Our celebrity partner
Celebrity Jeri Ryan was more than willing to be a partner in our fight today, especially after she learned more about the cancer charity we were supporting. As Jeri put it….
“I don't know anyone whose life hasn't been impacted in some way by cancer. It's horrifyingly pervasive. My mother - thankfully - is a two-time cancer survivor, but we lost my grandfather to leukemia at a very young age. One of my oldest and dearest friends battled cancer almost her entire life, suffering through several rounds of Hodgkins (and their brutal chemotherapy treatments) throughout her childhood, and then breast and lung cancer as an adult. She lost her battle 2 days before Christmas at age 40. No one should have to suffer like that - especially a child. I'm very blessed to have two healthy children. I can't imagine the horror and fear and pain the parents of a child with cancer feels. NO parent should have to watch their child suffer. NO parent should have to bury their child. This has to end. We need to Abolish Cancer now.”
Jeri is passionate and committed towards fighting and ending this disease. We are so grateful of her involvement and tweeting today to raise more awareness for such a great cause.
Our Cancer Charity
Several months back we began following @BePositiveFdn on Twitter and were immediately drawn to their story. Sadly, we see and read too many stories of kids who are fighting cancer. The B+ story was especially heart wrenching as it explained how a seemingly healthy 14 year old boy named Andrew went from playing a sport he loved to fighting for his life. Tragically, Andrew passed away in July of 2007 but his legacy lives on in the foundation created by his father and the great work they do to support families and cancer patients.
Here is the story of Andrew as explained by his younger sister, Ali….
“January 27, 2007, our 14 year old brother & son, Andrew, played 4 soccer games helping his team win the indoor Pennsylvania state cup. 48 hours later, he was in cardiac arrest with a diagnosis of Leukemia (AML). His body went into Septic Shock. The doctors told
us Andrew wouldn't live through the night. Fortunately, he proved them wrong. Andrew underwent nearly 50 surgical procedures, experienced 4 strokes, and a brain aneurysm that forced him to be airlifted to Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia for emergency brain surgery. Andrew was never well enough to leave the hospital after his diagnosis. We were told he was the sickest child this hospital (A.I DuPont Hospital for Children which gets patients from around the world) has ever treated. The doctors told us on 4 occasions that Andrew wouldn't make it. Sadly, on the 4th time, they were right. July 14, 2007, after 167 days in the hospital, Andrew passed away in his 16-year-old sister's arms.After his diagnosis, we found out that Andrew's blood type was B+, which we quickly turned into our motto -- to "Be Positive." After he passed away, it became the name of our Foundation in his memory, The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation.
Our Foundation works to provide financial assistance to families of critically-ill children, spread awareness of childhood cancers, and provide funding for pediatric cancer research. In just over 3 years, we have helped over 500 families in 36 states with over $350,000 of assistance. We have also funded our first research grant for $250,000. The grant has been earmarked to fund a High-Throughput Screening device, which will accelerate the drug-discovery process to develop new chemotherapy treatments and ultimately a cure for pediatric cancer.”
It’s often so hard to read the stories of kids like Andrew but it is also so inspirational at the same moment. Andrew has helped inspire a movement to fight and end this dreadful disease, once and for all.
To learn more about B+ please visit www.BePositive.org or follow on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheAndrewMcDonoughBePositiveFoundation
We are so appreciative of the McDonough Family to let us play a small role today in raising awareness for their son and the cause. We are also thankful of our celebrity “tweeter” @JeriLRyan for all her support.
About @Abolishcancer
Darah Bonham, who combined his interests of social media and charitable causes into a Twitter account, started @Abolishcancer in November 2009. Darah created the idea of getting sponsors to support various cancer charities by donating $1 for each new follower they received on a particular day, all going to the cancer charity.
While the concept of Twitterthons was slow to initially catch on, a unique encounter with a college junior at Penn State University named @PatHowley and the wonderful folks at @THON put @abolishcancer on the map when celebrities began to retweet about the sponsorship.
Small sponsorships for the Twitterthons began to turn into $2,500 donations and @abolishcancer began to arrive. One year later, @abolishcancer has hosted multiple Twitterthons with some great sponsors who have donated anywhere from $2,500 to $10,000 for a particular day of tweeting.
All total, YOU, the follower, have helped @abolishcancer raise $33,000 for various cancer charities, by TWEETING. We are also fortunate to have captured the attention of numerous influential tweeters and celebrities and have partnered on Twitterthons with the likes of @ShannonleeTweed, @DinaManzo, @ErinAndrews, @KendraAndrews1, @MrMichaelSmith and now @JeriLRyan.
We feel the combination of sponsors, celebrities and some great cancer charities creates the perfect environment for raising awareness & $ to abolish cancer. If you are interested in potential partnership as a sponsor, celebrity or cancer charity, email or send us a tweet.
Today we start with 33,930 followers. Our Twitterthon will last until we reach 3,000 new followers today, which all =1$ to B+….so let’s start tweeting!
Power of the People, Through Twitter, to @abolishcancer!
