#GivingTuesday is December 3: How are you planning to give back??

Just in case you haven't heard all the fuss over the last few weeks, #GivingTuesday is this Tuesday, December 3.  What is #GivingTuesday?

It is a day created to GIVE BACK.  It's that simple.  We just spent a long weekend focusing on how thankful we are for what we have followed by a couple intense days of shopping.  'Tis the season for giving. So why not give to a charity that has touched us all so deeply.  If you give in any way on December 3, then you have participated in #GivingTuesday.

However, for me, CHERUBS is at the top of the list of charities to consider this 2nd annual #GivingTuesday. 

So how can you give to CHERUBS??  Here's a quick list of ways you can donate:

1. Give directly to CHERUBS via the webpage.
2. Donate via the CHERUBS #GivingTuesday FirstGiving page
3. Support National Children's Memorial Day and light a virtual candle for CDH babies gone too soon for only $5 per candle.
4. Purchase the 1st ever CHERUBS lullaby for only $1.89 (or more).  
5. Shop on Amazon, Ebay, or Goodsearch.
6. Participate in the CDH Jewelry fundraiser on Etsy from our Oregon State Rep.
7. Shop the CHERUBS CDH Awareness Shop
8. Purchase a CDH Awareness 2014 calendar.
9. Play the Give a Heart game on your computer or mobile device and donate your hearts to CHERUBS.
10. Sign up to donate a tweet via JustCoz to CHERUBS.

and one more bonus way to donate:

  11.  Check out Kylee's 13th Birthday fundraiser for CDH Research

This is definitely not an exhaustive list, but it's a good start.

Happy Donating!

A Fighter's Lullaby - The words you have been waiting for

Some of you have asked about the words to this amazing lullaby after listening to it a couple times.  First of all, thank you for your support in this CDH Research fundraiser. 



Here are the words to this beautiful song written by Ross Crean with those affected by CDH in mind:

"A Fighter's Lullaby"

It's all clear now, little one,
Sleep away.
No more fears and disturbia
Will be here to stay.

Let the sky full of stars
Blanket the darkness that gets in your way.
Just hold on to the promises
That tell you to there's soon to be
Much brighter days.

Don't carry your shield and sword
Through those reveries.
Get on the boat, leave them on the shore
While you sail to dream.

Let the sky full of stars
Blanket the darkness that gets in your way.
Just hold on to the promises
That tell you to there's soon to be
Much brighter days.

CHERUBS Fundraiser - First Ever Original Lullaby Written Just for CHERUBS!

For the first time, CHERUBS has a lullaby written with our cherubs in mind.  A good friend of mine offered to compose and perform an original lullaby for CHERUBS.

The lullaby is amazing and is called "A Fighter's Lullaby".  This is the official announcement of the first ever "A Fighter's Lullaby" CHERUBS fundraiser.

You can purchase the song for only $1.89.  However, you have the opportunity to "pay" more if you would like just by increasing the purchase price at time of checkout.

After PayPal processing fees, all money raised will be donated to either the Family Support Fund at CHERUBS or CDH Research or both depending on how much we raise.

Here's is a sample of this amazing lullaby by Ross Crean (a local Chicago musician).

 <== click here to purchase/donate
Shopping Cart by E-junkie

Here's a short note from the composer/artist :

I first became aware of CDH when my friends Neil and Amy Rubenstein's son, Aidan, was diagnosed with the birth defect. Like a great many people, I had no knowledge that something like CDH existed until it happened to someone I knew. Raising awareness is so crucial to helping research, detect, and even one day prevent this condition.

I wrote "A Fighter's Lullaby" with two intentions. ONE, to compose a lullaby to raise money for the CHERUBS organization, and TWO, to send a message of love and support for those heroes who deal every day with the effects of CDH. It is my hope that this song will serve as a message of solace and encouragement, not only to the children who are diagnosed, but also to the parents who soldier bravely through the losses and hardships that it brings. To those who have lost children to CDH, and to those who continue to fight it: may this song be your light in the present darkness, and remind you that even the most difficult struggle always reaches an end. Stay strong!

