Platform Contest!

Please read this post, enter my contest, and pass it on.

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

- Anne Frank

I wish I had 1 million followers.

All this talk about writers having a platform, but there are more important uses for platforms than promoting ourselves.

I’m attending the BlogHer conference in New York City this Saturday. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to see what it’s about.

But this weekend something else really important is taking place. Every year, the Pan Mass Challenge happens on Cape Cod: http://www.pmc.org/. Since I moved here, I knew about it because the funds went to Dana Farber, where my husband used to work. I also heard about it because Lisa, the woman who died a couple of months ago, told me her husband rode in it every year. I was impressed not only with the number of miles he rode over two days, but the amount of money they needed to raise so he could ride.

“Whatever we can’t raise, we give as our yearly charitable donation,” she replied.

Last Saturday, I went to my husband’s coworker-friends’ home. Each year, he has a meeting about his foundation: http://cureasps.org/. The foundation was started because his daughter, who’s now in college, has cancer. She’s had it for years. It’s a rare cancer. Right now, there is NO CURE.

Most parents do everything they can when they’re given news like that. But he went even further. When he wasn’t entirely happy with the one organization out there that addressed his daughter’s disease, he created his own. And he assembled a group who rides every year to raise money for his foundation: http://cureasps.org/

What does he do with this money?

When someone has a rare disease, big pharmaceutical companies don’t target finding cures or even treatments for them. The NIH doesn’t fund grant to target cancers that affect a small population. If you were a parent and your child had a rare disease, how would you feel?

I’d feel helpless.

But my husband’s friend refuses to be helpless. He founded: http://cureasps.org/. And he uses the money he’s raised to fund two scientists at Dana Farber.

One scientist is working on a vaccine that will try to halt the cancer. Preliminary tests have shown that there has been a halting of blood vessels in people with cancer. Creation of new blood vessels is how cancer can spread.

The other scientist takes tumor samples and tries different treatments on them to see how they react.

(I’m sorry I can’t be clearer. My science understanding is only slightly better than my grasp of algebra and calculus.)

The scientists explained what they were working on and the challenges they faced. At the end of the night, my husband’s friend welcomed feedback. One question was how to raise more funds. I suggested rather than just having a donate button, he could add a “What Can I Do to Help” icon.

What could I do to help? My mind raced. I thought about my blog and getting the word out. But then I realized my blog didn’t have enough followers to make a difference. If only I had 1 million followers. As we drove home, I thought about donating. I thought about writing a post. I thought about trying to bike next year. I wanted to do something.

A CONTEST!

So I’m writing this post. Anyone can enter this contest. You don’t have to be a follower.

Put it on Twitter – 5 points

Put it on Facebook – 5 points

Put it on your Side Bar – 5 points

Write a Post about it – 10 points

Total your points in the comments section. If you win, you’ll get a $25 gift card to the place of your choice. I’ll also donate $25 to http://www.cureasps.org/asps-fundriser/ in your name.

And Candace Ganger has also been kind enough to add a $15 gift card with a matching donation: http://themisadventuresincandyland.blogspot.com/

And now Jackee (whose mother is battling cancer) has just offered in the comments to add a $15 gift card with a matching donation: http://windedwords.blogspot.com/

AND now Lydia Kang has offered in the comments to add a $20 gift card to Barnes & Noble with a matching donation: http://lydiakang.blogspot.com/

Update: The Words Crafter has offered in the comments to add a $15 gift card and matching donation http://therainydaywanderer.blogspot.com/

Contest ends 08/29.

Help me use my blog, my platform to raise awareness and hopefully raise money for this cause.

Please use your blog, Facebook, Twitter, and/or e-mail address book to raise awareness and hopefully raise money for this cause.

http://www.cureasps.org/asps-fundriser/

Thank you.

“One person can make a difference and every person should try.”

- John Fitzgerald Kennedy