#joinfundraise

With her husband serving in the military and a 2-year-old son at home, Priscilla wanted to create something for her son to remind him of his dad, even while he’s away – and so begins the story of The Deployment Bear.

The Deployment Bear is a children's book that Priscilla wrote and published on her own.

It’s an uplifting story about how the bear takes the place of a deployed loved one, and the deployed loved one puts all of their love inside of the bear, just to give it to their child. The book is paired with a plush toy bear to match the one in the book.

  “It’s hard for our military members, but it’s also hard for us here at home – especially for these kids who are missing their loved ones like you wouldn’t believe,” Priscilla said. “Frankly, it’s a lot more difficult for the kids than we think. This book is to help them get through the deployments – they are long and hard on everybody, but especially the kids.”

  Her goal is to put these books and toys in the homes of all military families at no cost to them. With a production cost of $26.94, she admits her goal is ambitious.

  The books and bears are currently in production, but Priscilla is paying out of her own pocket. She acknowledges that she can’t possibly afford to place these in the hands of every military child on her own but she knew she had to start somewhere – so she turned to fundraise.com to help raise the money she needs to reach her goal.

  “Eventually the books will be available for purchase, but if I can get them in the homes of military families at no cost to them, then that’s what I would like to do,” she said.

  To DONATE to her cause, click here: https://www.fundraise.com/kids-on-deployment/help-our-military-kids  

A fundraiser at Next Level Basketball is designed to give underprivileged kids an opportunity to enroll in their basketball camp.

The camp was created to teach kids to become skilled winners on the basketball court, but most importantly to become winners in life.  Sponsorship of $150.00 will give a youngster between the ages of 10-17 a full scholarship and a opportunity to attend one of our basketball camps. Sponsors will also have the opportunity to place their business contact information on camp tee-shirts or on the Web site.

The candidate must write a one-page paper excluding why they should be considered as a canidate for the scholoarship excluding mentioning basketball ball skills or talents. The first camp of 2013 will be hosted June 17-21 and the second will be hosted August 5-9 in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Some of the ideologies that the camp shares with the campers are self improvement, taking responsibility for self and actions, the proper well being of our bodies through physical exercise and proper diets, leadership, and avoiding peer pressure.

The unique edge that Next Level Basketball has is that NBA and college basketball players attend the camp daily to give campers solid advice to become productive citizens. The goal is to sponsor 30 kids this summer that have financial hardships, they may be a product of a unstable home, or they are residing in poverty stricken areas such as Detroit, Flint, Pontiac etc. 

This year they will be working with Crossroads for Youth, a non-profit organization located in Oxford, Michigan. This organization is an open campus treatment facility that work with kids from ages 11-18 from all sorts of backgrounds, primarily kids that come from very unstable home environments and are currently learning basic social skills through the crossroads program. 

Matthew Small is on a team that will be participating in the Tanglewood Relay Run, a 24-hour race that starts at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA and ends at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA on June 28 at noon.

Runners on teams take turns running the relay over the 24-hour period. Teams are made up of a minimum of 10 runners to a maximum of 14 runner, with each runner running up to three legs of the race. 

The purpose of the relay is to announce the beginning of the Tanglewood season and to raise money to support education and youth activities held and organized by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Debbie Price is doing the Houston Pink Run to have fun and to fundraise for Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas; the premier health care provider for children and adolescents in Austin.  Sponsor her efforts with a donation today.

Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas is the only dedicated freestanding pediatric facility in the region. Serving a 46-county area and beyond, Dell Children’s is the premier health care provider for children and adolescents. Children are cared for with a family-centered approach that keeps patients close to loved ones at all times. And their dedicated multidisciplinary team of pediatric specialists and nurses are all committed to a single purpose: making your child feel like a kid again.

El Salvador is a beautiful country located in Central America, home to thousands of native Salvadorians.

Jordan Dimond will be traveling down to this small country for three weeks to serve the people there by helping within children's hospitals, being teachers assistance, serving with others groups that join us for one week, handing out donations, and bringing school supplies to the schools.  

The mission is to teach the people about God's love for us. These people have grown up in an environment of violence and they want to teach them that's not all to life.

Leah's father Ronald Nepomuceno was diagnosed with ALS also known as Lou Gehrigs disease, about five years ago. He is currently being hospitalized and can no longer walk and each day even though weaker, he has been maintaining fortunately slow progressive ALS. He is also living off a ventilator that helps him breathe. He can talk, eat, and move his hands a bit, he cannot stand our walk but he is certainly spirited, full of humor, and remains the positive person that he has always been. His mind is sharp as a tack and he remains the creative force that we all know and love.

Over the past two years, he has been writing songs and books with only a stick to type on his computer keyboard. He has written and completed two books one called "Sam's Path" a lovely reader for children about a turtles adventures and the love of family and a good reader for all ages. His most current book "Artist Not Dead" is an inspirational book filled with humor, metaphors for life, and life's lessons. A book of character and strength, "it is a must read, and a tour de force," says Marv Klassen-Landis professor of poetry and literature.

Geoff Forester (photo journalist and with the Concord Monitor of New Hampshire for years) says "this book must be published, it will be a great read".

Leah's father would someday love to get these books published as soon as possible. He is the most inspiring person that she has ever known and she is sure anyone that has also met him will say that. She truly wishes there was a cure for this awful disease but there isn't. Just to see her dad's face when she shows him that she helped raise funds through the generosity of others to get his book published for him, would help fulfill his limited days on this earth and bring to joy to his heart.

For information about ALS, visit: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis/DS00359, http://www.alsa.org/about-als/what-is-als.html, http://www.alsa.org/ and http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/amyotrophiclateralsclerosis/detail_ALS.htm.

Women With Potential, Inc. is dedicated to empowering female ex-offenders to reinvent their lives through education, mentoring, community service, personal development, and professional growth. With proper management, support, guidance and encouragement we enable women to become self-sufficient and end the viscous cycle of incarceration.

By supporting their campaign, you are helping us to provide their clients with basic necessities upon their release, including clothing, food, and toiletries. Through your support, they are also able to provide access to transportation which allows them the opportunity to seek and maintain gainful employment. Finally, your support also helps provide assistance with housing and education, including resources for GED and vocational training.