abolishcancer

Our Blog is Back

2012-01-11T10:10:00.002-05:00

For almost 2 years we ran our entire web presence through this blog. Since moving over to our new web site we left this blog idle as we began to grow and tackle new things.

After getting many requests from people to find out more about the history of our organization, we felt the best way to describe the history of @AbolishCancer was to show it as it occurred. You can see the history of our site and our thoughts as we grew as an organization dating all the way back to October 2009.

We plan on keeping our blog active as we create more frequent updates on our movement.

Today We Host Another Micro Twitterthon

2011-02-22T06:52:00.003-05:00

For every new follower of @abolishcancer today, @Broelovindivas will donate $1 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to help fight cancer. (up to $500). @abolishcancer starts the day with 50,270 followers.

@abolishcancer started Twitterthons in November of 2009 with the hopes of raising $ and awareness in the fight against cancer. Little did we realize that 16 months later, we would have raised $49,000 for various cancer charities by simply tweeting and following on Twitter. While most of our Twitterthon sponsorships exceed $2,000 we decided to dedicate the month of February to smaller “micro” Twitterthons to allow more people to be involved. Today concludes our micro Twitterthons with the support from @Broelovindivas.

About today's sponsor

Here is how today’s sponsor best describes their site…..

“The Broelovindivas site is in support of the Brady and Chloe pairing from Days of Our Lives. One of their big storylines was the leukemia storyline, where Chloe had cancer. There are many of us that support this pairing and the cause of finding a cure for leukemia. So many of us Broe fans have seen, unfortunately, firsthand what this can do. In a way, we look for the hero (Brady) in our own lives. We want to help this cause because of our devotion to their story, the fans that support them and lost the battle with cancer and leukemia, for Nadia Bjorlin's (Chloe's portrayer) own personal cause, and those still fighting this horrible disease. We hope what we raise during this twitterthon will help find a cure.”

We appreciate @Broelovindivas sponsorship today and the opportunity to raise more awareness and support to end this disease. Contact us at abolishcancer if you would like to partner. Abolishcancer.info@gmail.com

“Power of the People, To UNITE, To @abolishcancer”

Many Thanks!

2011-02-19T09:54:00.002-05:00

We are so grateful for our sponsor yesterday @FireHouseAgency in their support of @ChildrensTheOne Hospital in our Twitterthon to benefit @1Million4Anna.

You, our Twitter followers, helped us raise 500 new followers which = $500 to help fight cancer. Since we started our Twitter movement 15 months ago you have helped us raise $49,000 for various cancer charities ALL BY TWEETING & FOLLOWING!

This is not just a web site..... it's a MOVEMENT. A movement to end cancer.

"Power of the People, To UNITE, to @abolishcancer"

Today’s Twitterthon Supports 1 Million Prayers For Anna

2011-02-17T20:21:00.006-05:00

As part of our “micro” Twitterthons, @abolishcancer is excited to host another Twitterthon to help raise $ and awareness to fight cancer. Today’s sponsor is @FireHouseAgency who will be supporting @ChildrensTheOne Hospital in honor of Anna Basso. (@1MillionAnna)

For every new follower today of @abolishcancer, $1 is donated to the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas in honor of Anna and all children battling cancer. (Up to $500.) Today we start with 49,775 followers.

Today’s Charity

Below is a brief history of Anna and her movement as described by one of their supporters….

“When 17-year-old Anna Basso was diagnosed with Stage 4 Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, inaction was never an option. As doctors at Children’s Medical Center did everything they could to help Anna, Mark Hall, her neighbor and founder of Firehouse Agency, began to think of other ways to help her. The idea came to him almost instantly; if one prayer can help, what can 1 million accomplish? Almost overnight, Firehouse focused all of the agencies resources to make this dream a reality. With a goal of 1 million prayers, the website, http://1millionprayers.com, was started to encourage Anna as she battles Ewing Sarcoma. Participants are asked to sign up or “promise” to pray everyday at 12:12 PM.

Why 12:12? It’s two fold really. First, 12:12 is a direct reference to Romans 12:12, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” It’s a call to love in all circumstances, especially in trials. So we pray at 12:12 as a reminder of our joyful hope in the Lord and His healing power, our patience knowing that God is sovereign and in control even in times of trial, and that collectively we will be unwavering in our commitment to lift up Anna and her cancer to the Lord.

So what’s the second reason? We pray at the same time to show our solidarity. Matthew 18:20 says, “Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” We ask for people to pray at the same time as a symbol that we have “come together” in His name.

Anna continues her battle, and we continue to pray, with over 650,000 prayers and counting. As we approach the 1-year anniversary of launching this initiative on April 22, 2011, we hope to reach our goal of 1 million prayers for Anna. This Twitterthon aims to continue to raise that prayer count and honor those helping to abolish cancer at the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas.”

About Our Sponsor

Firehouse Agency is a collection of creative problem solvers who believe that every challenge, big or small, deserves a big idea. This has resulted in an impressive track record of getting (and keeping) brands on the path to success. From radical strategic overhaul to nuanced communication and tactics, we're experts in uncovering meaningful consumer insights and translating them into ideas that make a difference.

Background

@abolishcancer was formed 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 their 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 $48,000 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.

Resources

CaringBridge: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/annabasso

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=371688425882

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/1million4anna

Children’s Medical Center: http://www.childrens.com/

Sponsor: http://www.firehouseagency.com

Sponsor’s Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/firehouseagency

We are thankful to @FirehouseAgency for their support for Anna and all those “in the fight” to abolish this disease.

“Power of the People, To Unite, To @abolishcancer”

Major Awareness Campaign Soon To Be Launched

2011-02-13T10:34:00.003-05:00

Over the next couple of weeks a huge, global awareness campaign will be launched. This campaign will unite cancer charities and people from all over the world in a show of support to help abolish this disease.

While we can't quite "unveil" the campaign just yet, we are working with a number of high profile and local comedians to team up with our movement. You can help us by connecting with more comedians to get on board. We are looking for both "headliners" and up-and coming comedians to get involved.

If interested, have them contact us at bonham.darah@gmail.com for more details. Stay tuned...

"Power of the People, To Unite, To @abolishcancer"

Comedians Needed For Upcoming Awareness Campaign

2011-02-07T16:58:00.005-05:00

We have a major global awareness campaign set for the upcoming months and are looking for comedians to get involved. While we can't divulge the exact campaign specifics yet, we can tell you that it will be a HUGE awareness campaign that will benefit ALL cancer charities.

We have started to reach out to many of the men and women across the globe that make us laugh with the hopes of them coming on board our movement. Our first comedian, Sarah Colonna, just committed and we are looking for more.

Please contact us at bonham.darah@gmail.com for us to share our ideas. Trust us, it's going to be GREAT!

"Power of the People, To UNITE In The Fight, To @abolishcancer"

An AMAZING Day of Tweeting to Abolish Childhood Cancer

2011-02-05T08:24:00.012-05:00

Just over 24 hours ago we kicked off our Twitterthon with @THON hoping to raise a great deal of awareness and $ for this great student-led philanthropic organization based out of Penn State University. What we received in return far exceeded our expectations.

If you are familiar with our Twitterthons, you realize that we get sponsors to donate $1 for every new follower we receive that all goes (100%) to a particular cancer charity or organization on a given day. We worked previously with @THON last January (see previous post) and knew that Friday's Twitterthon would have an incredible amount of support. And it did......

4,000 followers in less than 8 hours= $4,000 donated to @THON
over 6,500 new followers of @abolishcancer
over 1,000 web site hits of AC linking THON story
record setting 8 hours to complete Twitterthon
600 new followers in first 4 hours, over 3,000 in the next four~from 11a.m. to 2:30p.m.
thousands of tweets and retweets throughout the day
numerous celebrity tweets of support

While the statistics of yesterday's Twitterthon were impressive, nothing can describe the passion and energy for which everyone tweeted and retweeted our partnership with @THON. As early as 6a.m. we began to tweet about seeking followers and immediately our community of supporters began to assist. We knew that @THON would bring an army of Penn State University students and alum on board in a tweeting frenzy and they did not disappoint. The Penn State community was buzzing.

Not only did the @THON contingent embrace the campaign but a unique synergy occurred as @abolishcancer followers connected with PSU students in support of a common cause. In the end, the money is always important, but what was more important, as exemplified in yesterday's Twitterthon, was the collaborative effort by cancer fighters across the globe to raise awareness in the fight vs childhood cancer.

All along, this has been our motto, "Power of the People, to UNITE, in the Fight to AbolishCancer!" We believe that the great things that cancer fighting groups like @THON are achieving shouldn't be in isolation from all of the other groups, organizations, and people who are fighting cancer in their own separate ways. Social media has provided a means for all of us to join forces and connect~ a true "global community".

We are also grateful for our celebrity followers and tweeters who helped our awareness campaign yesterday. The following is a brief list of those who helped spread the word~ as indicated by their Twitter handles...

We are certain we missed some influential tweeters (our apologies) but yesterday's tweets were coming at a furious pace and often hard to keep up with. Our many thanks to all those influential supporters of our movement and their support for @THON.

We would also like to thank all of the @THON Captains and organizers for helping to secure yesterday's sponsor, Real Christian Business Associates, especially @PatHowley and @JonyLaura for their support.

What's Next?

Our Twitterthons will continue and we are always looking to partner with cancer charities and donors willing to get involved. We also have an exciting announcement coming up soon for an April campaign that includes a new celebrity spokesperson for our movement. We are growing as an organization and looking for financial partners as we expand the abolishcancer movement. If interested, shoot us an email at bonham.darah@gmail.com.

"Power of the People, To Unite In The Fight, To @abolishcancer"

Today's TwitterTHON Supports the Great Work of @THON....#FTK

2011-02-03T20:40:00.010-05:00

(We wanted to thank ALL of our supporters today for their endless tweeting and support of our Twitterthon and the great work of @THON. Our Twitterthon ended around 2:30 eastern time with 4,000 followers = $4,000 given to @THON to fight pediatric cancer. Today is evidence that social media can bring a global community together to unite and eventually abolish cancer. )

It is only fitting that on World Cancer Day, we support a cause that is near and dear to our heart…..@THON. It was just over a year ago that @abolishcancer was just starting as an organization. Last January a Penn State University junior decided to sponsor one of our Twitterthons. Eighteen hours and 1,734 followers later….a "movement" was born.

@PatHowley’s sponsorship captured the attention of celebrities and a huge extended @THON family. We realized after this event the power of people to connect for a common cause, in this case, to eradicate childhood cancer.

Thirteen months later it’s only fitting that we once again sponsor a Twitterthon to raise awareness and $ to support our great friends at @THON. With the help of the dedicated team of PSU @THON Captains we have once again secured a sponsor for today’s Twitterthon through the help of Real Christian Business Associates.

Today, for every new follower of @abolishcancer, $1 will be donated to @THON to help fight pediatric cancer (up to $3,500)

About @THON

The Penn State Dance Marathon, affectionately known as THON, is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. THON is a yearlong fundraising effort, culminating in a 46-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon. The mission of the Penn State Dance Marathon is to conquer pediatric cancer by providing outstanding emotional and financial support to the children, families, researchers and staff of The Four Diamonds Fund.

The partnership between THON and The Four Diamonds Fund began in 1977. Throughout the past 33 years, THON has donated more than $69 million to The Fund. Thanks to the support and dedication of THON, no child diagnosed with cancer at the Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital has ever been turned away by The Four Diamonds Fund. The Fund offsets the cost of treatment that a family’s health insurance does not cover as a well as non-medical costs, including food, specialists, a music therapist, a nutritionist, nurses, a psychologist and researchers, in addition to other hospital staff including child life specialists and social workers.

Charles and Irma Millard founded The Four Diamonds Fund in 1972 after they lost their 14-year-old son, Christopher to cancer. The Fund’s name comes from a story Christopher wrote, The Four Diamonds. Christopher believed that the four “diamonds’-courage, wisdom, honesty and strength-were necessary traits to overcome cancer. Today, the mission of The Four Diamonds Fund is to conquer pediatric cancer by assisting children treated at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital and their families through superior care, comprehensive support and innovative research.

Since The Fund was established, survival rates for some cancers have increased to 90 percent due to continuous support of pediatric cancer research. Each year, THON is the largest donor to The Four Diamonds Fund, raising more than $7.83 million in 2010. This year, THON will take place from February 18^th-20^th at the Bryce Jordan Center.

You can help support the wonderful work of THON by donating at www.THON.org.

Today's TwitterTHON

We start the day with 43,630 followers with the hopes of gaining 3,500 new members of our movement which will equal $3,500 to support @THON. We, at @abolishcancer, believe in the "Power of the People" to unite for the common cause of ending cancer. We believe there is strength in numbers and combining forces with the THON community gets us that much closer to one day finding a cure......#ForTheKids!

Thank You

2011-02-03T07:35:00.002-05:00

Many thanks to all for the last two days of our "micro" Twitterthons which helped raise an additional $1,000 in the fight to abolish cancer. All total we have now raised $44,500 for cancer charities by Tweeting & Following over the past year.

Our special thanks to everyone for their tweeting and following. A big Shout Out goes to @AMarkowitz33 and @HeatherVSJ (on Twitter) for their $500 sponsorships.

Exciting things are happening..... Cancer, we're coming after you!

"Power of the People, To Unite, To @abolishcancer"

Another Twitterthon For A Great Cause

2011-02-02T05:54:00.003-05:00

Yesterday started our "Sponsor A Day in February" campaign where we push to support a different cancer fighting charity or organization during the month.

Wednesday, February 2nd, our "Micro" Twitterthons continue...... Today for the next 500 followers of @abolishcancer, @HeatherVSJ agrees to donate $1 to the Brigham and Women's Hospital International Mesothelioma Program to help fight cancer. @abolishcancer starts the day with 42,750 followers.

Heather Von St James @HeatherVSJ is our sponsor today and is supporting the International Mesothelioma Program for good reason. Heather is a cancer SURVIVOR. On February 2nd, 2006, 5 years ago today, Heather had her lung removed at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Her story touches your heart as she explains going through the procedures to fight the cancer and the impact on her family. (watch her testimonial here). We are so amazed at the courage of cancer fighters such as Heather who are willing to tell their story to others, many of whom are facing similar battles.

Heather appropriately tags today's Twitterthon as #LungLeavingDay. The International Mesothelioma Program provides a great deal of support and quality medical care and Heather wants to ensure that more people are knowledgeable of the work that they do. At the Brigham and Women's Hospital/ Harvard Medical School, approximately 2,000 new patients are diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer each year. With over 300 consultations each year and more than 180 patients, the International Mesothelioma Program is the largest program of its kind in the world. Follow their great work at www.IMPMESO.org

We are so inspired by Heather's story and hope that you will help spread the word through our Twitterthon today. Our many thanks to Heather for her support.

History of the Twitterthon

We created the Twitterthon to allow people to raise $ and awareness for their favorite cancer charity by tweeting and following. Over the last 15 months we have raised over $44,000 through Twitterthons with 100% going towards the cancer charity. Most of the sponsorships of our Twitterthons have a minimum of a $2,500 donation.

