Health & Fitness
Why the Groupon Grassroots CHERUBS fundraiser means so much to me
The Grassroots program is an amazing program where Groupon helps charities fund deserving programs. What's even better is that 100% of the money raised will be donated to CHERUBS.
Wow! A lot has happened in the past couple months since my last post. The International Day of CDH Awareness on April 19 has come and gone. We had over 60 people affected by Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) attend from 3 states. It was a great way to spread awareness and for families affected by this potentially life-threatening birth defect to get together with others who "get" it. So few have heard of CDH that most people just don't understand what it means to live through this roller coaster.
The hernia can be repaired with surgery but CDH is often a lifelong struggle. See my post "What's It Like To Have A Child With CDH" for more information about this struggle. Suffice it to say that CDH itself only has a 50% survival rate but even the survivors have to deal with things like potentially life-threatening re-herniations, failure to thrive designations, intestinal issues, severe reflux, hypertension, etc.
My almost 3 year old (a CDH survivor) is doing amazing (overall) which is why I chose to get involved in CHERUBS as their Illinois and Wisconsin State Rep as well as participate on a number of other committees. CHERUBS is the first and largest charity devoted to raising awareness of CDH, providing support to families, and encouraging/funding research of this very underfunded birth defect.
I also started working with Groupon Grassroots almost a year ago on the CHERUBS Hope Totebag fundraiser. These totebags are sent to CHERUBS members expecting babies born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (or with one currently in the hospital) and include much needed free information and support items. I am happy to announce that this fundraiser launched yesterday and runs until June 9.
The Grassroots program is an amazing program where Groupon helps charities fund deserving programs. What's even better is that 100% of the money raised will be donated to CHERUBS. Groupon absorbs all costs and processing fees. All money raised through this fundraiser will be used to help offset the nearly $50 it costs for CHERUBS to send one totebag to a very deserving family.
This fundraiser means a lot to me not only because I have a child with CDH who was one of the lucky 800 to survive in 2010, but we just found out our son (due in September) will also have CDH. There is a .04% chance of anyone having a child with CDH. Once you have a family history of CDH that chance goes up to 2%. So my wife and I now fall into the 2% statistic.
Now we have to hope and pray that our 2nd son will also be one of the 800 to survive after being diagnosed with CDH in the US in 2013.
This is why the Groupon Grassroots CHERUBS fundraiser means so much to me.
