SPOTLIGHT Charity of the Day....B+

SPOTLIGHT Charity of the Day

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 visitwww.BePositive.org or follow on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheAndrewMcDonoughBePositiveFoundation

ABOUT @abolishcancer

@abolishcancer was started in November 2009 by Darah Bonham who combined his interest in social media and charitable work to create a site that supported cancer charities. Darah created the “twitterthon” which not only raised funds for cancer charities but also created awareness through the extensive tweeting that occurs through one of his sponsored events. Twitterthons combine celebrity support, a generous sponsor, and thousands of tweeters and followers that support cancer charities in their work. Since @abolishcancer started in November of 2009, over $41,000 has been raised for various cancer charities, all BY TWEETING.

@abolishcancer has been fortunate to partner with some great celebrity support for our twitterthons with individuals such as Shannon Tweed, Dina Manzo, Michael Smith, Erin Andrews, Kendra Andrews, Jeri Ryan and Alyssa Milano. It proves that so many are passionate about the need to abolish cancer no matter their age, race, income or gender. We feel at @abolishcancer that social media is providing a platform for a global community to unite in the fight to end cancer.

If you are interested in partnering with us as a celebrity, sponsor, cancer charity, or program supporter, send us an email at bonham.darah@gmail.com

"Power of the People, Through Twitter, to @abolishcancer"!