While our goal is to have a "sponsor each day" for our Twitterthons, we realize that a $2,500 donation is a hefty price tag for most people. So for the month of February only, we are providing opportunities for "micro" Twitterthons where the minimum donation is $500. Our goal is a $500 sponsor a day (20 workdays in the month) to accumulate $10,000 once February is over, with ALL proceeds going to cancer charities by TWEETING & FOLLOWING. How easy is that?

We have the following commitments (charities being sponsored) to this point

Feb 1 Susan G. Komen by sponsor @AMarkowitz33~ $500 raised!

Feb 2 International Mesothelioma Program @HeatherVSJ

Feb 4 ***Surprise Announcement

Feb 8 Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Feb 18 Dallas Children's Medical Center

Five down, 15 to go. Help us achieve our goal for a "Sponsor A Day in the Month of February". If you are interested in sponsoring, email us at bonham.darah@gmail.com. Help spread our movement......

"Power of the People, To Unite, To @abolishcancer"

Today the Micro Twitterthons Begin

2011-02-01T05:56:00.003-05:00

Today, February 1st starts our first day of "Micro" Twitterthons. Today for the next 500 followers of @abolishcancer, @AMarkowitz33 agrees to donate $1 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation to help fight breast cancer. @abolishcancer starts the day with 42,200 followers.

Aaron Markowitz and his wife made the decision to sponsor a Twitterthon because their family has been closely affected by cancer. Both his wife's mother, Janice Sitter and her aunt, Cynthia Ciotti were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004-05. While their treatments were successful, and they have been cancer free for over 5 years, they realize the fight is never over and it could come back at any time.

Aaron and his wife are dedicating their sponsorship to the Susan G. Komen Foundation in the names of those in the family who have been impacted by breast cancer. We thank Aaron and his wife for sponsoring today's Twitterthon to help raise more awareness in the fight to end cancer.

History of the Twitterthon

We created the Twitterthon to allow people to raise $ and awareness for their favorite cancer charity by tweeting and following. Over the last 15 months we have raised over $43,500 through Twitterthons with 100% going towards the cancer charity. Most of the sponsorships of our Twitterthons have a minimum of a $2,500 donation.

We have the following commitments (charities being sponsored) to this point

Feb 1 Susan G. Komen by sponsor @AMarkowitz33

Feb 2 International Mesothelioma Program

Feb 4 ***Surprise Announcement

Feb 8 Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Feb 18 Dallas Children's Medical Center

Five down, 15 to go. Help us achieve our goal for a "Sponsor A Day in the Month of February". February 3 is the next available. If you are interested in sponsoring, email us at bonham.darah@gmail.com. Help spread our movement......

"Power of the People, To Unite, To @abolishcancer"

A Sponsor A Day in the Month of February

2011-01-29T09:45:00.004-05:00

We created the Twitterthon to allow people to raise $ and awareness for their favorite cancer charity by tweeting and following. Over the last 15 months we have raised over $43,000 through Twitterthons with 100% going towards the cancer charity. Most of the sponsorships of our Twitterthons have a minimum of a $2,500 donation.

We have the following commitments (charities being sponsored) to this point

Feb 1 Komen For The Cure

Feb 2 International Mesothelioma Program

Feb 4 ***Surprise Announcement

Feb 8 Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Feb 18 Dallas Children's Medical Center

"Power of the People, To Unite, To @abolishcancer"

What Will It Take To Abolish Cancer?

2011-01-26T12:31:00.004-05:00

The old saying is that you can’t see the forest for the trees. That analogy can be used when describing the battle to end cancer. Every day a new story emerges from our Twitter feed of someone who has just been diagnosed with cancer. These personal stories continue to reinforce the immediacy of finding better detection practices, treatment options, and a cure. We continue to be amazed at the number of cancer charities, organizations, fundraisers, and simple grassroots neighborhood movements that are occurring across the globe to battle this dreadful disease.

This brings us to the “forest and trees” analogy. Without a doubt, there are more and more people, organizations, charities, and the like, fighting to raise money and awareness to tackle cancer. The question, however, that we have to ask ourselves is,

“Are we working in isolation, or are we benefiting from a collaborative effort to abolish cancer?”

Unfortunately, it seems that many of the great things we are doing in the fight are in the “trees” and in isolation from one another. We need to take a step back to see what we can do collaboratively to make a larger impact (in the forest). We are not naive to the understanding that some of the fundraising goals by cancer groups overlap the “consumer base” of each other’s efforts. Organizations need to raise money for both their mission and their organization. The last several years have seen declining dollars in donations for many charities and many groups have become more aggressive to get their piece of the pie.

Our @abolishcancer movement is not designed to step on toes or cut into fundraising or funding streams. Our purpose is to unite all in the fight. Fighting cancer boils down to funding and awareness. Uniting a global community to raise awareness will have major implications in the war on cancer and will actually lead to more funding in the long run.

The following question needs to be asked…. “Are organizations comfortable in being a part of the TEAM that abolishes cancer, or is it more important to get the credit for ending cancer?” We don’t need an answer, we simply ask all those enlisted in the fight to take a moment to reflect on the ultimate goal. Our movement is gaining momentum but can only fully be realized if we have all on board.

Let’s be clear….one day we WILL abolish cancer and you are ALL doing amazing things to work towards this goal. It won’t be easy, it won’t be cheap, and it won’t be overnight. As Aristotle once said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” We hope to see you on the team.

“Power of the People, To Unite, To @abolishcancer”

Spotlight Your Cancer Charity

2011-01-24T07:42:00.002-05:00

As part of our mission to unite all cancer charities and organizations in the fight to abolish cancer, we frequently SPOTLIGHT a cancer charity or organization on our site. We aim to provide as much publicity and awareness for all those "in the fight" as possible.

If you know of a cancer group that is doing some amazing things to abolish cancer send us the following information to bonham.darah@gmail.com

Name of the charity or organization
Brief summary of who they are and what they do
Email, web and Twitter addresses and links
Any additional information that captures their work.

While we can't guarantee SPOTLIGHTS for every entry, we will do our best to try and feature, over time, all those who are submitted. Our abolishcancer movement continues to gain momentum thanks to our 40,000 plus followers and supporters. Let's continue to grow this revolution.

"Power of the People, To Unite, to @abolishcancer"

Take the Vow....A United Front To Abolish Cancer

2011-01-23T09:41:00.004-05:00

Someone asked us recently...."What specific cancer charity to you support?" Our response....."ALL OF THEM!"

While the answer seemed to puzzle the questioner, the methodology is fairly simple.....We will accomplish more as a united front, then we will in isolation. This is the basic premise of our site, our movement=> we support ALL cancer charities, organizations, mom & pop fund raisers, cancer survivors, cancer fighters, and those fighting for a cure.

This is what makes our movement critical to finding an end to cancer. Uniting all cancer fighting groups for the purpose of a cure is long overdue. We aren't suggesting that this hasn't been done or isn't currently existing within other organizations. We realize, however, that far too many great organizations need support and could become even more powerful working together.

Our movement started with Twitterthons, and continues to raise $ and awareness for cancer charities in this fashion. (Over $43,000 raised so far by Tweeting and Following). We also see a community coming together, on Twitter no less, to share stories and assist each other in the fight.

We have some exciting plans "in the works" for the future to help raise even more awareness but in the meantime we count on you, our followers, to spread the word, to spread the movement. There is power in numbers and the more we enlist the more we can grow our united front. While we refrain from referring to this as a war, the reality is that we need a large army to be on the same page to continue to make change happen.

Not lost on the power of large numbers is the power of the individual. We think each of our followers, whether it be a charity, celebrity, or small town teenager, have the ability to make change. The @abolishcancer movement is an example of one person's passion to make positive change in the battle to end cancer.

We vow that every day we will tweet, connect, raise a $, or somehow do something positive to unite more in our movement to end cancer. We ask that you take the same vow, enlist a friend or neighbor, and watch a movement grow into a cancer fighting machine.

Contact us at bonham.darah@gmail.com to partner.

"Power of the People, Through Twitter, To @abolishcancer"

Raising Childhood Cancer Awareness....On A Global Stage

2011-01-20T20:26:00.011-05:00

In September of 2010, Christine Barbour @PiedPiperinKC, from Kansas City, came up with the idea of a campaign to raise more awareness to battle childhood cancer. Childhood cancer was not a remote disease Christine was unfamiliar with, rather it was a disease that hit close to home. Christine's good friend Deliece Hofen @Bradenshope has a young 6 year old boy, Braden, who has relapsing, Stage 4 neuroblastoma for which there is no known cure.

Christine was all too familiar with the struggles of her friend's family dealing with cancer as she watched Deliece and her husband make doctor and hospital trips time after time. What made this struggle even greater was that Deliece was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer last winter. Read Braden & her mom's story here

The difference in diagnosis and treatment between Deliece and her son Braden was striking. Deliece was witness to the progressive treatment of breast cancer but dismayed at the differences in the diagnosis and treatment of her son.

Christine's idea was born

How do you raise more awareness for childhood cancer to reach the same level that breast cancer has in this country? Ask the person who has the largest stage to support the cause.... @Oprah. A campaign began and led to over 50,000 people on FaceBook (see link here) "liking" the plea to get Oprah to do a show on childhood cancer.

As many of you know, this is the last year that Oprah will be doing her show and we are certain that the planning for the remaining shows will soon be wrapping up. The hope is that Oprah producers, and Oprah, will notice the push to raise awareness and answer the call. Heck, if Betty White can get on SNL through a campaign on FaceBook why can't the voice of children be heard on a similar global stage?

The video below was created by Christine (@PiedPiperinKC) and a creative young lady named, Lauren, who is a high school student that's PASSIONATE about bringing awareness to childhood cancer. The idea behind it is a last push for awareness . . . for Braden.....for all children.....for a CURE!

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

Tweeting To Abolish Cancer

2011-01-19T11:08:00.003-05:00

Since we began 14 months ago, you've helped us raise over $43,000 for various cancer charities by Tweeting and following. These monies are raised by our Twitterthons. A Twitterthon is when a sponsor (donor) agrees to pay $1 for every new follower that @abolishcancer receives in a given day to a cancer charity of their choice. Most Twitterthons average between $2,000-$3,000. This money is guaranteed up front by the sponsor who then pays the charity directly within 72 hours after the conclusion of the event.

We are also offering a special "micro" Twitterthon for the month of February, allowing a sponsor to host a Twitterthon in the amount of $500 for a charity of their choice. Our goal is to get a sponsor each workday (20 in the month) to equal $10,000 donated to charity by following us on Twitter.

The beauty of the Twitterthon is that the charity receives 100% of the proceeds (@abolishcancer only gets followers) and the charity AND sponsor get tweeted about hundreds and thousands of times throughout the course of the day. We also have over 125 influential followers and celebrities that follow and support our work.

We believe that you are helping form a community of fighters that are supporting a MOVEMENT to abolish cancer. We are always looking for ways to partner. If interested, contact us at bonham.darah@gmail.com.

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

SPOTLIGHT Cancer Charity of the Day- The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

2011-01-18T08:29:00.011-05:00

Today we highlight the work of the Pancreatic Cancer action Network, often referred to as PanCAN. In the United States alone, over 43,000 cases of pancreatic cancer are diagnosed each year. PanCAN provides an array of support to help with this difficult disease. PanCAN has funded over 7.1 million dollars in research grants to assist in the fight.

As their mission, described below, states on their web site http://www.pancan.org/ PanCAN provides comprehensive support for those facing pancreatic cancer.

“The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is a nationwide network of people dedicated to working together to advance research, support patients and create hope for those affected by pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is the national organization creating hope in a comprehensive way through research, patient support, community outreach and advocacy for a cure. The organization raises money for direct private funding of research—and advocates for more aggressive federal research funding of medical breakthroughs in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer.

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network fills the void of information and options by giving patients and caregivers reliable, personalized information they need to make informed decisions. The organization helps support individuals and communities all across the country work together to raise awareness and funds to find a cure for pancreatic cancer. We create a sense of hope and community so no one has to face pancreatic cancer alone. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is a nationwide network of people dedicated to working together to advance research, support patients and create hope for those affected by pancreatic cancer”

We encourage you to help support great non-profits like the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in the fight to abolish cancer. PanCAN can also be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/PanCAN

Need Help Fighting Cervical Cancer

2011-01-15T08:21:00.002-05:00

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of this recognition we are seeking a sponsor for a Twitterthon in January to raise awareness & $ to fight this disease. In the United States alone, 11,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and over 4,000 die.

A Twitterthon can help raise not only funds for a particular cancer charity devoted to fighting cervical cancer but also a tremendous amount of awareness through our tweets and retweets. We have an influential designer who will be our partner in the Twitterthon but we need a sponsor.

What does it take to be a sponsor?

A sponsor agrees to pay $1 for every new follower that @abolishcancer receives over a course of a day. All the monies go directly to the cancer charity (@abolishcancer receives no funds). The beauty of a Twitterthon is that not only does the cancer charity get a $1 for every new follower but the hundreds and thousands of tweets, many by celebrities, that spread the word and awareness on Twitter. This is better than any ad in a newspaper or billboard road sign.

We need a minimum $2,000 commitment from a sponsor for the Twitterthon to occur. The sponsor also gets the benefit of being tweeted about all day long as well. Since @abolishcancer began 14 months ago, we have helped raise over $43,000 for various cancer charities BY TWEETING & FOLLOWING.

If you are interested in partnering with @abolishcancer, shoot us an email at bonham.darah@gmail.com. We also have a special “micro” Twitterthon month coming up in February. For each workday in February we are asking for a $500 sponsor to support a cancer charity of their choice. So far we have 5 commitments with 15 left to go.

Please spread the word….

“Power of the People, Through Twitter, to @abolishcancer”

Our SPOTLIGHT Cancer Charity of the Day..... Sunrise Day Camp

2011-01-14T06:36:00.006-05:00

Sunrise is a nonprofit day camp dedicated to children with cancer and their siblings. The kids and their siblings go completely free of charge. It is located in Wheatley Heights, NY (a small town on Long Island). This summer will be their 6th summer since opening. It began with only 75 campers enrolled, and has grown enormously since. Last summer, they had over 400 kids enrolled.

Sunrise has many fundraisers and has had some celebrities attend their annual Walk to Help the Sun Rise event in June. Some of the celebrities include: Disney Channels Alyson Stoner; a contestant from America's Next Top Model; a professional wrestler; the NY Islanders mascot; various Broadway stars; and a top 10 contestant from So You Think You Can Dance.

Here is Alyson Stoner featured from a previous camp experience….

The camp is funded through generous donations, and fundraisers. On average, it costs approximately $6,000 per camper to attend camp for the full 8 weeks. Each year, they enroll more campers, and therefore need to find other sponsors to help fund the camp. Last summer, they also launched Sunrise Israel, which was a huge success.

For more information on Sunrise Day Camp in NY, you can visit www.sunrisedaycamp.org

For more information on Sunrise Day Camp in Israel, you can visit www.sunriseisrael.org.il

About @abolishcancer

@abolishcancer is not just a Twitter account but a grassroots movement to raise money and awareness to end cancer. We don't support one specific cancer charity or type of cancer..... our mission is to ABOLISH them all.

We created "Twitterthons" which allow a sponsor to donate $1 for every new follower we receive in a given day to a cancer charity of their choice. Since we began 14 months ago we have raised over $43,000- all by tweeting and following.

