CHERUBS Creates New Parent Advisory Board To Help Govern Charity

In 2012, we are completely restructuring CHERUBS to go from a small "mom and pop" charity that offers mostly support services to families to a much, much larger, more professional non-profit organization that can fund larger projects, fund more research, raise more awareness and provide more services to families.

One of the steps we are taking to do this is restructuring our Board into 3 new Boards;  Executive Board of Directors, Medical Advisory Board and Parent Advisory Board.

    Meet Our New 2012 CHERUBS Parent Advisory Board!

  

    The purpose of the Parent Advisory Board is to oversee all of our support services, help us to delegate responsibilities and fill volunteer positions, deal with member conflict, process new ideas, handle suggestions and complaints and be the professional "face" of CHERUBS in social media.

    This position has a 1 year term beginning annually on June 1st.  The first CPAB was appointed for 2012.  The first election will be held on May 1, 2013.  Members can serve up to 5 terms in a row if elected.  Members can run for reelection, nominate themselves or others, and it is up to each member whether or not to accept a nomination.  Our goal with elections is to keep active members on this Board and give the membership more of a say so in the leadership of our charity.

    All members of this Board will serve 1-5 years except for the Volunteer Coordinator, who will Co-Chair this Board for unlimited terms with a fellow 1-yr-term Co-Chair chosen annually by the Board of Directors.  The Co-Chairs are responsible for overseeing the duties of the Parent Advisory Board and Volunteers.  They will both report back to the Board of Directors quarterly.

    The Board of Directors will be the business end of CHERUBS.  The Parent Advisory Board will be the heart and soul of our CHERUBS team. This is a very important Board with very important roles that these members do not take lightly.

    You can send your comments, questions, concerns and other correspondance to the new Parent Advisory Board at cpab@cherubs-cdh.org.

To read the bios of all volunteers (including your Illinois Rep) on the new Parent Advisory Board, check out this Facebook post.

Did you know??

Did you know that the next CHERUBS Illinois get-together is already on the calendar?

• July 14 at Ravinia Park in Highland Park, Illinois for a kids concert.  Ralph's World is playing.  I've seen him a couple times now...and the kids will love it.  Tickets are only $5 for lawn seats.  If you've never been to Ravinia, it's well worth it.  Here's the Facebook event with more information and a video clip below:

• Live in Michigan, Indiana, or Wisconsin??  We'd love for you to join us too!

Did you know that CHERUBS is selling raffle tickets to raise money for CDH research?

• Tickets are only $20 and the winner will receive half the money raised.
• Our goal is to sell 1,000 tickets.  That means the winner will receive $10,000 with the remaining $10,000 being donated to a hospital for additional CDH research
• You can reach out to me to purchase tickets or buy them direct by following this link: http://cdhraffle.eventbrite.com/

A challenge -- that's hard to refuse

So a couple of the other State reps and I decided to have a little, friendly contest.  Which state can donate the most items to the CHERUBS Totebag Project?   What does this mean?

Well you may or may not know that CHERUBS sends totebage to new members who are expecting a CDH child to provide invaluable information and items that will help for the often lengthy stay in the hospital.  This project is often under-funded and frequently overlooked.  That means deserving members don't always get totebags.

What are the rules for the challenge? 

1. Spend no more than $5 (not including shipping)
2. Items must be received by CHERUBS by Father's Day (if in the Chicago area--I am happy to bundle your items with mine and send in one big package.

Common Questions:

• What is the CHERUBS mailing address: 
• 3650 Rogers Rd. #290, Wake Forest, NC, 27587
• What items are needed for the totebags:  
• Lotions, preemie onsies, tissues...here's a link to a complete list
• Gift cards to national grocery stores and restaurants are great too
• You can even donate a gift card to CHERUBS to purchase the needed supplies
• Are there any other ways to donate?
• Yes, you can donate via the CHERUBS website and designate the funds for the Totebag Challenge

That's pretty much it...but I'm from Chicago (and we Chicagoans don't always play by the rules), so I am throwing a twist into the mix:

If you donate $5 worth of items to CHERUBS, I will give you $25 off a party from Creative Celebrations*.  For anyone who doesn't know already, Creative Celebrations is a children's entertainment company that my wife and I started back in 2000.  

*Must post "I donated to the CHERUBS Tote Bag Project" on the Creative Celebrations Facebook fanpage to qualify.  Cannot be combined with any other discount and valid on theme parties offered by Creative Celebrations only.