...Dream Of Recovery...

Fundraiser #2 at The Metropolitan American Diner and Bar was a success! Over $600 was raised, which will go very far for The CHEMO Bag. I am going to look into more fundraisers like this for the future, all that needed to be done was for people to show up there and eat. Easy Peasy I say. I am truly thankful to the owners of The Met for doing this for us. They are an hour away and thus far our bags haven’t been given to anyone in their area. Plus we are not yet a non profit organization so they were unable to write this off on their taxes.

Ahhh yes….you may be wondering about our non profit status. We will be meeting with our CPA on May 6, 2013 to get the paperwork started. Our CPA offered to do this work for us pro bono but in return we needed to wait until after tax season was over. We will still need to pay The IRS/State to process the paperwork. The other day The CHEMO Bag received a $250 donation to be used exclusively for obtaining our non profit status. This should cover about ½ the cost so HUGE THANK YOU to our donor, Michelle may have started this organization but it is truly a group effort!

Last Tues April 23, 2013 22 more bags were delivered to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg Campus. This time Michelle did not come (she has to go to school you know) and I did not hand out the bags. I simply gave them to the infusion nurses to hand out to the patients. One patient wrote a “thank you” on our facebook wall and said we helped her “turn her worst nightmare into a dream of recovery”

Which is exactly why we want to continue handing out bags. Why we want to become a non profit. Why we will continually ask you for help.

We are thrilled with all the money we have raised with our recent fundraisers, completely thrilled. But what thrills us more than money is swag. We love to see what items get donated (I never would have thought of sleep masks but now that we have received a few I can’t imagine packing up a bag for a woman with one).

And our donation pile is small. Please consider donating again, or asking your friends/family to donate. We adore lap blankets and neck pillows. Gender neutral please, for men and women. Don’t forget the men. Hand sanitizers, tissues, pens, note cards, lip balm, hand lotion…and sleep masks.

Once our non profit status is official we will be asking local businesses to get involved…perhaps we will find a sponsor.

Meanwhile…does anyone know a web site developer who would be willing to donate his/her time to help us set up a better, more functional website?

Or a local silk screener willing to lower his/her cost of silk screening for us? I don’t mind doing the screening but I sure do mind when I mess up and ruin a bag.

www.thechemobag.com
www.facebook.com/thechemobag

BINGO!! I heard that word shouted last night more times than I could count. If you are a BINGO player then you know how addictive the game can be, how high tensions can go, how quiet the room becomes the further you get into the game. I am not a BINGO player but something tells me that I may soon become one. Last night I was not playing BINGO. I was networking; selling raffle tickets for the Silpada Jewelry gift basket and helping the HTCC recreations director keep the tables clean and the night running smoothly. However, one of my friends that came out to play and support The CHEMO Bag had to leave early and so I took over her last 5 games. And immediately won $50, hence my new founded addiction.

All in all, about 78 people were at HTCC last night playing BINGO and from what I was told this was a great turnout. Many of the folks there are the monthly BINGO players but many were there to support The CHEMO Bag. We thank all of you.

The games started at 7PM when the rec. dir. introduced Michelle and I and gave us the floor to explain the idea behind The CHEMO Bag and our mission. Once again Michelle impressed her momma (and a few other folks too) with her ability to speak well in front of strangers. She explained our mission with ease and was articulate and clear. She answered questions and even did some networking for us. Two very promising contacts were made and I look forward to seeing how these contacts and I can mutually benefit each other.

The CHEMO Bag received a portion of the nights BINGO proceeds, all the raffle ticket money (the raffle continues all month long…if you are local I suggest you go check out the Silpada jewelry you could win, it’s wonderful!) and some flat monetary donations from some of the BINGO players. In the end we raised way more money than I expected to, I am very pleased!

Sometimes I am just amazed at how well this is taking off…overwhelmed with gratitude and at a loss for words.

Fundraising!

www.thechemobag.com
www.facebook.com/thechemobag

Fundraisers are in full swing here at The CHEMO Bag and we couldn’t be happier about it! The continued support of our community and beyond is what is going to keep the project going for a long time. Add to that the enthusiasm all involved have exhibited and we certainly have a winning combination!

First up is BINGO at the Hanover Township Community Center here in Bethlehem PA on April 4. http://hanovercommunitycenter.com/

The recreation director at HTCC and I met last fall and have become good friends. We worked together on another project and it seems that her level-headedness coupled with my high anxiety levels equals an ability to put into place something wonderful in a very short time. The HTCC holds a monthly BINGO to benefit a local cause and that local cause gets to set up a display in the HTCC lobby for a month while HTCC promotes them. For April, that local cause is us, The CHEMO Bag. Tomorrow (April 3) I will be going in and setting up a display and a donation box…a large donation box…because I have high expectations. BINGO night will be kicked off with a Silpada jewelry raffle and that raffle will continue all month long with all proceeds going to The CHEMO Bag. A portion of the nights BINGO proceeds will also go to The CHEMO Bag. I am very excited about BINGO night and have been shamelessly promoting it every chance I get. I do hope all our local friends can attend, BINGO is fun and it surely is for a good cause.

Fundraiser number two is at The Metropolitan American Diner and Bar in North Wales PA on April 18. http://www.metrodinerbar.com/

Now this fundraiser came as a surprise to me. North Wales PA is about an hour from our home base so how did word of The CHEMO Bag spread that far that quick? Word of mouth my friends, word of mouth. A family friend told The Met owners about The CHEMO Bag last month and they contacted us to explain to us that they monthly support a cause and offer a portion of one days proceeds to that cause and they had an opening for April, would we like to join forces with them? Of course we would!! Michelle and I were there yesterday and met with the owners, showed them a “sample” bag and left them with one of our way too big donation boxes. We also had lunch there and I can honestly say the food is good! The Met is promoting the fundraiser in their weekly newsletter and while I don’t know many people in the North Wales area I do know one beautiful woman who has agreed to help promote The CHEMO Bag as well. I am hoping for a good turnout!

These two fundraisers couldn’t have come at a better time. After filling and delivering 48 bags our donation pile has gotten a bit low and we can’t wait to raise it back up! Receiving “proceeds” will go a long way in helping us.