We have great plans for our global @abolishcancer movement. If you would like to get involved, email us at bonham.darah@gmail.com

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

Spotlight Cancer Charity of the Day..... Friends Like Us

2011-01-12T07:18:00.006-05:00

Several months ago we came across the amazing work of Friends Like Us (@friendslikeus on Twitter and www.friendslikeus.org). Friends Like Us is a nonprofit childhood cancer charity based out of Ohio. It was founded by Mark and Deloris Bailey who were going through treatments for their son's leukemia.

From their web site, they describe how teddy bears provide comfort and support for children fighting cancer.

"Friends Like Us is focused on helping children devastated by childhood cancer with their Chemo Bear program called "Getting Better Together". They provide a child diagnosed with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, a customized Chemo Bear with many interactable accessories and a children's cancer

book (free of charge). The bears help to visually teach kids about their cancer treatments ahead of them, as well as help them deal with fear and anxiety through their many years of chemotherapy and surgeries. The duration time for chemotherapy for children with

cancer is approximately 2 years for girls and 3 years for boys (a lot isn't it?). These children are the heart of Friends Like Us and it's their purpose to reach out and make a difference right now in each of them and their families.

No parent should ever have to hear the words "it's cancer". Friends Like Us strives to spread awareness of pediatric cancers in hopes of one day to find a cure. That's why Friends Like Us has made contributions to cancer organizations such as Alex's Lemonade and St. Baldricks to support Childhood Cancer Research."

We applaud the Bailey family for doing so much to help others and providing a "bear" of inspiration for so many kids across the country. We encourage you to follow their work on-line to see how you can help.

About @abolishcancer

We have great plans for our global @abolishcancer movement. IF you would like to get involved, email us at bonham.darah@gmail.com

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

Spotlight Cancer Charity of the Day….. Project LadyBug

2011-01-11T06:42:00.004-05:00

We were fortunate last September to support the efforts of @ProjectLadyBug in a Twitterthon. Our sponsor @delprado, ended up donating $10,000 towards the charity which stands today as our highest total for a Twitterthon to date. Today we highlight Project LadyBug as our Spotlight Cancer Charity of the Day.

Project LadyBug’s mission is to enrich the lives of children with life threatening conditions. Check out their web site at www.projectladybug.org. The Fund strives to help families face the financial and the emotional hardships during their child's treatment to help meet the needs of seriously ill and less fortunate patients.

Dina Manzo is the founder of Project LadyBug. You may recognize Dina as the former “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star. (You can find Dina at @dinamanzo on Twitter or on her web site at http://www.dinamanzo.com/index.html)

Today, however, Dina focuses her energy for her Project LadyBug Foundation. The Project LadyBug Fund strives to improve the quality of life for these children and families during treatment, and improve outcomes for these patients.

@ProjectLadyBug is an example of one of the numerous charities doing their part to support families and children who are fighting cancer and other illnesses. If you know of an organization to spotlight on our site, email us at bonham.darah@gmail.com

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

SPOTLIGHT Cancer Charity of the Day….. Returns for Leukemia

2011-01-08T09:09:00.008-05:00

While recycling is an important part of our everyday life, a Canadian group has seen it as an opportunity to raise funds and awareness to abolish cancer.

The Beer Store and United Food Commercial Workers local 12R24 have, for the past several years, organized and run what is probably the largest bottle drive event in the world to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada. The name of this charity event is "Returns for Leukemia". You can find out more about it at http://bottledrive.ca/

All through May, customers may donate at the cash registers of any location of The Beer Store (we have 440 stores across Ontario), and on May "2-4" weekend (this year, probably May 28th-May 29th, 2011) all 440 stores collect empties to support the cause. The deposit value of these empties, and all cash donations, go to the LLSC. In 2010, they raised 1.065 million dollars.

It’s great to see the clever and creative ways that people and organizations come up with to help do their part in the fight to abolish cancer. Please follow the work of “Returns for Leukemia” and give them a Shout Out for their work.

About @abolishcancer
@abolishcancer was created in November 2009 as a Twitter feed to raise money and awareness to fight and end cancer. Over the course of our existence, we have raised over $43,000 for various cancer charities on Twitter through our Twitterthons. A Twitterthon is when a sponsor agrees to pay $1 for every new follower that @abolishcancer gets in a given day, to a cancer charity of their choice. 100% of the pledges go towards the cancer charity.

We feel that not only funds are important in this fight but so too is the awareness, not only for the great cancer charities in existence but for those who are fighting cancer on a day to day basis.

If you are interested in possible partnerships with @abolishcancer, email us at bonham.darah@gmail.com

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

SPOTLIGHT Cancer Charity of the Day…. Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation.

2011-01-06T07:20:00.002-05:00

(as taken from their web site at www.giftoflife.org)

“Leukemia is a random killer. It can strike any one of us at any time. But for many, there is hope of a cure through a bone marrow, blood stem cell or umbilical cord blood transplant. In fact, one in 200 Americans will receive such a transplant in their lifetime.

Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, Gift of Life is one of the nation's public bone marrow, blood stem cell and umbilical cord blood registries. Through its life-saving work, Gift of Life is a world leader facilitating transplants for children and adults suffering from many life-threatening diseases, among them leukemia and lymphoma.

Gift of Life's vision for the future is simple: A match. Anytime. Anywhere. For anyone. Please join us in a global movement to save lives. Become a member with a simple cheek swab today!”

Follow the great work of Gift of Life on their web site or on their Twitter feed

www.twitter.com/giftoflife

About @abolishcancer

@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. Over 125 influential people and celebrities are followers of our movement. 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 interested in a partnership, contact Bonham.Darah@gmail.com

“Power of the People, Through Twitter, to @abolishcancer”

SPOTLIGHT Cancer Charity of the Day- The Fly Foundation

2011-01-05T06:52:00.003-05:00

The FLY Foundation was established by Julia Saulino and her husband, Peter Saulino. Julia was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in July 2010 at age 29. In an effort to help other young adults in their community, Julia & Peter established the FLY Foundation in December 2010. Julia's personal journey is documented on her blog, adjusting the sails...

The FLY Foundation is a registered non-profit organization in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, providing support to young adults in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, aged 19-39, who have been diagnosed with cancer.

Their web site describes why they focus on young adults….

“Many non-profit organizations exist to provide support to younger and older cancer patients, neglecting the small population of young adults battling cancer on their own. Young adults are braving those formidable years as they enter adulthood, when most pursue education, start a career and possibly a family. Many young adults diagnosed with cancer go through it alone, without a spouse or the support of parents. Most do not yet have the financial freedom necessary to take the required time away from work, while juggling the financial obligations of cancer treatment, prescriptions, living expenses, and even college  loans.”

We hope you will find out more about the great things that The Fly Foundation is doing on their web site at www.theflyfoundation.org or contact them by email at info@theflyfoundation.org

About @abolishcancer

@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. Over 125 influential people and celebrities are followers of our movement. 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 interested in a partnership, contact Bonham.Darah@gmail.com

“Power of the People, Through Twitter, to @abolishcancer”

Micro Twitterthons in February

2011-01-04T16:37:00.005-05:00

(Update: as of 1/29/11 we have 5 commitments of $500 for the month. We have 15 left)

Our profile on Twitter has stated that we hope to have a Twitterthon every day of the week to support the numerous cancer charities doing the great work to help end cancer. In the past, we have required a minimum sponsor donation of $2,500 for a Twitterthon to occur because of the viral nature of the word spreading amongst followers, celebrities, etc, on Twitter.

We realize that a $2,500 donation is difficult to make for many people so for the month of February,we have decided to create "Micro Twitterthons" in the amount of $500 for the purpose of getting more cancer charities involved with our work.

So.....in the month of February, we are seeking a $500 sponsors for various cancer charities and organizations FOR EACH WEEKDAY through the month. We will allow the sponsor ($500 donor) the opportunity to pick the cancer charity of choice with $1 for every new follower of @abolishcancer on that given day, going towards the charity. There are 20 total workdays in February so if we can get a commitment of $500 for each of those days, we will have raised an additional $10,000 for various cancer charities in one month alone....by tweeting

We will still continue our large Twitterthons, but feel a smaller micro version may help more along the way towards a cure. Already, you have helped us raise more than $43,000 for various cancer charities BY TWEETING. Imagine the possibilities if we get a sponsor a day for 2011?

We will reserve February "micro" dates on a first come, first serve basis and you can secure yours by email at bonham.darah@gmail.com

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

Be the Spotlight Cancer Charity of the Day

2011-01-03T07:44:00.002-05:00

We have started to feature frequent SPOTLIGHT Cancer Charities of the Day. Our organizational goals are to provide awareness & funding support for ALL cancer charities and to help unite them in the fight to abolish cancer. We feel that spotlighting all the great work that charities are doing is a great way to raise more awareness.

If you want to nominate a charity or organization please provide the following in an email to bonham.darah@gmail.com

Name of charity or organization
web site and/or twitter feed
any additional info about upcoming events, fundraisers, etc and anything specific for us to highlight.

For all cancer charities we like to run Twitterthons to help raise awareness & $ for the charity. Since November of 2009 we have raised over $43,000 for various cancer charities BY TWEETING. We are working on partnerships now for future Twitterthons. (You can read many of the past success stories from previous posts on our blog). If you would like to be a part of a Twitterthon, shoot us an email.

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

SPOTLIGHT Cancer Charity of the Day- The Strike 3- Foundation

2011-01-02T08:22:00.006-05:00

The Strike 3 Foundation was founded in 2008 by Major League Baseball Player Craig Breslow, current pitcher for the Oakland A’s. The Strike 3 Foundation was created by Breslow to heighten awareness, mobilize support, and raise funds for childhood cancer research.

Cancer hits home for many of us and this was no different for Craig. Fifteen years ago, Craig’s sister was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at the age of 14. His sister fought the disease and now lives an unrestricted life as a cancer survivor.

The Strike 3 Foundation provides many fundraising

opportunities. Most recently the Third Annual First Pitch Celebrity Gala was held with $210,000 raised to contribute towards the Yale New Haven Children's Hospital and its first pediatric bone marrow transplantation program.

We encourage you to check out Craig’s Foundation at www.strike3foundation.org. You can also follow on Twitter at @Strike3Fnd and @CraigBreslow.

Possible Twitterthon

The Strike 3 Foundation is an example of the hundreds of cancer charities that @abolishcancer supports. @abolishcancer hosts Twitterthons to raise money and awareness for cancer charities. Sponsors agree to pay $1 for every new follower that @abolishcancer receives with all proceeds going towards a cancer charity. Sponsorship amounts range from $1,000 to $5,000. Since @abolishcancer began over 14 months ago, $43,000 has been raised for various cancer charities…all by tweeting.

If you are interested in supporting The Strike 3 Foundation or any other cancer charity in a Twitterthon, contact Bonham.Darah@gmail.com

SPOTLIGHT CANCER Charity of the Day….. Alex’s Lemonade Stand

2010-12-31T11:34:00.003-05:00

SPOTLIGHT CANCER Charity of the Day….. Alex’s Lemonade Stand

While we encounter hundreds of cancer charities in our work, few inspire us more than Alex’s Lemonade Stand. (Found here at https://www.alexslemonade.org/ and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/alexslemonade )Many of you may already know the story of how a girl named Alexandra “Alex” Scott not only created a fundraising opportunity to fight cancer but a global movement in the process, but if you don't....

Alex was diagnosed with cancer before the age on one. When she was four she convinced her parents to set up a front-yard lemonade stand. Remarkably, the stand helped raise $2,000 in one day to help doctors fight cancer…all initiated by Alex.

In 2004, Alex passed away at the age of eight. Her drive, spirit, and determination have inspired a movement that has helped Alex’s Lemonade raise more than 35 million to help fight cancer, 12 million alone coming from the sale of lemonade.

While we were never fortunate to meet Alex we feel connected to her work in so many ways. The movement that Alex helped create was simply AMAZING, and I’m sure those who knew this young source of inspiration, would call her the same….AMAZING ALEX.

Click on the video below to learn of Alex's story and see how she has inspired so many……

As 2010 begins to wind down, we reflect on the amazing work of individuals and organizations who are in the fight to abolish cancer. We also get inspired by the work of such great organizations like Alex's Lemonade Stand with the hope of a cure for 2011.

Please visit their web site or Twitter feed and join Alex in the fight.

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

SPOTLIGHT Cancer Charity of the Day…….. Camp Happy Times

2010-12-30T09:35:00.007-05:00

Our SPOTLIGHT Cancer Charity of the Day…….. Camp Happy Times

Here is a brief description of the wonderful work from the Camp’s website,

“For more than 25 years, The Valerie Fund has operated Camp Happy Times, a free one-week overnight camp experience for children aged 5-21 who have or have had cancer. Nearly 200 children each summer attend Camp Happy Times located at the two hundred acre Tyler Hill Camp in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. Tyler Hill is fully accredited by the American Camping Association and Camp Happy Times is a proud member of the International Children's Oncology Camping Association.

Camp Happy Times promotes friendship, independence, and a spirit of cooperation for cancer patients and survivors. The CHT philosophy is to provide a recreationally therapeutic environment that engages participants while building self-esteem, confidence, trust and friendship.

The hallmark of the Camp Happy Times experience is that while they are there, thecampers do not feel self-conscious about their illness. Campers consistently revel in the fact that they don’t have

to explain their disease to their fellow campers”

Here’s more information about the Valerie Fund which provides support for health care of children with cancer and blood disorders. The Valerie Fund supports the “whole family” in the battle and tackles not only the medical needs but also the social, emotional and developmental needs of the child. We encourage you to visit their site and offer ways to assist. (Twitter site @thevaleriefund)

We also offer Twitterthons, see how they work here, to provide support for cancer charities with the idea of raising more awareness and $ for the cancer organizations.

If interested in a Twitterthon with @abolishcancer and Camp Happy Times, email us at Bonham.Darah@Gmail.com

“Power of the People, Through Twitter, to @abolishcancer”

SPOTLIGHT Cancer Charity of the Day- TEXAS4000

2010-12-29T10:33:00.000-05:00

Our SPOTLIGHT Cancer Charity of the Day is…… TEXAS 4000 for CANCER.

Texas 4000 for Cancer is comprised of a group of about 50 undergraduate students at The University of Texas at Austin. During the summer of 2011, a team will ride their bicycles 4,500 miles from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska to raise money for cancer research as well as spread their mission of hope, knowledge, and charity. They are the world's longest annual charity bicycle ride! Each rider on the team must individually raise $4,500 - $1 for each mile. In addition to their individual fundraising efforts, they have many team-fundraising events that contribute to their goal of $400,000. They spend the entire year leading up to the ride preparing and planning every detail out as a team - from where they stay each night (usually host families, schools, or churches) to what they eat. The 2011 team will be the 8th team to go on this journey. Their cancer-fighting group of 50 is split up into two routes, Rockies and Coastal, in order to maximize their community outreach and bring awareness about cancer prevention to as many people as they possibly can.

As Jessica Hanna, one of the riders explained

“This is more than just a bike ride. It's about spreading hope to those that have lost a loved one to cancer, sharing knowledge about cancer prevention, and gathering charity to float the amazing cancer research underway at M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Center and other institutions. In order to help improve the situation that is cancer, we must first do what we can ourselves to minimize cancer rates by spreading the word. In this way, we both make a big statement in the fight against cancer. It would be an honor to be considered to become a part of Abolish Cancer's efforts and on behalf of my team, we thank you for the opportunity!”

