Pennies For The Holidays

Do you hate the holiday “rush” as much as our family does? Especially now more than ever, trying to balance household needs with holiday gifts and charitable giving in rough economic times. Smart shopping means facing hard choices while trying to stretch every dollar, and even every penny.

Well, it’s official –- we're penny hoarders! We L-O-V-E them! And we now have an account at iGive.com where you can buy the things you need, save money with exclusive iGive coupons and deals, and benefit Sarah’s medical expense fund all at the same time! Pennies from heaven!

It's a free service, and you'll never pay more when you reach any of 700+ online stores you know and love in the iGive network. You'll find everything from daily necessities to special occasion and holiday gifts.

Here's how it works:



If this works for you, then save yourself a trip to the mall and avoid the long lines. Besides saving gas and time, you're helping us raise funds that are much needed and appreciated. [Note: iGive.com requires the name of an adult signatory when describing an account, so that's me, Sarah's Mom (Michele Pulaski) at Sarah Bear's Story.]

In closing, I was searching on the Web for some copyright-free images of pennies to decorate the "package" above, never dreaming that there are entire communities of numismatic penny hoarders and coin-stackers out there. Some of them specialize in building all manner of complex, cantilevered structures, made up of thousands of pennies. And some, like the "Penny Prankster," make really funny videos for good causes, like the one below.



Hey, we take pennies, too, but for used DME (that's durable medical equipment, where a pediatric wheelchair can cost as much as a car, actually). Remember, the places to go online are:

http://www.iGive.com/SarahBearsStory (for purchases), and

http://www.iSearchiGive.com/SarahBearsStory (click for pennies)

Thanks again! 0 comments

Posted by Sarah's Mom at 3:23 PM Permalink

Bids For Sarah Bear Online Auction!

An update to our earlier post about an online auction planned to raise funds for Sarah's medical expenses. Across the past two and one-half weeks when our household was running at half steam, I realized that holding the auction this Fall in 2009 was just too ambitious. We have received some wonderful goods and services donated for auction, as well as generous offers of volunteer assistance to help us mount it, and extend our thanks to everyone! But with a bout of intensive physical therapy sessions coming up for Sarah and just next week even, Botox treatment to help reduce her muscle spasticity due to cerebral palsy, I realized the need to reset the auction to Spring 2010.

So we'll definitely look forward to seeing you then! We've got items for auction that are going to wow you!

Meanwhile, about the use of Botox, we have used it before after closely consulting with Sarah's neurologist and always watch her very closely. The use of Botox to treat muscle spasticity in cerebral palsy is not without a lot of worrisome risk, and has received a lot of stepped-up attention this year from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has never approved botulinim toxin for this use. Early this summer, it issued a warning statement to be placed on labels about possible negative effects. The agency's recommendations to parents and healthcare providers include:

Be alert to and educate patients and caregivers about potential adverse events due to distant spread of botulinum toxin effects following local injections including: unexpected loss of strength or muscle weakness, hoarseness or trouble talking (dysphonia), trouble saying words clearly (dysarthria), loss of bladder control, trouble breathing, trouble swallowing, double vision, blurred vision and drooping eyelids; understand that these adverse events have been reported as early as several hours and as late as several weeks after treatment; advise patients to seek immediate medical attention if they develop any of these symptoms.

If a child does have a bad reaction to Botox treatment, the FDA suggests reporting the incident through its MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting Program.

0 comments

Posted by Sarah's Mom at 10:15 AM Permalink

"Let's Talk Live!" | News Channel 8

Wow! Yesterday was exciting. Sarah and I were guests on "Let's Talk Live!," a noon daily talk show hosted by Rebecca Cooper and Doug Mckelway weekdays. It was exciting to visit a real, live television studio backstage, and especially to be able to spread the word in our community on behalf of Sarah's family about our fundraising efforts to help meet some of Sarah's extraordinary medical expenses due to pediatric brain injury. Already we are working hard to line up sponsors and donations toward an online auction this Fall. All of the proceeds will go directly to Sarah's Special Needs Trust Account (as do donations made on this site. You need not have a PayPal account yourself to be able to donate using any major credit card).

Doug and Rebecca could not have been nicer or more attentive hosts. They also asked incisive questions that enabled Sarah and I to be a voice to spread awareness among other parents about the dangers of Group B streptococcal bacterial disease, or GBS for short. (Sarah caught it as meningitis as a young infant, resulting in profound brain deficits.) Below is our appearance on the show and talk on GBS. The heartfelt calls and e-mails that we have received after doing the show have been very moving and all of us in our family are very appreciative.

Credit: News Channel 8's Video Vault

Requires Windows Media Player 10 or higher

3 comments

Posted by Sarah's Mom at 3:17 PM Permalink

Blogging for Sarah

Whew! Today's the day! I finally have a moment in which I can catch my breath, take a pause, and start a blog to tell my sweet Sarah Bear’s story (we call her Sarah Bear in the family because she is so cuddly!) Sometimes the rush of day-to-day activities in our household with three young children under age 3 can feel like trying to read a newspaper in a high wind.

A week or so, for example, we held our first sponsored drive to raise funds for Sarah's special needs expenses at Cici's Pizza! Donations to help pay for the treatments we seek to help heal Sarah’s brain injuries -- hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and stem cell replacement -- came to 15% of all customer receipts who mentioned Sarah specifically. Hmmmm! Not only was the pizza good, but our drive was a huge success, thanks to Cici's and all of our friends and supporters who turned out!

