I've been working like a mad woman on this foundation. We've created an official Facebook page and ever since then we've been working really hard on getting our name out there; I feel as though I have another unpaid job. Ha ha. But I am so passionate about the cause that it hardly seems like work. I have an awesome board (4 other members besides myself) who all have strengths that are truly benefitting this foundation.
We are officially an incorporated charity and have filed for our non-profit status (just waiting on the IRS!). We have a beautiful logo that my cousin, Sam Harrington, designed. Note that he used my mom's silhouette. Amazing.
Our official website is up and running. We have plans to update it, but wanted something in the meantime while we raise enough funds to get it professionally detailed. The website address is: www.thedeanafoundation.org
We've hosted our first successful fundraiser. We had a pizza party at a local restaurant and we raised over $500 for our foundation. I was touched by the show of support from family, friends and our community. We have already began planning for our big opening event, which I am SO excited about. We are waiting until we've obtained our non-profit to set a date, but we are aiming for the end of August/beginning of September.
Right now, we have launched a campaign to help really get us up and running. We have filing fees to cover, our website, insurance to obtain, a venue to book for our "grand" opening event and other overhead costs (business cards, advertising, merchandise for our shop, etc). It takes a lot to get going, so we've created a campaign on indiegogo. Basically, we have 40 days to raise $3,000. We are currently at $400 and have 33 days left. I made a beautiful slideshow that is featured on our campaign. If you haven't seen it yet, visit our campaign and click on the "gallery" tab. You can do that HERE.
We have so many projects and events underway right now...I won't bore you with all of the details, but things really are coming along quite well. My vision for this foundation is to reach and help families across the globe. As we are just getting started, we will likely be helping those in our community first (that's where we receive most of our support right now). BUT, I have plans on how to expand this foundation to reach everyone, and hopefully that will happen very quickly. It will require some help from others across the country, but I'm happy to report that I already have contacts lined up to help in other states. Eventually, I want to see different chapters of The DEANA Foundation across the globe, much like the Alzheimer's Association. It may seem like a big feat, but we will get there, even if it takes us a decade or two to do it! If anyone is interested in volunteering and helping The DEANA Foundation in any capacity, please contact me or visit our website to learn how!
I want to thank everyone who has been a support to this foundation thus far. For all of the likes and shares on facebook, the donations, the participation in our first fundraiser...the list goes on. We could not do this without your help and support and we thank everyone who has contributed to that. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!
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