We encourage you to check out TEXAS4000 at www.texas4000.org and help contribute to their cause. If you would like to support TEXAS4000 through an @abolishcancer Twitterthon contact us at Bonham.Darah@Gmail.com.

“Power of the People, Through Twitter, to @abolishcancer”

Twitterthons Abolishing Cancer

2010-12-28T09:20:00.000-05:00

We started our @abolishcancer campaign just over a year ago with the goal of raising awareness and money to do one thing...... end (abolish) cancer. Yesterday's Twitterthon with @Bradenshope demonstrated the power of people to unite for a common cause. See our previous post about yesterday's Twitterthon here....

We are always amazed at the outpouring of support (tweets and follows) that come from our Twitterthons, and yesterday was no exception. It took less than 12 hours to get 2,500 new followers of @abolishcancer which equaled $2,500 towards the @Bradenshope Foundation to fight childhood cancer. If you follow @Bradenshope on Twitter, you will see how a little boy and mom can inspire such activism to help fight childhood cancer. Yesterday's Twitterthon was funded by an anonymous donor, and we are forever thankful for her generosity.

Someone once asked us, "why don't you just give the money to the charity"? Fair question, but the purpose of the site, as referenced above, is not to just raise money but to also raise awareness. In order for us to make a dent in the battle vs cancer, and to ultimately abolish it, we must raise the level of importance among the masses. The thousands of tweets that occur due to our Twitterthons are kin to the old practices of campaigning door to door.

Twitter has created a platform for people from across the globe to connect like no other time in history. For this reason, we strongly feel that we can unite a community of cancer fighters to not only make this a priority....but a reality. Since we started over a year ago, we have raised over $43,000 for various cancer charities BY TWEETING. Our Twitter site proves that ONE person can make a difference and that a community can unite to make a difference for kids like Braden.

What's next?

We continue to connect with the hundreds of cancer charities to hopefully provide a Twitterthon to support their efforts. In order to do so, we must continue to get sponsors who are willing to donate a minimum of $2,500 for the occasion. We are also soliciting funding partners for our organization so we can expand our movement and positively affect more in the fight. If you are interested in connecting with us, send us an email at bonham.darah@gmail.com.

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

Today We BLAST Childhood Cancer

2010-12-26T21:36:00.000-05:00

Another day to provide #HOPE

For every new follower today of @abolishcancer, $1 is donated to the Braden's Hope For Childhood Cancer Foundation to help fight pediatric cancers. (up to 2,500 new followers)

The Foundation is named after 6 yr old Braden (at @Bradenshope on Twitter) who has inspired us since we first met him a year ago. Braden has Neuroblastoma cancer which is a very difficult childhood cancer both for diagnosis and for treatment. Braden is a remarkable young fellow who continues to defy all odds in his fight. To add to the challenges of Braden's fight is the fact that his mom, Deliece, was also diagnosed with cancer (breast) and is fighting her way to recovery as well. At one point both mom and son were going through chemo at the same time in different locations across town.

If you want to understand more of the background of this incredible mom, son, and family click on the following link from last April that best tells the story.http://www.unitedweridekc.org/braden.html Braden also has a Caringbridge page you can follow at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/bradenh

We were fortunate to help raise awareness and $ for Braden last May when @Delprado sponsored our Twitterthon to Braden and his family. ...see older post here. Today we get a chance to continue the fight.....

Background

@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. Monday’s Twitterthon will kick off at 6 a.m. on Friday, December 27 (eastern time) and will run until @abolishcancer has received 2,500 new followers, or until midnight, whichever comes first. We start the day with 40,685 followers.

The Charity

The newly formed Braden's Hope For Childhood Cancer Foundation will educate and inform to create awareness about childhood cancers while raising funds to find treatment options for our children. Please click on the link to learn more about the organization.

#TeamOprah

Lastly, @Bradenshope along with her friend Christine @PiedPiperInKC teamed up with @Delprado and @abolishcancer to create an awareness campaign for childhood cancer, not just for Braden but for all children. The idea was to raise as much awareness on as great of a platform as possible.... so became the idea of #TeamOprah. Christine began a Facebook page directing people to "like" the idea of getting Oprah to do a show on childhood cancer. The FB page was an instant success and grew rapidly over the first few weeks in existence. To date, over 51,000 people have supported this effort to bring childhood cancer awareness to a national level.

Please check out and support the page at http://bit.ly/d2Byb0

Today is just another opportunity to raise awareness and money for a charity doing great things in the fight to abolish cancer. Let's unite to show how important it is to end this disease. As our motto says...."Power of the People, Through Twitter, to @abolishcancer"!

Let the Tweeting begin.........

SPOTLIGHT Cancer Charity of the Day....THON

2010-12-26T09:15:00.000-05:00

It's only fitting that our SPOTLIGHT Cancer Charity of the day focuses on one that @abolishcancer connected with at the start of 2010. @THON is the largest student-run philanthropic organization in the world and is connected with the students at Penn State University. Through their numerous events and promotions, capped off by their 48 hour dance marathon, @THON raises money in the battle versus childhood cancer. Since @THON began in 1973 they have raised an astonishing 69 million dollars in the fight.

Last January, a Penn State University Junior, @PatHowley agreed to sponsor @abolishcancer with all proceeds going towards @THON. Little did we all know of the viral explosion that would occur following.....read post from last year.

It's unselfish acts like Pat's (he ended up raising a total of $8,000 for @THON) that demonstrate the power of people to connect and make a difference. @THON embodies the spirit of uniting, and giving, for such a worthy cause. From the @THON web site, www.thon.org, here is a description of their work.....

"Welcome to THON.org, the online home of the largest student-run philanthropy in the world! The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, affectionately referred to as THON, is excited to have you join us in our fight to conquer childhood cancer. In 1973, a small group of dedicated Penn State students held our first Dance Marathon. That year, 39 dancer couples participated and raised $2,000. Since then, THON’s presence in the Penn State community has grown exponentially. THON now has 15,000 student volunteers, 700 dancers, and has raised more than $69 million, benefiting The Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Children’s Hospital. THON is now a year-long effort that raises funds and awareness for the fight against pediatric cancer. With the support of students from all across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and THON Alumni all around the world, we continue to make great strides towards finding a cure for all childhood cancers!"

Last year @THON raised 7.8 million dollars in the fight, here's a video recap.....

@abolishcancer was built under the assumption that "power in numbers", rather than isolation, will help us end cancer. @THON is an example of how one person, one group, one college campus, can unite the the greater good of others for a common cause.

We hope to connect with @THON for an upcoming Twitterthon, but until then..... as the @THON slogan says.....keep fighting "FTK...For The Kids".

Today's Cancer Charity SPOTLIGHT..... 46Mommas

2010-12-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

Today's Cancer Charity SPOTLIGHT..... 46Mommas

We were fortunate to support @46Mommas through a Twitterthon last August. We are always amazed at the cancer charities who are doing so much, in so many creative ways, to help fight cancer. @46 Momm as is no exception. They are a group of 46 moms of children who have fought or are fighting cancer. As they mention in the video below, they "shave for the brave"

Help support @46Mommas, another amazing cancer charity, working towards the common goal..... of abolishing cancer.

Click on the link for the @46Mommas Twitter Feed or visit their web site at www.46mommas.com

SPOTLIGHT Charity of the Day....B+

2010-12-23T08:39:00.000-05:00

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

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"!

Thank You #TeamMilano

2010-12-18T07:56:00.000-05:00

A quick thank you to all those who made our Twitterthon with Alyssa Milano, and Delprado such a success. At the end of the day we received 4,684 new followers which equaled $4,684 for Christina Applegate's Cancer Foundation.

Another amazing day of creating awareness and $ to help support cancer charities. Since last November when we began, you have helped us raise $41,000 for various cancer charities....all by Tweeting.

If you are affiliated with a cancer charity and want to partner or if you are a generous donor who wishes to provide support...shoot us an email at Bonham.Darah@gmail.com

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

#TeamMilano Joins Forces For A Twitterthon

2010-12-16T22:55:00.001-05:00

Today, Friday, December 17, 2010, @abolishcancer hosts another Twitterthon to support a charity in the fight to end cancer.

For every new follower today of @abolishcancer, @delprado agrees to pay $1 towards the Right Action for Women: A Christina Applegate Foundation to support women in the fight against breast cancer.

@Delprado agrees to donate up to $5,000. We are also very fortunate to team up with celebrity Alyssa Milano in our Twitterthon to assist in raising more awareness for such an important cause.

Background

Friday’s Twitterthon

Our Twitterthon will kick off at 6 a.m. on Friday, December 17 (eastern time) and will run until @abolishcancer has received 5,000 new followers, or until midnight. Each new follower of @abolishcancer = $1 to Christina Applegate’s Foundation. We are not only grateful for @

delprado’s sponsorship of our Twitterthon but the thousands of individuals who will tweet and follow throughout the day to bring more awareness for such a great cause. Alyssa Milano has been so wonderful to assist us with some of the tweeting to get our message out and she had the following to say about the partnership…..

“I’ve been touched by the numerous stories of friends, family, and acquaintances that have been impacted by cancer. It's important that we support the charities that are doing so much to help with research to find a cure. It's time we unite to end cancer”… Alyssa Milano

The Charity

The Right Action for Women: A Christina Applegate Foundation was created by Christina Applegate in 2008 shortly after she received her breast cancer diagnosis. In partnership with the Entertainment Industry Foundation, the organization provides aid to women who are at an increased risk of breast cancer. It’s a wonderful charity and does so much in the fight vs. cancer. We encourage you to check out Christina’s charity by clicking on the link above and get involved in their work.

Our Sponsor

We also owe so much gratitude and thanks to @delprado, our sponsor. John Gallagher, the CEO of MAPA Imports, LLC has taken on social responsibility as a business owner to donate over $25,000 through our Twitterthons to support various cancer charities. Its unselfish acts such as that of John and @delprado that affirm our belief that we will one day win this battle vs cancer.

John and Mapa Imports have channeled their passions to help others through causes such as their commitment to fighting cancer, helping the children in Peru and assisting local charities in the San Francisco Bay Area. John explained his and his wife’s passion to help others like this….

“To make a long story short we both feel that helping the families/causes such as BradensHope, Project Ladybug, VT Relay, Rally4Cancer(Shannon Tweed) and others gives us a chance to further demonstrate a very basic premise that businesses fail to see: Any company be it Fortune 500 or small like ours is in the "business" to serve people. Beyond our belief of Social Responsibility, one can never turn away from others in need. " Great Deeds are accomplished by a collective Empathetic Heart without conscious expectations." Flora Chiari(my grandmother)”

We are so grateful for individuals like John Gallagher, Alyssa Milano, and Christina Applegate who prove the value in helping others outweighs any personal gains for oneself.

Today we start the day with 36,008 followers. We hope all those involved in today’s Twitterthon take it upon themselves to make abolishing cancer a priority. As we say in our slogan…. “Power of the People….Through Twitter….to @abolishcancer”!

Twitterthon to Fight Breast Cancer

2010-12-16T14:56:00.000-05:00

A Twitterthon is coming........ what's a Twitterthon? A chance to raise awareness & $ for a cancer charity BY TWEETING.

Friday brings a great opportunity to combine celebrity support, a great sponsor, and thousands of followers and tweeters to fight breast cancer. Check back Friday for details.....

....It's gonna be AWESOME!!!!!!

Send Us Your @AbolishCancer Pics

2010-12-04T09:26:00.000-05:00

We are about to roll out an opportunity for cancer charities and cancer fighters to tell their stories on @abolishcancer. In order to promote this we are creating a brief promo video explaining our efforts. That's where U come in!

We need pictures from you. Take a picture of you or a friend displaying the @abolishcancer logo. We'll take ones that you provide and incorporate into our video promotion. No real rules about what you can send except they must show a person or people with our logo, and, of course, they must be appropriate for our cause.

So...get creative. For best results send us your pics via email Bonham.Darah@gmail.com or through a tweet.

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

Today's Twitterthon Partners Jeri Ryan & B+ Foundation

2010-11-18T21:33:00.000-05:00

We are delighted to promote another @abolishcancer Twitterthon for Friday, November 19, 2010. Today, for every new follower of @abolishcancer, $1 is donated to the @BePositiveFdn.

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….

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!

Twitterthons are the New Telethons

2010-11-16T08:44:00.000-05:00

Many of us grew up with the yearly ritual of watching Jerry Lewis on television raising funds for MDA with his telethons. Those telethons were first broadcast over Labor Day weekend in 1966 by a lone TV station in New York City. More than 40 years later, the show continues its broadcast by more than 170 stations with nearly 40 million people seeing the show each year.

We, at @abolishcancer, have taken the same concept of the telethon to a new medium, utilizing social media tools on the web. We began just over a year ago with the idea of raising funds and awareness for cancer charities- all on Twitter. As we reflect back on the past 12 months we are amazed at the power of social media to connect with those across the globe who are fighting cancer, as patients, as family members, as charities, and as celebrities.

To date, $33,000 has been raised by @abolishcancer through our Twitterthons. Twitterthons are the 21st century social media version of the MDA telethons. We partner with a cancer charity, a celebrity, and a sponsor (donor) on a given day, where every new follower of our Twitter feed (@abolishcancer) =$1 to the cancer charity. We collect no monies, the sponsor pays the charity directly within 72 hours after the Twitterthon is complete.

Our Twitterthons create a viral presence on Twitter with hundreds, and often thousands of people joining in on the tweets and retweets for the cause. The beauty of the Twitterthon is that the average Twitter user doesn’t have to pay any money, they simply have to follow us for the dollar to be donated. The ease of this type of donation pushes many to retweet and get more of their followers on board. Our minimum Twitterthon sponsorship is $2,500 and we’ve been fortunate to have some great sponsors on board to help with our cause and the various cancer charities. (@PatHowley, @Delprado, @Daynastunts, @BeatProstate, @Goldie22, & @ShopBellaChes to name a few)

We also can’t emphasize the importance of having influential tweeters on board with our cause. We are grateful for all the celebrity followers we have and those who retweet our Twitterthons. Lately our Twitterthons have been in partnership with celebrities that include @ShannonleeTweed, @DinaManzo, @ErinAndrews, @KendraAndrews1 and @MrMichaelSmith. We also have several more celebrity partnerships planned for the future with @JeriLRyan on board later this week.

What does all this add up to? We truly believe that the telethon concept is not dead, it’s simply reinventing itself through a tool such as Twitter. At no other time in history have we been able to connect people from across the globe with like ideas, goals, and aspirations. Ours is to end cancer, and as our motto says, we are assembling the “Power of the People, through Twitter to @abolishcancer”.

Contact us for future partnering opportunities.

Power of the People - up to $33,000

2010-11-13T08:21:00.000-05:00

So many thanks to give out from our Twitterthon Friday with @ShopBellaChes, @MrMichael_Smith and our cancer charity- the @LaylaGrace Foundation. (see previous post)

In the end, you helped us raise $2,500 for the @LaylaGrace Foundation just by tweeting and following. We are so grateful to Carly Webb at @ShopBellaChes for her monetary sponsorship.

