8
Receive a business sponsorship	8
Participate in team conference call (retroactive)	5
Attend your local LTN kick-off	5
Hold awareness day or fundraiser	5
Recruit a walker who raises $100	5
Post a local Craigs List ad (or MothersClick, VolunteerMatch)	5
Raise $100 (points for each $100 raised)	5
Submit a written Team Tidbit from your event	5 each
Forward the FOH newsletter to someone new (counts once per month)	2
Join a FOH social network and invite your friends	2
Post a FOH blinkie/ad on your blog or website	2
“WYDWYD” photo project	1 each
Submit event photos to Team Tidbits	1 each