0 comments

Posted by Sarah's Mom at 9:33 AM Permalink

Fall 2009 Auction

UPDATE! (10/29/09) We're moving the auction to Spring 2010!

If you think sponsorship might be right for you, please know we offer:

• Your business name included in all promotions for Sarah Bear's Story
  
• A link to your business Website via the Sarah Bear's Story Website
  
• An opportunity to display your products/services and information at our 2010 Online Auction (TBA)
  
• An invitation to our Spring 2010 Online Auction Sponsor Appreciation Night
  

The Bids For Sarah Bear Online Auction is coming up soon (TBA)! Thanks to our donors, sponsors, and bidders, we hope to raise $$$ for Sarah's medical expenses.

Be sure to check back on this site, subscribe to our blog feed, or follow us on Twitter (TWITTERID="SarahBearsMom") for the date and details! Thanks again, and we hope to see you at our Fall, 2009Auction!

Auction Rules and Procedures

General Procedures:

The auction will be opened on a weekend, either a Saturday or Sunday, at noon and run for one (1) week. ALL proceeds from this auction benefit Sarah and will be paid directly to Michele Pulaski.

Bidding:

All participants must register in order to bid. You will be registering with your active e-mail address and an encrypted password of your choice. The e-mail gives us a way to identify and contact you regarding your bids and items. No payment information will be required at this time.

Each item will have a minimum bid price (reserve) and a minimum bid-up increment of between 50 cents and 3 dollars.

Please do not bid unless you are serious about purchasing the item.

Winning/Purchasing:

At the close of the auction, winning bidders will be contacted and will be able to pay for their items by check, money order or PayPal to Sarah's family under her mother's name, Michele Lewis Pulaski.

You will be contacted within 24 hours of the auction's close if you are a winner of an item or service. Winners will have 48 hours from that contact to respond, letting us know your payment plans (check, money order or PayPal and date you plan to pay). If 48 hours go by without a response, after that time, second place bidders will be contacted and the item will be offered to the second place bidder.

Once a paying winner is determined, Michele or a designated assistant will contact the donor to let the individual or organization contributing to the auction know the address of the final winner.

Getting your Item:

Your item will be mailed to you by the donor individual or organization after your payment has been received. The donor of the item assumes responsibility for shipping costs (this is in order to keep things as uncomplicated as possible) unless otherwise noted. What we mean by this: For this auction, donors are able to assign a fair shipping fee *or* include shipping as a part of their donation. Therefore, there may be a flat fee for shipping noted in an item's description. Please check for this before bidding. Any declared flat fees for shipping are paid back to the donor/mailer of the item after the shipment has been made. This is in order to show our appreciation to donors who are freely giving of things that may be costly to ship-- thanks for all that each of you do!

For more information, please contact us!

Posted by Sarah's Mom at 3:06 PM Permalink

All About Sarah

by Sarah's Mom

Hi there! My name's Michele and I am Sarah's Mom. I am also mother to her two wonderful siblings -- Sarah’s twin brother, Joshua, and her younger, 9-month old sister, Emma. In addition to Sarah's challenges due to her brain injury as a newborn, my husband also battles a form of muscular dystrophy. As a family, we have had our abilities and resources tested, it's true (the "tattoos" of life), but we also share a lot of love and a lot of laughter. More than anything, I am grateful for my wonderful family, whose story is also Sarah Bear's. With lots of support from relatives and friends, we strive every day to make our children’s lives joyous ones, filled with opportunities, and wonderful memories.

Meet Sarah Bear

by Sarah Bear's Mom

Sarah was born a beautiful, and healthy baby on March 6th, 2007, along with her fraternal twin, her "big" brother (older only by one minute). Then, a little over a month later, on April 16, 2007, Sarah became very ill and we didn't know what was wrong. We rushed her to the hospital only to learn she had a life threatning case of meningitis due to a late on-set Group B Strep infection (GBS). Sarah's brain was swelling, but we hoped and prayed for a miracle that she would not be affected from this deadly infection. Unfortunately, Sarah's brain scan revealed a profound loss of brain tissue and her medical team predicted she would be at the level of a newborn for the rest of her life, if she even survived.

BUT!!!... (we like this part, hence the exclamation points)...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Not only did Sarah survive, she is doing far better (lots more!) than her doctors ever predicted, despite living and growing up with a seizure disorder, cerebral palsy, sensory integration disorder, developmental delays, and vision loss. In fact, this vivacious, little toddler girl is learning both to sit and stand up, gives sweet kisses (the best!), and even says a few words and hums various songs. We believe all of this is due to intensive early intervention and the love and encouragement of family and friends. For this, we are very thankful. Please help Sarah reach her full potential!

Donations:

Within the next two years (2009-2011), we hope to meet our goal of raising $25,000 - $35,000 in order to fund three different treatments/therapies for Sarah that we believe will help her reach her fullest potential. Time is critical because most children make their greatest gains within the first three to five years of life. Unfortunately, health insurance does not recognize or cover any of these therapies from which Sarah, who is now two and a half years old, could benefit. They include:

• $5,000 per round of HBOT treatments - Hyberbaric Oxygen Therapy
• $6,000 for a 3-week program - Therasuit Intensive Therapy
• $25,000 for a round of stem cell therapy^*
  

^*Currently available only in Europe, China, and elsewhere outside the US

Posted by Sarah's Mom at 3:05 PM Permalink