Most importantly, a big Shout Out to YOU, our followers, who have helped spread our message and helped unite a global community to abolishcancer. Since we began one year ago, you have helped us raise $33,000- all through our Twitterthons, for various cancer charities.

We are making a difference. "Power of the People, Through Twitter, to @abolishcancer"!

Supporting Layla Grace Marsh

2010-11-11T21:51:00.000-05:00

We are excited that we have another Twitterthon to help raise $ & awareness to fight cancer. Today @ShopBellaChes agrees to pay $1 for every new follower of @abolishcancer to the @LaylaGrace Foundation.

We are also thankful to have the backing of ESPN’s @Michael_Smith for today’s Twitterthon. @MrMichael_Smith has been very generous with his tweets of support for our work. Mr. Smith had this to say about supporting today's cause

"I know how much I love my children and how much it would devastate me to see one of them suffer or worse lose a child. It's just heartbreaking to think about how many parents have to watch their children fight this disease or say goodbye to them too early. So I guess this particular charity has special meaning to me because I'm a parent, and my heart goes out to little Layla Grace"

The Sponsor

Our sponsor today is BellaChes and owner Carly Webb. BellaChes provides exquisite gifts for rare occasions. Located out of Ridgeland, Mississippi BellaChes offers unique gifts for the home, baby, men, women, and four legged friends. Please support them by visiting their web site at http://www.shopbellaches.com/ We are very appreciative of Carly Webb, the owner, and her generosity of sponsorship today. Carly has agreed to pay up to 2,500 followers ($) for today's Twitterthon.

Today’s charity

For those of you who aren’t aware, Layla Grace Marsh passed away in March of 2010 after a long battle with neuroblastoma cancer. Here is her story from the Foundation’s web site www.LaylaGrace.org (picture courtesy of Christie Lacy Photography )

Layla Grace Marsh had always been a happy child, with a smile that could light up a room and an infectious laugh. Her playful demeanor and sense of humor made her an absolute joy to be around. So at 16 months, when Layla became more irritable and her eating habits changed, her parents, Shanna and Ryan, didn’t think much of the changes in character.

But what started out as normal toddler ailments, quickly escalated into the Marsh family’s worst nightmare.

In the beginning of May 2009, Layla awoke with a swollen eye. She was taken to the doctor and treated for an ear infection. When the problem persisted, they went back for more testing. Thursday, May 7th 2009, the Marsh family’s world was thrown into upheaval. Shanna and Ryan’s biggest fear was realized when they were told that Layla’s doctors had discovered a massive tumor extending from above her left kidney, around her side, over her belly and around her aorta. The disease had also permeated her bones. Layla was diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma – cancer.

Treatment started right away, and over 10 months, Layla underwent 7 rounds of chemo, 11 surgeries, multiple blood transfusions, a bone marrow harvest and transplant, radiation and lengthy hospital stays. Through it all, Layla continued to fight. She showed insurmountable strength. Shanna and Ryan started a blog and twitter account to keep family members and friends updated on Layla’s progress, and soon people all over the world were reading about her battle. Well wishes poured in from all across the world as Layla’s friends and family continued to pray fervently for God to rid her body of cancer.

Nevertheless, Friday, January 22, 2010, The Marsh’s received the devastating news that Layla had relapsed.

Despite all of the hope Layla’s doctors had in their treatment plan, the prayers of family, friends and perfect strangers – Layla Grace Marsh gained her eternal wings on March 9, 2010.

In her last moments, Ryan and Shanna swore to Layla that they would carry on her legacy and do great things in her honor. The dire prognosis of children with Layla’s disease, coupled with the awareness brought by her life story created the mission and the means for the Marsh’s to begin on this journey and to carry on Layla’s legacy.

Ryan and Shanna Marsh founded the Layla Grace Children’s Cancer Research Foundation in April 2010 in Layla’s memory. The Layla Grace Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to two major missions. The primary mission is to fund research into new therapies for high-risk childhood cancers with the goal of increasing the survival rate of children diagnosed with these diseases. Secondly, the Foundation strives to positively touch the lives of children and families currently undergoing treatment.

If you would like to volunteer or donate items to the Layla Grace Children’s Cancer Research Foundation, please email jennifer@laylagrace.org

The Marsh family can be reached at shanna@laylagrace.org or ryan@laylagrace.org

It’s so apparent that Layla touched so many lives. We are honored to play a small role in assisting her parents by supporting the Layla Grace Foundation. We feel it is imperative to do everything in our power to help children and families battling cancers such as neuroblastoma.

To date, you have helped @abolishcancer raise over $30,500 for various cancer charities -just by tweeting and following us on Twitter. We truly believe that we have the power to unite a global community in this fight to end cancer.

Thank you for your continued support. We start the day with 31,450 followers.

“Power of the People, Through Twitter, to @abolishcancer”

Partnering With ESPN's Mr. Michael Smith to Fight Childhood Cancer

2010-11-03T20:38:00.000-04:00

ESPN's own Mr. Michael Smith is partnering with @abolishcancer to help raise awareness and $ for the @LaylaGrace Foundation. We will be hosting a Twitterthon but need a sponsor to assist. (A sponsor agrees to pay $1 for every new follower of @abolishcancer on a given day....all to the @LaylaGrace Foundation.)

We need a sponsor willing to commit a minimum of $2,500 for the cause. If interested, email bonham.darah@gmail.com

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

#TeamAndrews Twitterthon.... A Recap

2010-10-23T09:49:00.000-04:00

What do you get when you combine celebrities, a noteworthy charity, and thousands of people active in a cause? An @abolishcancer Twitterthon, of course!

Friday, October 22 was a great day in the TwitterVerse when @BeatProstate agreed to pay $1 for every new follower of @abolishcancer to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. What made the day even more exciting was the fact that celebrities Erin Andrews and sister, Kendra Andrews, helped support the cause. Erin and Kendra experienced cancer as a family first-hand when their father was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer last year. (see previous post)

At the conclusion of our Twitterthon on Friday, @abolishcancer had accumulated 3,000 new followers, equaling $3,000 donated directly to PCF -all thanks to @BeatProstate’s sponsorship. With the $3,000 raised on Friday, @abolishcancer has now raised $30,500 in eleven months through our Twitterthons simply by getting sponsors and having people to tweet and follow us……NICE!

The Twitterverse was buzzing with tons of tweets throughout the day yesterday. We thank all of you who were constantly reaching out to try and get us more followers. Added to Kendra and Erin’s tweets were the additional tweets from influential tweeters like Louis van Amstel, Dina Manzo, MaksimC, Jonathan Holland, Kyle Petty, Jenna Fryer, Marcellus Wiley, Tina Cervasio, Bruce Feldman, and the one and only LeBron James.

We’ve proven that “the little guy” can make a difference in the fight vs cancer. We’re not only using social media tools to communicate a message, but we are uniting a global cancer community with one goal in mind… to abolishcancer. We know it can be done. Never underestimate the “Power of the People” to unite to make things happen.

So, what’s next? We are connecting with several celebrities on future Twitterthons. If you want to partner with us as a cancer charity, a celebrity, or a sponsor, give us a shout at bonham.darah@gmail.com.

Power of the People, through Twitter to @abolishcancer!

Celebrity Sisters Erin Andrews & Kendra Andrews Team Up With @BeatProstate to Abolish Prostate Cancer

2010-10-21T15:06:00.000-04:00

Friday, October 22, 2010 brings another exciting opportunity to raise awareness & $ to @abolishcancer. Today we host a Twitterthon with celebrity sisters @ErinAndrews and Kendra Andrews (@KendraAndrews1) to fight prostate cancer. We are fortunate to have the support today from a sponsor that is “in the fight” to attack prostate cancer, a cancer that one in six men will face in their lifetime.

Almost the day we began looking for a sponsor, Todd from RC Cancer Centers found us on Twitter and was looking for a way to get the word out about these great new video testimonies he had recently filmed. It’s a great story about how their project came together and the videos themselves help educate and inspire men to “Beat Prostate Cancer“. Here’s a montage of several of the men’s stories:

We are thankful for the work that @BeatProstate does, including raising awareness and early detection for men. They are instrumental in the advancement of modern medical procedures to promote less invasive prostate treatments.

Today, for every new follower of @abolishcancer, @BeatProstate agrees to donate $1 to the Prostate Cancer Foundation (@PCFScience) to fight this disease. (up to 2,500)

#TeamAndrews Joins the Fight

We are also fortunate today to partner with @ErinAndrews and @Kendr aAndrews1 in this fight. Prostate cancer hit home last year when their father, Steve Andrews, was diagnosed with this disease. Fortunate for the sisters, their dad was able to treat the disease early and become a cancer survivor. Both daughters understand the importance of early detection for men and are thankful their father was able to tackle this disease before it spread.

“My Dad and best friend, Steve, is my rock and the center of my universe. I felt the whole world crumble when he told me he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. But we are so very fortunate that the doctors caught it early and that he was able to proceed with surgery. We got the greatest news in the world when we were told he now has a clean bill of health. We are passionate about raising awareness and funds for prostate cancer and research so that we may help others fight the fight!! Daddy, you are so loved and this is for you..." - Kendra Andrews

Erin Andrews was equally as appreciative that early detection played a role in her Dad’s treatment….

“I will never forget the night my parents called me and told me my Dad had prostate cancer. I thank God the doctors caught it early enough, he was able to have surgery, and rid himself of this disease. There are too many people that aren't as fortunate as my family. We want to raise awareness of this cancer, in honor of our Dad and best friend Steve Andrews.” - Erin Andrews

The Andrews’ story emphasizes not only the need for early detection, but also the fact that cancer can impact all of us, at any time. We are grateful for the Andrews sisters and @BeatProstate to share their stories and partner with us today as we look to raise more awareness and funds to tackle this disease.

At @abolishcancer, you, the follower, have helped us raise over $27,500 for various cancer charities JUST BY FOLLOWING AND TWEETING through our Twitterthons. We are assembling a global community of cancer fighters with one goal in mind…..to @abolishcancer.

Join us today in the fight. Be a follower, but also be a leader... in helping to spread our message. We start the day with 29,230 followers.

“Power of the People, through Twitter, to @abolishcancer”

Helping #TeamAndrews Fight Prostate Cancer

2010-10-05T16:45:00.000-04:00

@KendraAndrews1 and @ErinAndrews are partnering up with @abolishcancer to help raise monies to fight prostate cancer. #TeamAndrews, as we call it, is looking for a sponsor or number of sponsors for an @abolishcancer Twitterthon. During a Twitterthon, a sponsor agrees to pay $1 for every new follower we get over a 24 hour period.

Twitterthons not only help raise $ for the cause but also tons of tweets which raises awareness for our fight. What better fight than to take on prostate cancer, which is a devastating cancer for men?

So, if you are interested in sponsoring, email Bonham.Darah@gmail.com to discuss details.

Together we can unite the "power of the people" on Twitter to abolishcancer!!!

Show Us How U Put An "X" To Cancer

2010-10-03T21:34:00.000-04:00

A week or so ago we asked our followers on Twitter how they would best represent our logo in showing how they put an "X" to cancer. We had some cool entries. Here are 3 new submissions.

This one by @Melly1901

...next one by @TheRealJDC

... and this one submitted by @SummerandMike

So, how do YOU put an "X" to cancer? Draw the @abolishcancer logo at an event you may be attending and submit it to us so we can display.

Putting an "X" to Cancer

2010-10-01T08:38:00.001-04:00

Earlier in the week we asked our followers to show us an image of how they put an "X" to Cancer, as represented in our logo. We promised a free @abolishcancer tee to the winner.

Here are our two winners

Submitted by @melly1901 on Twitter

and

submitted by @SummerandMike

Thanks for all the submissions. Keep them coming!

Display The New Logo, Signifying An "X" To Cancer

2010-09-25T21:53:00.000-04:00

If you follow our Twitter site @abolishcancer, you know that we had a makeover several weeks ago when the great designers at @Watermarkdesign helped us out with a new logo. Last Friday, that logo was put to print with the creation of new abolishcancer tees you can order on this site.

We want You to display the abolishcancer sign (the "X" in the circle) to demonstrate your commitment to ending this disease. We are asking our followers on Twitter to display the red "X" in a unique way that communicates our cause to put an "X" to cancer.

Send us a pic on Twitter of your display. We will retweet many to our followers and the best one at the end of the week gets a free @abolishcancer tee.

So what are you waiting for......send us a pic with the #abolishcancer "X" displayed from your recent cancer charity race, fundraiser or other unique event. The larger the crowd the better. Let's put an "X" to cancer!

Amazed By The Power of The People

2010-09-24T11:19:00.000-04:00

Social Media is opening up so many opportunities for us to help raise awareness & money to fight this horrible disease.

One of our latest partnership is with @delprado, @PiedPiperinKC and @Bradenshope to get Oprah to do a show on Childhood Cancer.

How's it going you may ask? Well, in 3 short weeks 25,000 people have supported this on Facebook with over 40 celebrities either tweeting or "liking" this page. http://bit.ly/d2Byb0

Help spread the word so we can get a national platform to help defeat childhood cancer.

Be The Power Of ONE-One Man's Journey

2010-09-16T06:03:00.000-04:00

Check out the video of Charlottesville, VA resident @DrewLawrence who is promoting cancer awareness, not only by traveling 33,000 miles in 29 days, but wearing his @abolishcancer tee at 18,000 feet. Nice........

Follow Drew and his travels at http://www.29daysuntil29.com/

Using Social Media to AbolishCancer

2010-09-11T10:30:00.000-04:00

What an awesome day.

That’s really all I can say as it relates to Friday, September 10 when Twitter, Facebook and a national TV audience were buzzing to raise $ & awareness to abolish cancer.

The @SU2C event last night was inspiring, moving and a wonderful watch. Couple that with the big push on Facebook for @Oprah to do a show on #ChildhoodCancer and our own Twitterthon with @delprado, @DinaManzo and @ProjectLadyBug, a perfect storm was created.

Our Twitterthon with @Delprado was amazing. John Gallagher, the CEO of Mapa Imports, (@Delprado) once again opened up his heart and his wallet by being our sponsor again. Join was willing to donate up to $10,000 for the day. This was John’s 5^th sponsorship of @abolishcancer and has contributed a total of $20,133 for various cancer charities. It’s even more amazing that John has his own charity (click here http://www.mapaimports.com/charity.html) that he supports on a regular basis with his company. John, and @delprado, epitomize the notion of social responsibility and “giving back”.

Our cancer charity for the day was @ProjectLadyBug, created by former Housewives star Dina Manzo. Dina created this organization to support children and families of kids who have severe illnesses. It’s a create cause and we applaud Dina for doing so much to help children. http://www.projectladybug.org/

It was a crazy day of Tweeting that started at 6a.m. eastern time (U.S.) and ended around midnight. @abolishcancer had 20,520 followers at the start of the day and by the time the midnight bell rang, we had 10,000 more- 30,500+ which meant @delprado would donate $10,000 to the ladybug fund.

While the money is quite impressive, the amount of tweeting that occurred was unbelievable. Hundreds of people sent thousands of tweets encouraging a “follow” of @abolishcancer throughout the entire day. We were so inspired to see people we don’t even know relentlessly “pound the pavement” to get more followers. This relentless pursuit landed many retweets and follows from influential people such as @DeniseRichards, @BillytheKid, @JillZarin, @SophiaBush, @NancySinatra, @TodayShow, @JessicaJoy, @OfficialKimora, @Teresa_Giudice, @JohnnyMarines, @TheStevenWeber, @AubreyODay and many, many, many more.

