As Lucy’s family, we are committed to doing all we can to save the vision in these pretty baby blues:  

Going to the Marshfield Clinic last month (back here) jump-started Dave and me into some serious business as to how to go about doing just that.
We learned sooooo much and came home armed with information
and important updates for Lucy’s health.  
But on top of that, we feel incredibly inspired to help this
organization reach out and connect with other BBS families as well as to get on the radar with knowledgeable doctors and scientists who can offer real, tangible help.  (For more details on HOW, click over HERE for a detailed explanation on the I Love Lucy blog.)
We don’t have long.  We have realized over the years that if we wait for the normal process of people on foundation boards to make up their minds on which things to fund and for the best doctors to put efforts randomly on BBS kids amidst the myriads of other things vying for their attention, it will be too late for Lucy and so many of these other kids.  (BBS kids usually lose their vision by early adolescence.)
We need to make things happen. 
And in this case (the same as in many cases), money speaks. 
So we are committed to help raise as much as we can. 
We are passionate about this because we
know how much this could mean to Lucy and her future not to mention so many
other BBS kids.  We have felt the
heart-break of so many other families all over the world as we have met them
either at conferences or through blog cyberspace.  
BBS is real. 
And it is heart wrenching.  And
now we feel like we can DO something about it which makes us feel so
empowered. 
Dave and I have committed to help raise $15,000 for the
cause (it will take well over $50,000 to get the registry off the ground…again, more details on the I Love Lucy blog).  We have decided to concentrate our efforts
during the months of November and December to raise all that we can.   

So far, our
main effort is that we are helping to host a Gilbert Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving
Day which Dave has been working so hard on.  He has put it on with friends the last couple years and it has always benefitted charities that need help, but this year means a lot to our family because half of the proceeds go to fight BBS through the I LoveLucy Fund  (The other half goes to an awesome organization called Brain Food).  
We are doing the Turkey Trot in lieu of the Vision Walk this year so we can raise enough for the Foundation Fighting Blindness to take us seriously and also so that the money we raise can go directly to helping BBS vision problems.
We would love to
enlist your help. 

If you are local and want to sign up for the Turkey Trot, click HERE.  (I might add that Dave put together that awesome website with a lot of blood, sweat and tears so let’s give him a serious shout-out for that).
If you are not local, and would still like to contribute in any way you can (even a dollar or two here or there will help), go to the “I Love Lucy” blog HERE and click on that big, red “DONATE” button on the right under the header.  
Since it is the season for service many families are looking for ways to serve, we are hoping that any families interested in a service project to fight against blindness with us can put their heads together with their kids and think of some ideas to help.  Whether it is a simple donation or proceeds from a lemonade stand (or a “hot chocolate stand” in some areas!) or even a “Children for Children” concert with neighbors (see back HERE for details on that), any part of that makes a big difference.
Dave
and I are committing to match any funds raised on the “I Love Lucy Project” blog, which makes any efforts go that
much further. 
Please let us know if anyone out there has any other ideas.  
As you can see, we are pretty passionate about
this.  One idea we are mulling around is to do some sort of auction for some of Lucy’s best artwork.  Or maybe greeting cards with some of her art printed there…hmmmm..
Clinical trials take a LONG time
and our hearts are just aching to make them a reality for Lucy before it is too
late.
Oh how we love this girl of ours.

And how we hope and pray that we can help her and other BBS kids any way we can.

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9 Comments

  1. Hi Shawni,

    Our school just used Original Works to publish our kids' art creations in all sorts of formats including greeting cards for fundraising. The quality in my opinion was really great. They primarily do school fundraising, but their site also says organizations. Just thought I'd recommend! I'm sure tons of people (me included!) would love to have Lucy's art in some of these formats. She's got a talent AND a cause making it highly likely to succeed as a fundraising option.

  2. You should do the greeting cards with Lucy's art and sell them on Etsy, at church fairs and the Turkey Trot (I bet she draws some adorable turkeys to put on the front of those cards). If you sell them on Etsy as well (I bet Elle knows all about this website), people out of town can purchase them.

  3. I think it's a wonderful idea! And since my name is also Lucy (Lucia here in Slovakia – centre of Europe) I feel an even greater need to help another Lucy!:) I hope my donation will help a little. Anyway, I love to read your blog, it always brightens up my day and even though I don't have any children yet, I like to write down all the amazing tips you have for raising a family. (I even bought some of your parents books :)) Well, I guess I just wanted to say – keep up the good work and Thank you.

  4. It's not money for the care of her daughter. It's simply fundraising for the issue her daughter has.

    For instance if a member of your family immediate or extended had cancer you may still take a family vacation while encouraging people to do a cancer walk the very same year.

    People can say yes or no.

  5. Thank you, KMS, you read my mind. I'm not sure why people have the need to be so negative.

    Shawni, my grandmother was blind (glaucoma) and that was hard enough for our family – I can't imagine watching my baby have to deal with the threat of blindness. I will be donating today!

  6. This is only a semi-related question to your post, but I was curious as to how much Lucy knows/understands BBS? Obviously, with all of her doctors visits and Braille lessons she must be aware of it, but I would love to know how you and Dave approach the subject with her as she gets older. Love your blog and insight, by the way!

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