Friday, August 17, 2012

Five Dollar Friday - Inaugural Edition

Welcome to the inaugural “Five Dollar Friday”. This is going to be a weekly post where, each Friday, I will pick a charity or cause to which I will donate five dollars. I’ll then write a quick post with a few links, Tweet it and post it on the Facebook Fan Page. Hopefully, some of my readers will see it and share/retweet/repost or even donate! The idea is that five dollars is a relatively small amount, but if even 10% of the people who read my blog were to donate, that would turn into a substantial about of money - like forty-five dollars! Or more, math is not my forte’. Anyway, worst case scenario: a random charity gets five bucks.

So…

This week my five spot is going to The Christi Anderson Rack Pack Foundation.




I don’t have breasts. Well, not officially. I could probably work out a little more and say that with confidence, and there were a couple awkward moments when my daughter tried to nurse from me… I digress. Breasts. I don’t have them, but my wife does. So does my good friend Mandi. So do at least six other women I know. If my math is correct that makes eight. According to the National Cancer Institute one in eight women will get breast cancer. A little over a year ago, Mandi found out she was among the one in eight women who will get breast cancer. Since then she’s documented her journey on her Breast Cancer Blog. It is funny and honest and heartbreaking and joyful. It's even a bit crass at times – which any good blog should be. Someday I’ll convince her to compile it into a book. Until then, you should check it out - AFTER you finish reading this post.

Shortly after Mandi was diagnosed, a representative for the foundation showed up at her door with a chemo care package. They explained that the foundation was created by friends and family of Christi Anderson, who lost her battle with breast cancer in 2010. Since then, The Christi Anderson Rack Pack Foundation, or CARPF as no one calls them but me, has created and distributed care packages to anyone currently going through treatment for breast cancer.

From their “About Us” page:

“Having personally gone through several family situations involving cancer very recently, we feel properly equipped to help – with a care bag, a gift card for gas or groceries, a hug, a text message, a phone call, a friend. We want you to know that you have someone to go through this cancer experience with – someone on YOUR team.  The Rack Pack’s got your back!”

So there you go. They’re awesome. AND they have no idea we’re doing this. So go to their page and donate five bucks with me and let’s take them by surprise. I won’t have any way of measuring how much we raise, but that’s not the point. We’re not doing this to pat ourselves on the back. We’re doing it to make a difference. As my two-year-old daughter loves to scream at the top of the slide:

REBBY… SEK… GO!

Click the “Donate” button in the upper right corner of this page.

Love,

Dad



P.S. Mandi documents her experience with CARPF (My acronym, not theirs) here

If you have a suggestion for Five Dollar Friday, please e-mail it to me through the "Contact Me" tab with the subject line “Five Dollar Friday”. I probably will not be replying to these e-mails, as I imagine there will be a lot of them. I promise to read all of them though, and even if I don't feature them, I may still donate.

17 comments:

  1. Thanks John! I am glad I got to be involved in your inaugural edition! This charity means a lot to me. $5 donated. :)

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  2. Just donated $25 - rock on :)

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  3. Just made my donation! Happy Friday!

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  4. Just donated $10 - what a great idea - looking forward to future $5.00 Friday's.

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  5. This is Sarah from the Rack Pack...you guys just made our day...thank you SO much!!!

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  6. I love this idea, especially your efforts in providing us easy links to make the donation. Given my inherent laziness, having someone do even that level of work makes it much easier and more likely for me to make donations. I am doing so now.

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  7. The Rack Pack Foundation is so awesome! They go above and beyond helping with Breast Cancer and help out their friends. They have made care packages for my aunt and also a friend of mine, who were going thru cancer treatments (not breast cancer). It helped me have a way to tell them I was thinking about them, and also make them more comfortable during that hard time! Thanks so much for doing this for them! <3

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  8. This is Michele from the Rack Pack. Wow - thanks for an incredible Friday surprise! Your generosity never ceases to amaze me! Thank you!

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  9. I am SO grateful for Ellen DeGeneres retweeting your post. You are such a WONDERFUL writer.

    I have no idea about good or bad writing in the academic point of view (Hey, English is not even my mother tongue. I hope I won't be making a lot of "there/their/they're" mistakes, haha!) but I find your blog refreshing, fun to read, and most of all: Helpful.

    And let me be clear on this: I am NOT a mother... Yet.
    BUT I have a brother 11 years my junior who, not so long ago told me "I've always seen a mother figure in you more than in mom". Of course I gave him the "But she is still mom, you know?" speech, but I felt good. Really, really good. And I hope that I will feel I am doing things right with my own kids.

    So, getting to the point, reading your blog is wonderful. You leave me thinking every time I read one of your posts.

    I just wanted to say THANK YOU.
    And send a big hug from Argentina.

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  10. I'm German, but I know how tough it can be for American people to deal with health problems in terms of money, especially for those who can't afford insurances yet. In addition, my mom recently had to endure surgery and radiation exposure because of a (fortunately small and local) breast cancer. Though we didn’t have to worry about any monetary matters (insurance paid everything), I nevertheless am relieved and glad that she is strong and sanguine, always saying "I had it, they cut it out, radiated it - now it's gone for good!".

    I wish that optimism to everyone affected and happily have made my donation, too.

    Love,

    Blackpoetcat

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  11. Awesome! I just donated $25.00 - and forwarded the FB post to all my minions. Wonderful idea - thanks for paying it forward and using your powers for Good. :)

    Best,
    Theresa

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  12. I know I'm a little late...but my $5 is in!

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