It was truly a viral explosion on Twitter. We are so honored and proud to be part of the platform that raises this awareness with the absolute intention of eliminating cancer once and for all.

Lastly, we must put a plug in for our quest to raise awareness on a higher platform by getting @Oprah to do a show on #ChildhoodCancer. There is a swell of support on Facebook, over 11,000 strong in just one week, to get Oprah to see how important this is for our children and our future. We highly encourage you to click on the Facebook page http://bit.ly/d2Byb0 and “like” to join the cause.

Once again, so many thanks to give out for yesterday with the understanding that we are NOT done yet. We will continue to fight until one day our Twitter account will be shut down and we will all rejoice in the abolishing of cancer. Boy what a party that will be.

Over $27,500 raised so far on @abolishcancer ALL BY TWEETING. Using social media with a purpose- to connect a global community of cancer fighters.

If not us then who, if not now then when?

---Darah

bonham.darah@gmail.com

Today @Delprado Sponsors Twitterthon to Help Children at @ProjectLadyBug

2010-09-10T00:07:00.000-04:00

Today is an amazing day to help raise awareness & $ to @abolishcancer.

If you ever felt as if the stars could align, then today may just be that day. First, the extravaganza put on by the great folks at Stand Up To Cancer @SU2C takes place at 8PM eastern on September 10^th on major television networks with tons of celebrity involvement. Be sure to check them out.

If that isn’t enough, there is a huge movement occurring on Facebook. Similar to the Facebook push to get Betty White to be a host of Saturday Night Live, there is a new push to encourage Oprah to highlight childhood cancer as part of the last season of her show. At the most recent count, over 9,000 people have “liked” this idea on Facebook in less that a week since it was posted. See our previous post about this initiative here and, more importantly, click on the following link to “like” and be a part of the movement on Facebook. http://bit.ly/d2Byb0 . We truly believe in the power of the people to help abolish this disease- especially for our children.

This leads us to our other piece of exciting news…….”For every new follower today of @abolishcancer, @delprado agrees to donate $1 to @ProjectLadyBug to help children who are fighting cancer.”

Dina Manzo is the founder of the non-profit organization- Project Ladybug. You may recognize Dina as the former “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star. (You can find Dina at @dinamanzo on Twitter or on her web site at http://www.dinamanzo.com/index.html

Today, however, Dina will be known most notably for her Project LadyBug Foundation that pushes to enrich the lives of children with life-threatening illnesses. The Project LadyBug Fund strives to help families face the financial and the emotional hardships during their child's treatment to help meet the needs of seriously ill and less fortunate patients in our region. Through improving the quality of life for these children and families during treatment, Project Ladybug hopes to improve outcomes for these patients.

So today, for every follower that @abolishcancer gets on Friday, September 10th, @delprado will donate $1 directly towards @ProjectLadyBug. This is a huge opportunity to raise $ and awareness for a great cause.

About our sponsor. Who is @delprado? Well, they are no strangers to helping others and have certainly done their part to help various cancer charities through previous “Twitterthons” that we have sponsored on our site. @delprado is run by John Gallagher, the CEO of MAPA Imports, LLC. Over four separate Twitterthons, John has helped us raise $10,133 for various cancer charities. John has a heart of gold and has done so much to help raise awareness for our cause and to help those who are fighting cancer. We encourage you to get to know John and @delprado better by checking out their web site. http://www.mapaimports.com/

Since last November, @abolishcancer has raised over $17,500 for various cancer charities, ALL BY TWEETING. We truly believe that social media is opening up opportunities that have never been possible in the past... to rally a group, a nation, a world….. for a common cause.

So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get our message viral today and help raise more awareness & $ for @ProjectLadyBug to help abolish this disease! We start the day with 20,520 followers. Let's get tweeting.......

“When does the battle end? When the war on cancer is WON!!!”

Our New MakeOver- X Marks the Spot

2010-09-09T22:38:00.000-04:00

Huge Shout Out to @WatermarkDesign who helped us develop our new look at @abolishcancer. Wes and Darcey, 2 great minds in the creative world, came up with the new design which takes into account the use of Twitter and the incorporation of the red "X" which represents our mission to ABOLISH cancer once and for all.

Our logo is much more than just an image, it's a verb, it's a movement. We envision people from all over the world flashing their support with the new logo scripted as a sign of unison and support to rid this world of such a horrible disease.

If you have some design needs, we encourage you to contact Wes or Darcey and, who knows, you may start your own revolution.

Fighting Childhood Cancer

2010-08-31T18:31:00.000-04:00

Will OPRAH highlight childhood cancer as part of #Oprah25?

Many of you are aware that this is Oprah’s last season on air after 25 unbelievable years. As her farewell season begins, we are hoping to land a moment of her time to focus on pediatric cancer.

How? Well, first of all, our wonderful friends at @delprado have agreed to sponsor another Twitterthon with us at @abolishcancer for an upcoming day. (A Twitterthon is when a sponsor agrees to pay $1 for each new follower of @abolishcancer over a 24 hour period to a cancer fighting charity of choice.) We want to gain the attention of Oprah by connecting with the show’s Executive Producer, Sheri Salata, (@SheriSalata on Twitter). @Delprado agrees to sponsor a Twitterthon with us IF @SheriSalata follows both @abolishcancer AND @Delprado.

The point of having Sheri Salata following us is to accomplish our second goal, --- to get exposure for all the children and families who are battling cancer on a national level. Feeds on Twitter such as @Bradenshope, @LiftUpEllie, @LaylaGrace, @brittmerrick and @Aprayerforasher all represent kids who either have cancer or passed away with cancer. Sadly there are hundreds more that could fill up this blog who have been impacted by cancer. We want to give these children and all families hope.

So what can we do? Well, ask @SheriSalata to follow @abolishcancer and @delprado so we can have a Twitterthon and raise awareness for childhood cancer AND hope that we can get the attention of influential individuals to shine a huge spotlight on pediatric cancer on the Oprah show in its last season. Heck if friends on Facebook can get Saturday Night Live to agree to have Betty White as host, why can't we have Oprah do a show on pediatric cancers?

What do we have to lose? Nothing really, just a little time tweeting. What can we gain? A great platform both on Twitter and perhaps national television to help abolish this dreadful disease that needs to be abolished.

Help spread the word and remember that anything is possible!
“Power of the People, through Twitter, to @abolishcancer”

Be The Power Of ONE

2010-08-29T09:44:00.000-04:00

The Power of ONE

We firmly believe that social media tools and new ways to communicate and form communities are allowing ONE person to make a significant difference in social causes.

While our focus is on abolishing cancer, other social causes are increasingly forming communities of support to inform, network and promote change. Access, and the use of technology tools, provides this connection and networking to occur and not be blocked by barriers of geography, culture, or language.

In creating and developing @abolishcancer, it was clear that while having Twitterthons and raising funds for a cancer charity was important, as critical was raising awareness. We have morphed into a bulletin board for cancer fundraisers, cancer charities and those who are fighting cancer. Since we started in November, it’s evident that the forming of a global community to fight cancer is both possible and needed.

So what can ONE person do? Well, raising awareness doesn’t always require money. With the social media tools at our disposal, a person’s passion for a cause will grow just as long as the message resonates with those on the other end. There does have to be a “market” for the cause, but a person’s passion and determination can help form a network of support.

In the past 10 months we have had 17 Twitterthons where sponsors agree to pay $1 for every new follower we receive donated to a cancer fighting charity of their choice. Over $17,500 has been raised through these Twitterthons, all by people who were tweeting and following. Along the way, the 21,000 plus followers of @abolishcancer have helped share stories and offer support to one another who have been afflicted with cancer.

More importantly, we all have ONE common goal- to abolishcancer. Our community will continue to grow and we will continue to support each other in this fight. We also realize that we all make a valuable contribution to this battle, one that we are confident the power of the crowd can help defeat.

So what’s your social cause? What are you waiting for? Be the Power of ONE…..who knows what you may accomplish.

Power of the People to abolishcancer

2010-08-28T09:09:00.000-04:00

Power of The People To Unite For A Cause

Yesterday was another amazing day on Twitter. We hosted another Twitterthon with proceeds going towards @46Mommas, a wonderful group of ladies who are on a mission of keeping our children cancer-free.

If you are unfamiliar with how our Twitter feed, @abolishcancer, works, here’s a quick review. We created our Twitter feed last November with the intent of raising awareness and money to fight cancer. We ask for sponsors of our site, for a day, with the purpose of pledging to donate $1 for every new follower we get towards a cancer fighting charity of THEIR choice. Since November we’ve had 17 sponsored days with a total of $17,500 raised for various cancer charities JUST BY TWEETING.

On Friday Debra Goldberg @Goldie22 agreed to donate a max of $3,000 towards helping @46Mommas. The Twitterverse was filled with tweets such as this “For every new follower today of @abolishcancer, @Goldie22 agrees to donate $1 to @46Mommas to fight cancer”. In fact, this tweet was so prevalent that it became a “top tweet” according to Twitter.

The morning started off rather slow (we are on eastern standard US time and have many west coast as well as international followers) with about 100 new followers shortly before noon. The tweeting intensified after lunch with a unified team of 46Mommas pushing to get others to support our cause. By early afternoon we had about 600 followers and were wondering if we would get to our 3,000 goal.

Then the tweets went viral. With the support of some passionate tweeters, like @mamaplug, several prominent individuals started to pick up on our message.

First was Chris Brogan.

then ….Michael Cuddyer

…..Pat Forde

…..Ron Artest

…..Sophia Bush

…..Jenni Woww

…..Erin Andrews

and then Lance Armstrong.

That’s about all it took. After these last three tweeters gave us a Shout Out we gained over 2,000 new followers in less than a 2-hour time period.

What’s amazing about yesterday’s Twitterthon was not only the fact that we got some influential tweeters to have our message go viral, but the idea that every person made a difference in the battle vs. cancer. Thousands of individuals became new followers of our mission, and thousands of tweets were sent out to raise more awareness for our wonderful sponsor @46Mommas. (see more about 46mommas in our previous post)

Twitter has truly provided a unique opportunity to create community of cancer fighters, all doing their part in the fight to abolishcancer. We now see the evidence that everyone can make a difference in this fight. There is the power of numbers to support a common cause combined with the power of the ONE to make change.

What’s the future hold for us? We believe it’s unlimited. We truly believe that we can unite a global community to take on this enormous challenge of defeating cancer. We are not doctors or research scientists, but we are a devoted community experiencing a point unlike any other time in history, where revolutions can be formed to unite and conquer- through the support of social media.

Yesterday was fun and rewarding and put the spotlight on another great cancer charity at @46Mommas. It also helped demonstrate the devotion of the “common man (woman)” with Debra Goldberg @Goldie22 sponsoring our day.

Cancer, you better watch out, we’ve only just begun.

“Power of the People, through Twitter, to @abolishcancer

Darah Bonham is the creator and president of @abolishcancer, LLC and can be reached on Twitter at @abolishcancer, or @darahbonham or by email, bonham.darah@gmail.com

Today We Fight For 46 Mommas & The Children They Represent

2010-08-26T22:51:00.000-04:00

Today we have the fortune of having another Twitterthon at @abolishcancer. If you are unfamiliar with Twitterthons, basically we get someone to sponsor our site for a day, and with every new follower we receive, $1 goes to a cancer charity. This allows us to not only raise money in the fight but to also send out hundreds, if not thousands of tweets to also raise awareness.

Today Debra Goldberg, @Goldie22 on Twitter, agrees to donate $1 for every new follower of @abolishcancer to @46mommas, a wonderful cancer-fighting group. The day starts with 17,410 followers.

A little about @46Mommas( http://46mommas.com/ )from one of the mommas herself, Karla Knudson

"Tiffany Beamer started a group on the People Against Childhood Cancer Website www.curechildhoodcancer.ning.com to talk about her idea of getting 46Mommas to shave their heads for the St.Baldrick's FoundationThe original members of 46Mommas we're all members of PAC2 - a grassroots organization of parents & other supporters -- a clearinghouse of resources, accurate info, contact info for appropriate legislators, childhood cancer awareness events, etc. With about 25 mommas or so to start, we began reaching out to individual circles. Eventually we had all 46 - the number chosen because 46 children are diagnosed each weekday in the US with some type of cancer. We started raising funds with just an idea! We were all confident the details would fall into place! We began fundraising across the nation in our own communities, and had made $80,000 before we even had a venue finalized!! Much of our success has to do with the wonderful logo and web-identity created for our team by one of the Mommas, Heide Randall. We have a lofty goal of $1million -- but we are confident and Hopeful that we WILL BE HEARD! Awareness of pediatric cancer is the most important goal -- we KNOW the money will come, because---AWARENESS leads to FUNDING leads to RESEARCH leads to CURES! (this is the mantra of PAC2)

We consider our shaving event at Hollywood & Highland to be the KICK OFF event to the '46Mommas Shave for the Brave' Campaign! There's already a 2011 team gearing up!

During our 'planning phase' a friend of Momma Mimi Avery, approached her with the idea of having our team on the Stand to Cancer Telethon. The friend happened to be one of the @SU2C producers... and that is how we happened to be invited! We are likely to appear early on in the broadcast, and probably just for a short stint -- but the amount of NATIONAL AWARENESS for childhood cancer will be amazing! We can't divulge too many details about our appearance due to production being 'flexible,' but we are totally PYSCHED for the opportunity!”

Watch the video below to see the beautiful faces of the children that 46Mommas fights for, every day.

Now, a little info about our sponsor, Debra Goldberg, @Goldie22 on Twitter, who agrees to pay $1 for every new follower we receive today (up to 3,000) all out of her own pocket, to help end this disease.

Debra explains below why she is so involved in this fight…..

“In January 2004 I received a call at work, “mom has cancer”. Unknown primary, metastatic, squamous cell carcinoma of the head & neck. In a split second your whole world changes. My mom, sense of humor sharp, intelligent, she was a warrior never giving up. Before this happened she was helping my dad with his prostate cancer. It was time my dad started to take care of my mom. 19 months later, September 15, 2005 cancer beat my mother. Then four years later, on October 24, 2009 metastatic prostate cancer beat my father.

Cancer is a devastating disease, yes what a cliché. But more often that not they become clichés because it is true. Cancer does not care if you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Atheist. Cancer does not care if you are young, old, black, white or orange. In 1971 President Nixon declared a war on cancer. We have had several other wars since then, but this battle keeps raging on. We need to win this war and win it now.

I did not only lose my mother (65 yrs old) and my father (74 yrs old), I have lost my best friends. I remember the good times, the laughs and how lucky I was to have them as my parents. I also remember all the heartache, tears and anger I have felt in the past few years and still sting now. People say in time it will be better. No, time makes the pain easier, but it never goes away.

Go ahead; ask me if I would change anything about my life. No, not one second, because if I did, I would not have had the time I did with my mom and dad. No, not one second because I would not be the person I am today. “

It is evident from the words of Debra that her passion is to end this disease, and today she helps fight that battle by supporting a great group in @46mommas.

So….”for every new follower today of @abolishcancer, @Goldie22 agrees to pay $1 to @46mommas to help end this disease.