Copyright 2013 Ross Crean/Knight & Thorne Music/ASCAP. All Rights Reserved.

Interested in "purchasing" this song? Just use the Add to Cart button below.  And remember you are more than welcome to donate more than $1.89 for the lullaby.


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Once you purchase the song, you will have the opportunity to download it right away.  You should also receive a link via email with instruction for downloading.

CHERUBS Raffle for Research

Last December we held a Facebook contest and you voted for your favorite Research Center to get a $10,000 CDH Research Grant. We were able to give away 2 grants for $10,000 each thanks to all your help selling 50/50 CDH Raffle tickets and thanks to 1 determined family who raised $10,000 in memory of their daughter! $10,000 went to The Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment at CHOP and $10,000 went to DHREAMS Research Study (Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia).

THIS YEAR:

Our goal is to sell 1000 more 50/50 CDH Raffle tickets to raise another $10,000 and to work together to raise an additional $15,000 through fundraisers and firstgiving pages. 

Think we can do it? Want to give $25,000 in CDH Research Grants this December? We sure do!!!

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

1. Purchase tickets at http://2014cdhresearchraffleeventbrite.com/

2. Sell paper tickets by e-mailing us your name and address to research@cdhsupport.org

3. Hold a fundraiser by talking to our Fundraising Coordinator Melissa Larrison at mlarrison@cherubs-cdh.org

4. Create a Firstgiving Page in honor/memory of your cherub at https://www.firstgiving.com/10125/cherubs-2013-cdh-research-fund-drive

It's not hard to help! We had several families sell over 50 tickets each and we have had 2 families raise over $10,000 on Firstgiving and one who raised $25,000! If all of us work together on this we can far exceed our goal and raise a lot of money for CDH Research!

For more information:
CHERUBS - Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH): CDH Research

Groupon Grassroots Update & Other Breaking News!

We did amazing with the Groupon Grassroots fundraiser!  Because of your support, we raised over $3,300 towards the HOPE Totebag program.  100% of the money raised goes directly to CHERUBS for this important program.  Thank you for making this fundraiser (the first of it's kind for CHERUBS) such a success.

Did you know that CHERUBS is offering a scholarship towards college for graduating seniors?  There's still time to apply.  The deadline is June 24th, so get your application in soon!

Did you watch the WGN news on Monday, June 17th?  The CHERUBS IL/WI Representative and his family were featured in a cover story which talked about CDH, CHERUBS, and their 2nd child (due in September) also diagnosed with CDH.

We're in the home stretch of the Groupon Grassroots Totebag Fundraiser

Just in case you haven't heard, CHERUBS has partnered with Groupon Grassroots to launch a fundraiser to help support the HOPE Totebag program.  These totebags are sent to CHERUBS members who are expecting a child with CDH or with one currently in the NICU.  It includes lots of items and information to help with an extended hospital stay (which unfortunately is very common among children who have CDH).

This fundraiser launched last Thursday (5/30) and runs until Sunday, June 9.  The awesome thing about this fundraiser is that Groupon actually absorbs all fees and transactions costs, so 100% of the money raised goes directly to CHERUBS.   100%!!

Donations can be made in increments of $10 with every 5 donations covering the cost of one bag.  There aren't many easier ways to donate to such a worthwhile cause where 100% of the money raised goes to the chosen charity.

Why am I so passionate about this fundraiser?  Here's a blog post I wrote for my friends at RockScar Love called "Death, you messed with the wrong dad AGAIN"

Please consider making a donation.  Thank you very much.

Here is the link to donate:  http://www.groupon.com/deals/cherubs

President Dawn Torrence Williamson, Represents CHERUBS at International CDH Workshop in Rotterdam

This week CHERUBS President and Founder, Dawn Torrence Williamson, will be speaking to CDH surgeons and researchers at the International CDH Workshop at Sophia Children's Hospital in Rotterdam, Holland.   An event to showcase the latest in Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Research and results from the CDH Study Group, this is a wonderful opportunity for the world's largest CDH charity to share our information and services and to learn how we can better work with researchers worldwide


CHERUBS - Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH): President Dawn Torrence Williamson, Represents CHERUBS at International CDH Workshop in Rotterdam