Better watch out cancer, we are coming after YOU!

“Power of the People”, through Twitter, to @abolishcancer!

Dina Manzo Sports @abolishcancer tee

2010-08-25T20:55:00.000-04:00

Dina Manzo, BRAVO Housewife, sports our new @abolishcancer tee in her introductory YouTube video. Check out Dina's role with Project Ladybug, a nonprofit organization supporting children with cancer. http://www.projectladybug.org/

Yeah, we know, the shirt is hard to see, but it's the thought (and message) that counts.

Uniting in the Fight, #CancerSummit

2010-08-22T10:13:00.000-04:00

Proposing a #CancerSummit

Since we began our @abolishcancer Twitter feed and organization in November of 2009, the number of groups, agencies, and charities that are “doing the work” to help fight and end cancer in this world has overwhelmed us. While the sheer volume of organizations in this fight is impressive, it also appears that most of these agencies work independently of each other without any collaboration. With this in mind, we are proposing the first #CancerSummit.

We are not naive to the fact that raising funds for cancer research, prevention, and the like, is big business. People’s lives and employment depend on raising funds for their particular group. We are also optimistic that inherent in the fundraising and exchange of funds with each group, is the ultimate goal of eliminating this disease. We have also seen through our Twitter feed that while one person can make a difference, it’s the power of the crowd that makes the greatest impact.

The same holds true for cancer fighting organizations. We believe that the time is ripe for collaboration. To provide a forum for those who are “doing the work” to come to the table to discuss their practices and to walk away with two or three collaborative possibilities for the future. We realize that some charities may see this as threatening to their “slice of the pie”. We see it as a powerful way to unite like-minded groups to make even a greater difference.

So, we are proposing the first #CancerSummit. We are proposing a one-day conference to be held in February 2011 in the Northeast portion of the United States. We also want to provide an electronic means for those who are unable to travel to virtually experience and be part of the conversation. No charity is too big or small to attend, we all contribute towards the ultimate goal.

What’s next? If you are an active member of a cancer-fighting group, email at Bonham.Darah@gmail.com to be part of the discussion. If you are simply a supporter of a cancer-fighting group, encourage your charity and charity representatives to get involved. Lastly, as we have seen through Twitter, it’s important to share the message. Help us raise awareness to this initiative.

As we say as part of our Twitter feed, “Power of the People to @abolishcancer”. If not us then who? If not now then when?

Unite in the fight to abolishcancer!

History of the Twitterthons

2010-08-16T18:12:00.000-04:00

Here's a brief history of our Twitterthons since we started in November, 2009.

Total amount raised= $14,204. All by tweeting.

Another Great TwitterThon

2010-08-13T00:20:00.000-04:00

On Thursday, August 12, @Delprado once again stepped up to become our sponsor for the day. The recipient? @TheVFoundation (see previous post about their great work).

In the end, after a day long of tweeting and retweeting, the Twitterverse helped us get 1,526 new followers which meant $1,526 that Delprado agreed to donate to the V Foundation.

We can't thank delprado enough for all that they have done to support various cancer charities through our site.

To date, we have raised over $14,000 for various cancer charities, JUST BY TWEETING AND FOLLOWING. Isn't that amazing!

So, today was great but our work is not done until cancer is. We will be looking for the next cancer charity to partner with and the next sponsor to provide support.

If interested, email us at Bonham.Darah@gmail.com

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

Jimmy V, The V Foundation, Delprado and our fight to abolishcancer

2010-08-11T22:46:00.000-04:00

We are fortunate to have @Delprado back on board for another sponsorship for Thursday, August 12, 2010. For every new follower of @abolishcancer today, @delprado agrees to donate $1 to @TheVFoundation.

The V Foundation was established with the support of ESPN in 1993 in honor of Jimmy Valvano, legendary men's basketball coach at North Carolina State University. While Coach V may be known for his championship NCAA team that defeated heavily-favored Houston in 1983, he will forever be remembered as the man who inspired a community to help end cancer. Watch Coach Valvano's 1993 ESPY's speech CLICK HERE

Thanks to the generosity of @Delprado, we will get a chance to raise more awareness today, and money, for a great cause. @TheVFoundation prides itself in donating all monies towards finding a cure for cancer. Check them our here http://www.jimmyv.org/

To date, we have raised over $12,500 since the creation of @abolishcancer in November 2009, all by getting a community of cancer fighters to follow and support us, our sponsors, and the various cancer charities we support. We collect no monies, we simply connect the sponsors with charities. Who would have ever thought Twitter could be used for such a purpose?

We have to thank John Gallagher, CEO of MAPA Imports, LLC, for his generosity for today's and previous "Twitterthons" as we liked to call them. To date, John, and @Delprado have helped raise over $8,000 to various cancer charities with their sponsorships. @Delprado will be hosting their own Twitterthon next week to support their own charity helping to put a roof on a shelter in Peru. Please follow and support them.

So, what are you waiting for? Follow @abolishcancer, retweet our messages and let's end this disease once and for all. Our day starts with 16,200 followers.

Everyone Helping to FIght the Fight

2010-06-19T08:35:00.000-04:00

On Friday we were fortunate to have @Daynastunts from New Zealand, sponsor our site. All proceeds for this particular sponsorship went to an 8 yr old girl named Ellie who is fighting rhabdomyosarcoma cancer (@LiftUpEllie) At day's end, Dayna helped us get 1,250 new followers which meant $1,250 for Ellie.

Our goal is to get a daily sponsor of our site and to support various cancer fighting charities & groups all over the world. While we hope for large daily sponsors like the ones from @delprado and @Daynastunts, this can be daunting to the individual who wants to make a difference but doesn't have thousands of dollars to contribute.

Today proves that anyone can make a difference in the battle vs cancer. Christie Sledge @csledge89 on Twitter, agrees to donate $1 for the next 250 followers of @abolishcancer with the $250 in proceeds going towards @Livestrong. Here's a little background about our sponsor, as described by Christie.

"I'm a born and raised Texas. I'm 20, turning 21 in October. I'll be a junior at the University of Texas at the Permian Basin this upcoming fall, studying biology and health/sports psychology. I've not always been involved in the fight against cancer. My grandfather died when my dad was 11 from advanced colon cancer that had taken over his whole body, but that didn't affect me much because I didn't know him. I have been very fortunate not to know anyone in my immediate family and friends who has had cancer or who have cancer at this time. I did, however, have a cancer scare when I was 15 and my gynecologist feared that I had ovarian cancer. Luckily, it was just a scare and turned out to be something completely different. I didn't really have a goal in life until I saw Eric Shanteau. What I saw was a man not that much older than myself (only 6 years) facing his own mortality and being faced with difficult decisions. They were decisions I never want to see anyone have make; What is more important: dreams and goals, or a surgery date? I took up the cause of male cancers, even though I am female. People ask me why. The reality is, I don't know why. Shanteau changed my life so drastically that I felt like I owed it to him to try to eradicate the disease that had tried to eradicate him. I'm also very close to my older brother, who is 5 years older than me, and many of my best friends are male. I couldn't imagine them coming face to face with cancer. Male cancers seem to have no voice (mainly because of male pride), so I took it upon myself to be the voice for them. "

Christie's passion to abolishcancer is evident in her description and her sponsorship of our site and proves that the power of one person can make a difference. Thanks Christie for helping to "fight the fight".

"Power of the People, through Twitter, to @abolishcancer"

-Darah

Bonham.darah@gmail.com

Looking to Lift Up Ellie

2010-06-17T15:13:00.000-04:00

Tonight we were fortunate to have Dayna Chiplin (@Daynastunts on Twitter) agree to sponsor our site for the next 1,250 followers until we reached 15,000 followers. Dayna's sponsorship will go towards 8 yr old Ellie (@LiftUpEllie) on Twitter who is fighting rhabdomyosarcoma cancer. (PLease follow & support Ellie & her family here http://liftupellie.com/) For each new follower we get, Dayna would pay $1 towards Ellie which means a grand total of $1,250 all by tweeting and following.

Dayna is founder and instructor of New Zealand Stunt School www.nzstuntschool.com and New Zealand's top female Stunt Performer and Fight Choreographer for the past 13 years. She is mother of 2 kids my boy Trae 9 years old and Girl Kaiya 6 years old and wife to Scott Chiplin.

Fighting cancer is important for Dayna for she feels her kids are so important and she couldn't imagine families loosing kids to cancer. As Dayna points out "I have been fighting in make believe all my life on film and now want to fight for something in real life worth fighting for. Child Cancer has always been something I have always followed and been emotional towards.
I always tell my self: "I fight for what I believe and if I get knocked down it will only make me get up and Fight twice as strong"
I will be pushing it were ever I can, I have magazine articles and TV interviews coming up and will help this way were ever I can."

We are extremely thankful for Dayna's generosity this evening in helping to raise not only $ but also awareness for childhood cancer. We hope just a little bit can help families and kids like Ellie end this horrible disease some day.

"Power of the People, through Twitter, to @abolishcancer!"
-Darah

We Want To Change The World, & You Are Helping Us Do It

2010-06-06T09:22:00.000-04:00

Friday, June 4 was another amazing day with our familiar sponsors, @delprado. Once again, with their help, we raised $3,681 to support Shannon Tweed's @RallyForKids campaign. The amazing thing was, this was all done by getting new followers to @abolishcancer, for which Delprado agreed to pay $1 for each new person who "clicked" the follow button of our Twitter feed.

Who would have thought that we would be able to help fight cancer, simply by tweeting? At one point, prior to the midnight EST deadline, the mentioning of our campaign was so viral that it was difficult to keep up with all the tweets. Many influential people and celebrities helped our cause with tweets including Alyssa Milano, Russell Crowe, Erin Andrews, UK Coach Calipari, Nate Berkus, Anna Trebunskaya, Jessie Camacho, Julie Benz, Ben Lyons, Jason Kennedy, "Dog", Craig Bierko, Tina Stull, Alex McCord, Loni Love, & Victor Oliveira- just to name just a few.

But the power of the day started with our sponsor, and was fueled throughout by our followers who constantly tweeted to get others on board in our quest for more followers & $ to RallyForKids.

So what's next? We feel that we have started something special, an opportunity to get a global community involved in the fight against cancer. Obviously, the most critical part of how we operate is to get sponsors. Each day we seek a sponsor that agrees to pay $1 for every new follower @abolishcancer gets. I'm sure businesses and individuals don't like the uncertainty of the possibilities of how much they MIGHT have to pay given the viral implications of a tweeting explosion. Heck, one tweet by @Aplusk (with 5 million followers) could send a sponsor commitment to 5 figures. But the reality is, that to get over 3,000 new followers, which Delprado has helped us do the last two sponsorships, you have to generate double that many tweets about the cause.

Just think, as a business, you could have a viral message relayed to tens of thousands of viewers for a few thousand dollars worth of a donation. More importantly, the reason for the sponsorship is the cause. So many great cancer groups and organizations, we could if we got sponsors for each of the 365 days in a year.

So far @abolishcancer has raised over $11,000 by simply getting people to follow us on Twitter. Our largest sponsors so far are Delprado, who has donated over $8,000 themselves for three separate sponsorships, and Pat Howley, who helped us raise $1,734 for PSU's @THON campaign.

We are excited about our past success and even more so by the opportunities for the future. We have a dream that our global community will grow to millions with our sponsorships as well, to make a difference in this war, and to @abolishcancer one and for all.

"Power of the People, through Twitter, to @abolishcancer"

Teaming Up With Shannon Tweed to Abolishcancer

2010-06-04T09:45:00.000-04:00

@delprado is back to help join forces with @shannonleetweed , @RallyForKids and @abolishcancer .

A week or so ago we connected with @ShannonleeTweed about her recent push to get donations for the @RallyForKids event. This is a great cause to support the fight vs pediatric cancer and has events planned in various cities across the US (check them out here).

Shannon agreed to have us help her raise awareness for the event by trying to secure a sponsor. After several days pounding the Twitter pavement, we had many inquiries but no takers on sponsoring for a day. Then we received an email from our good friend and supporter, @delprado. John Gallagher, the CEO of MAPA Imports, LLC told me that he was game to sponsor and help out another great cause fighting cancer.

John (http://twitter.com/delprado) is no stranger to helping abolishcancer. Just 2 weeks ago, John agreed to sponsor our site to support a 5yr old boy, Braden, and his mom who are BOTH fighting cancer. (follow them at @Bradenshope). At the end of the day, with thousands of tweets, @abolishcancer had 3,226 new followers, which meant $3,226, all donated by @delprado to Braden and his mom. Not only that, But John sponsored our site several months ago helping to support @VTRelay.

All total, John @delprado has already contributed over $4,300 towards supporting @abolishcancer and helping to end this dreadful disease. Today he takes on the challenge of supporting @ShannonleeTweed and @RallyforKids.

So here is how it works “For every new follower today of @abolishcancer, @Delprado agrees to donate $1 to support @ShannonleeTweed's @RallyForKids campaign”

We start the day with 9,389 followers. How great is that- by simply following you can help fight and ABOLISH this disease. We need tweeters and tweets today, let's get this message to go viral!

Thanks to John, to Shannon and to you for fighting the fight.

“Power of the People, through Twitter, to @abolishcancer”

Many Thanks

2010-05-24T15:08:00.000-04:00

Last Friday, May 21 was a great day of tweeting and following- all for the benefit of helping a 5 yr old boy, Braden and his mom who are both battling cancer togehter. (see last post on how to connect with them and read their story).

With the help of our sponsor, @Delprado, we had 3,226 new followers to our site which amounted to $3,226 that @Delprado will donate to Braden's medical fund. (also see more about the great things Delprado does in previous post).

We had thousands of tweets throughout the day to get more followers, and money to go Braden's way. The beauty of the day was not only did we raise more money but we raised more awareness about Braden, and his daily battles with neuroblastoma cancer.

Our site was developed to gain a mass following to unite for one goal- to @abolishcancer. Thanks to everyone for their contributions to make this work.

Darah

Today Provides Hope

2010-05-20T21:58:00.000-04:00

Today Provides Hope

@Bradenshope is why we are thankful today. Thankful to have been touched by a story of a mom, her family, and in particular, her 5 year old son Braden.

We became introduced to Braden back in the winter when we picked up some of his mom’s tweets at @Bradenshope. Actually, Braden’s mom, Deliece was introduced to us by her good friend Christine @PiedPiperInKC who shared the story of a 5 year old boy suffering from Neuroblastoma cancer and his mom suffering from breast cancer. (they are so united in this fight they even started their chemo on the same day)

Once you get to know the family, you realize that, in their eyes, they’re not suffering, they are FIGHTING. Fighting to beat this disease, as a son, as a mom, as a family. What Deliece and Braden have also done is to inspire others. Check out this great story on Braden and his fight…….. http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-story-facebook-braden-davidcook-022310,0,3141281.story

We are so inspired that we wanted to raise awareness and $ today for Braden and his family. Then came along John Gallagher. John is the CEO of MAPA Imports, LLC which is a family-owned business that produces and distributes Del Prado Gourmet Nectars. (Check out all the great variety of products that Del Prado offers here). A key part of John’s business focuses on social responsibility as an organization. Mapa Imports believes all businesses, no matter the size, have an obligation to contribute to charities to help others in need. With that philosophy in mind, it was a natural connection between John @delprado and @abolishcancer.

Thanks to the generosity of @delprado, for every new follower of @abolishcancer on Friday, May 21, 2010, @delprado agrees to pay $1 to the charity supporting Braden and his family.

Just think, by simply having a Twitter account and following @abolishcancer, you are helping to bring awareness and money to fight cancer. Neuroblastoma is a dreadful disease, and so is breast cancer. We feel that it’s our role as citizens of the world to unite as one to put an end to cancer once and for all. That can only happen with your help. Please follow our cause, send a tweet out in support and get others actively involved in the fight.

We truly believe the power of the people can unite to @abolishcancer. Since November, this Twitter site, with the generous support of our sponsors, and the dedication of our followers has raised over $10,000 to fight cancer….. just by Tweeting.

The power of one can make a difference and the power of hope can lead to recovery and victory in the fight against cancer. Thank you, followers, for your commitment to our cause, and thank you Braden (& mom) for providing us hope. (follow Braden's fight here)

Let’s Do It….. @abolishcancer

Darah Bonham

Everyday Brings Awareness

2010-05-17T19:46:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since we posted on our blog, the main reason is that we post so much on the Twitter feed that we neglect the blog often times. Nonetheless, we are excited with all the tweets and support we have been getting and giving as part of our quest to abolishcancer.

We feel as if we are gaining momentum and know a few more sponsorships with a few celebrity tweets will and followers like you will help us grow our army of cancer fighters.

So, don't be shy, tweet, retweet, follow, sponsor- just be active in making a difference to use the power of Twitter to end this disease.

Email us at bonham.darah@gmail.com

Today we BLAST Neuroblastoma!

2010-03-31T07:18:00.000-04:00

Help us BLAST Neuroblastoma.

Today we are making a concerted effort to raise awareness and money to support the fight in ending deadly childhood cancers like neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is a malignant cancerous tumor that develops from nerve tissue and occurs in infants and children. In the US alone, over 650 new cases are discovered each year.

We feel that these types of cancers should be made aware to the general public for the purpose of awareness, detection and hopefully someday- prevention. There are a handful of children that we follow on Twitter that are fighting this disease, @Bradenshope @darlingchuck @TeamMcKenna @Prayers4Taylor , and the reality is that there are hundreds if not thousands more that are also fighting the fight. Recently the mom of @LaylaGrace tweeted about her daughter, up to the day she passed, who was struggling with this disease.

For these children and many more, we must do our part to raise awareness and money to end this torture. Today, we have at least one sponsor willing to donate to the cause. @coachgilliland from Staunton, Virginia agrees to donate $1 for the next 100 followers of @abolishcancer to help BLAST neuroblastoma.

So what are we waiting for, let's use Twitter as a worldwide roadside billboard to promote the awareness and funding to @abolishcancer.

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

@delprado Sponsors @VTRelay to Help Abolishcancer

2010-03-23T06:19:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, March 23 brings another great opportunity to raise awareness & money to @abolishcancer. For every new follower of @abolishcancer today, @delprado agrees to pay $1 to @VTRelay to help fight cancer. The day starts with 3,161 followers.

It’s the simplest way to help fight cancer, a quick tweet and a click of the follow button, that help in our global fight to end this disease.

Meet John Gallagher. We were introduced to John several months back and from the moment we started talking about working together, it was clear that he is passionate about his business and about helping others. John is the CEO of MAPA Imports, LLC which is a family-owned business that produces and distributes Del Prado Gourmet Nectars. (Check out all the great variety of products that Del Prado offers here).

A key part of John’s business focuses on social responsibility as an organization. Mapa Imports believes all businesses, no matter the size, have an obligation to contribute to charities to help others in need. With that philosophy in mind, it was a natural connection between John (@delprado) and @abolishcancer.

When we discussed who would benefit from today’s sponsorship, one group quickly came to mind, @VTRelay. The Relay For Life at Virginia Tech will take place on April 9, 2010 in Blacksburg, Virginia. While there are many wonderful Relay For Life events and organizations, the students at Virginia Tech have excelled in raising awareness and money to support the American Cancer Society. Last year the group helped contribute over $500,000 during the event.

So today is a great day. Thanks to the generosity of @delprado we will provide more awareness and financial means to not only support the great folks at @VTRelay but to also grow an army of fighters who are dedicated to end this disease, once and for all. Please help enlist others in our global fight to @abolishcancer.

“Power of the People, through Twitter, to @abolishcancer”

People Can Make a Difference at Any Age

2010-03-17T21:55:00.000-04:00

Received an email several weeks ago from a high school student wanting to know how @abolishcancer worked. Turns out that the emailer, Brian Raczynski, was inquiring about becoming a sponsor for our site. Brian mentioned he was impressed with our partnership with @THON and wanted to somehow get involved.

Brian Raczynski, is 17 years old, and attends Springfield High School (Delco) as a junior. He's a normal high school student raising money for pediatric cancer, and hopes to one day abolish it. This is his third year participating in his school's Steve Stefani Dance Marathon. Over the years he has personally raised about 600 dollars, along with all his hard work involved with the events.

On Thursday, March 18, Brian agrees to donate $1 to the cancer fighting charity listed below for every new follower of @abolishcancer. (up to 100 followers) We begin the day with 3,010 followers.

Springfield High School (Delco) is holding its 8th annual Steve Stefani Dance Marathon this Friday, March 19th. As a Mini-Thon, they dance for 15 hours, running from 6 pm Friday, until 9 am Saturday. The past two years they have been the number one Mini-Thon in the state, and hope to make that three years in a row this Friday. Last year, they raised an unprecedented $110,336 for the Hershey Medical Center’s Four Diamonds Fund. Dance Marathon is the largest club at SHS, this year with about 500 students dancing. All year long, they have events of all sorts, raffles, canning events, and donations flying in through the mail. All of which they, the students run themselves, with the help of the director John Gildea. Springfield High School's Dance Marathon is named after the teacher Mr. Steve Stefani who inspired this great event. He worked at SHS for over 30 years and passed away from lung cnacer in June of 2002. SHS hosted the first ever Steve Stefani Dance Marathon in 2003, where they raised $11,617.00, and after 7 years, this number has amazingly raised to last years total of 110,336.85. Over the past seven years, they have raised a total of $353,019.60 all for The Four Diamonds Fund. Their motto- We dance For The Kids!

@Brian_Aurelioand can be reached at this Twitter address and his charity can be accessed from their website. http://www.ssdcougars.org/webpages/dancemarathon/ They also have a live feed of their Dance Marathon for this Friday and Saturday, which can be found on http://www.ssdcougars.org/webpages/dancemarathon/livefeed.cfm

Join Brian in his quest to make a difference and prove that one person can have an impact to help @abolishcancer. Thanks Brian.

A Global Revolution

2010-03-06T09:22:00.000-05:00

We are so thrilled to have gained some inertia since we started our Twitter feed in November. While it started off slow, our February partnership with @THON and brief brush with a viral explosion and has helped us gain several thousand followers, all with the intent of fighting cancer.

Certain people we follow, like @LaylaGrace, provide even more inspiration to us and our continued fight to @abolishcancer. How can you not be moved by a mom, and a family’s emotional journey as their daughter battles a life-threatening illness?

We are pleased that we landed our first business sponsor. @delprado, has agreed to be a daily sponsor for a day in March (not yet announced) and will certainly provide a great deal of awareness and money to help support a soon-to-be named cancer fighting charity. Businesses like @delprado show that it’s not always about the bottom line; it’s also about having a social responsibility to give back.

We are encouraged that businesses will see our twitter feed as an opportunity to donate, in a unique way, to a cancer fighting charity of choice, and raise a great deal of awareness in the process. The sponsor also gets a steady stream of positive PR with everyone’s tweets.

As a reminder of how our site works, we solicit individuals or businesses to sponsor our site for one day. For every new follower @abolishcancer gets during that day, the sponsor agrees to pay $1 to a cancer fighting charity of choice. @abolishcancer collects no money; we are simply the messenger with the hope of growing a base of cancer fighters from around the world. We also will support partial sponsors for a charity, in other words, up to a certain number of followers, i.e. 200.

We are most excited that as more sponsors jump on board, more followers will connect, and we will begin to create an army of people dedicated to one cause- to @abolishcancer.

Please help share our plan with others and feel free to email us with ideas at Bonham.Darah@gmail.com

Power of the People

2010-02-21T20:23:00.000-05:00

Where do we go from here? Our brief connection with the great people at @THON is over (for now) but the enthusiasm is not. It was great to learn of the great work done through the students and alum at Penn State University who’s 2010 campaign concluded this weekend with a 46 hour dance marathon and the unveiling of the total sum raised throughout the year of 7.8 million dollars. So impressive. We were so connected with the group and supportive of their efforts that we decided to keep them as the beneficiary for any sponsors we had through the month of February. While we now begin to support other cancer fighting groups across the globe, this is only the beginning.

In a conversation with a future sponsor, we discussed how @abolishcancer was not about supporting just one organization then having a whole new set of followers for the next, but was more about the collaborative and competitive nature of groups supporting each other over time. You see, if we treat @THON’s accomplishments as a stand-alone fundraiser, independent of the overall main cause of ending cancer, then we have simply put hard working groups back within their own four walls fighting the battle in isolation. @THON was not a one time event that ended in the minds of @abolishcancer. It’s the opening act, a tremendous collection of passion and energy that doesn’t need to rest within the halls of the Bryce Jordan Center but rather be built upon by the next group trying to accomplish the same goal.

Now is the time where the energy and passion of @THON can be captured and capitalized for the next cancer fighting group. When @abolishcancer begins to promote the next cancer fighting group, think how advantageous it will be to have the energy and passion of THON followers behind their cause. And then, a whole new army of cancer fighters will be on board for the next group, supporting each other along the way, in the quest to bring as much awareness and $ to end this disease.

Image the possibilities, months from now, when 3,000 followers turn into 5, 10, even 20,000 individuals, groups and businesses all committed to the same worthy cause. We at @abolishcancer cherish every partnership we form and value all the hard work and dedication people put in to fight this battle. We also see the great opportunity in joining forces, not to outdo each other, but to collectively fight the battle that must go on until cancer has been stopped.

@abolishcancer never collects any money. We are simply the intermediary, striving to create awareness and financial support for groups fighting cancer. Our goal is to collectively pull the talent and resources behind a true global revolution to end this disease once and for all.

This is a war on cancer and we need all hands on deck to win. But we at @abolishcancer believe that it’s not a matter of “if” but “when”. Looking forward to the next offensive.

Tweet, Follow, be a Sponsor, or just help us use Twitter to @abolishcancer

Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things

2010-02-17T17:02:00.000-05:00

I am amazed at the level of support and dedication that "the people" have expressed in their work to make a difference to fight cancer and put an end to this terrible disease. The concerted effort by the students of Penn State, the alumni, and all those associated with @THON has been impressive to observe and to be a part of. THON is truly an inspiration to all charitable groups trying to make a difference in the lives of others.

Our recent sponsorships provide additional examples of how "ordinary people can do extraordinary things". Andrea Miller http://(@spareohhs) and Michele Jakoboski (@sj214) recently agreed, independently, to be the sponsor for our site, @abolishcancer. If you don't know how it works, a sponsor agrees to pay the charitable organization (in this case THON) $1 for every new follower of our site on a particular day. What's impressive of Andrea and Michele 's agreement to sponsor, is the fact that they were following in the footsteps of @PatHowley's sponsorship that drew worldwide attention to THON with celebrities such as Khloe Kardashian and others tweeting about the cause. In fact, at the end of the day, Pat had "committed" $1,734 to THON. (as a side note Pat took this as a challenge and ended up getting over $7,000 in monies to contribute)

So it would be obvious to say that anyone following in Pat's shoes would be quite intimidated. Instead of fearing such a committment, both Andrea and Michele agreed to sponsor with the understanding that they could only commit to a certain amount of followers and money ($200). The result? After both sponsorships were over, @abolishcancer received over 300 new followers, @THON received several hundred more dollars in donations, and the message of making a difference in the lives of children went viral and was seen and retweeted by hundreds if not thousands of people.

Whether it's a small donation, a day of volunteering, or a concerted effort to rally people together, Pat, Andrea and Michele are examples that individuals can make a difference and that ordinary people CAN do extraordinary things.

We will continue to keep this global revolution alive and to turn the dream into a reality to @abolishcancer once and for all.

"Power of the People, through Twittter, to @abolishcancer"

-Darah

Sponsor on Tuesday

2010-02-15T17:31:00.000-05:00

We have a new sponsor for Tuesday, Feb 16, --Andrea Miller. (@spareohhs on Twitter) Andrea just graduated from Penn State in December and fell in love with THON while she was there. Witnessing THON inspired and motivated her to be more active in the community. Andrea is donating to THON because no child should ever have to experience cancer.

For every new follower of @abolishcancer on Tuesday, Feb 16, Andrea agrees to donate $1 to @THON in support of their effort to fight pediatric cancer. Andrea agrees to sponsor up to 200 new followers for the cause. The day starts with 2,655 followers.

@abolishcancer collects no money. We are the communicator. We help connect people who want to help rid the world of cancer with great groups and organizations doing the work. The best thing about our Twitter feed is that not only are we getting more money through sponsorships to fight cancer but we are adding to our base of followers which means more PR and awareness for so many great causes to @abolishcancer. Twitter is also a great platform to help a message go viral and create mass awareness.

One way everyone could help today is to get more non-followers on board with our cause. If you can get an influential person who has many followers to tweet about our cause- even better. Help us spread the word.

Through Twitter, we are starting a global revolution to raise money and awareness to @abolishcancer. Help support our sponsor, Andrea Miller and @THON throughout the day.

Our previous contributors are as follows:

@sj214 (Michele Jakoboski) $200
@PatHowley $1734
@EnglandinVa $56
@debbiegannon $27
@michaelscher $14
@irishchari $65
@darahbonham $25

Total of over $2,100 just for Tweeting!

Meet Our New Sponsor

2010-02-12T14:28:00.000-05:00

Special thanks to our new sponsor of @abolishcancer for today, Michele Jakoboski, @sj214 on Twitter. Michele agrees to donate $1 to @THON for every new follower of @abolishcancer. (up to 200 followers- 2,733) . We are very appreciative of Michele’s willingness to sponsor and help make a difference in our quest to @abolishcancer.

Here is a little background about Michele:

Penn State and THON are near and dear to Michele’s heart. Not only did she graduate from Penn State but so did her father and two sisters. Her son and nephew are current students (SR/FR). Michele lives in southwest Ohio, is a registered nurse, and is a very active volunteer in her community.

Here’s how Michele explained why she wanted to sponsor and support THON:

“I canned and supported friends at the beginning of THON when it was in the HUB Ballroom. My sister danced in the White Bldg. During my time at Penn State I volunteered and worked for many charities but nothing touched my heart like those kids! Penn State is not just my school it is part of who I am and I am so very proud of all the students who work hard to help find an end to pediatric cancer.”

It’s people like Michele that not only continue to support great groups like THON but are passionate about making a difference in the battle against cancer. It proves that we can all make an impact in the lives of others in our quest to @abolishcancer. Thanks Michele!

“Power of the People, Through Twitter, to @abolishcancer”