Behind the Button

A friend, cancer and a five year old post it note

...each year I do a cycling fundraising event the 24 Hours of Booty to fight cancer - it's an official LIVESTRONG event but also supports local Charlotte charities. The organizers asked if you could choose anyone - who would you like to have ride on your team in 2010...my answer

I did my first 24HOB in 2005 (my first cycling fundraiser of any kind) in honor of my cousin Dale Lewis. I'll never forget the impact it had on Dale when I asked him if it was cool that I ride in his honor. It really surprised me how much it meant to him. Dale and I talked often during the months running up to Booty - we re-established an old friendship and I know my 24 Hours of Booty efforts brought him joy and inspired him during the worst (and they were very bad) days of his fight with bone cancer. 

I've had an old post it note on my wall for five years - it simply says "Call Dale". That note was (and remains) a reminder to give Dale a call every once in a while - one of the things we talked about was plans* for Dale to come ride with me in 2006 - sadly Dale passed away four months after that first Booty ride. (Dale a lifelong dairy farmer lived in Woodstock, VT)

I am thankful everyday for 24 Hours of Booty for many reasons but especially because without it I would never have reconnected with Dale or found the inspiration to start a cycling team and to make the 24 Hours of Booty the first thing I put on my calendar each year. So who would I like to ride with?......I think you know

 

Corey Dunn | An Adventure Well-Lived

I have come to know some remarkable people since I started Buttons of Hope. One of them Becky Giblin called me this week to share another tragic story of loss...and life. As you may know Becky and Tom Giblin lost their young daughter Rachel a couple of years ago - she was killed while riding in a ms (multiple sclerosis) fundraising bike ride. As if that is not enough for one family...

Becky called because her son's good friend Corey Dunn died in a freak snorkeling accident over the Christmas holiday - Becky asked me to make buttons for Corey's memorial service. I have have come to know a few Moms who have lost their children and like Becky they have this indescribable strength to move forward (not on) just forward day by day and yet they too have the desire and the will to give back, to help others - the world is a much better place for people like Becky Giblin.

As with most buttons I make I did not know Corey Dunn (21) - but I have a son Ryan (18) so whenever I hear a story like Corey's it more than breaks my heart, more. I've said before that after making 100s of buttons looking at the picture I feel as though I get to know the person - I think it's the eyes. So when I read the amazing story of Corey's life/adventure today in the Charlotte Observer's Knowledge and Adventure Filled His Life I knew right away that was Corey! Please read the story I think you'll find a lot of hope in the words and memories of Corey's too short but BIG life. (You will find information on the Discovery Place Memorial in the Observer article.) 

There is no way the memories alone can overcome the grief and sadness BUT with friends like Becky Giblin I am sure that Corey's family and friends will at some point be able to move forward (you never move on) cherishing an adventure well-lived. Godspeed, Corey Dunn.

Buttons of Hope Go Global

New York, Boston, Rochester, Seattle, San Francisco, Sydney....yawn yet another global effort to honor and support a friend/colleague by wearing photo buttons. WAIT did you say Sydney?? as in Australia? ...no my friends this effort by Text 100 to honor their friend Lisa was much, much more ~ for heaven's sake she's dating Twilight's Rob Pattinson....duh!

Kidding aside I think what Lisa's friends at Text 100 pulled off is one of the coolest Behind the Button stories ever epitomizing the promise of these powerful little buttons! Support a friend ~ promote a cause ~ create some SMILES ~ change "a" world ~ all with a little bit of plastic, paper and metal!

I'll let Alicia tell you in her words what all this means to her and hundreds of Lisa's coworkers (around the globe)!

"Our beloved colleague and friend, Lisa, was diagnosed in August with stage four lung cancer. All of us who know her have endured the initial shock of seeing someone so healthy and full of life stricken by this awful disease. Since then, she has both inspired us with her courage and filled our thoughts daily as we strive to fill a void left by having such a positive and vibrant person temporarily taken away from us as she fights the battle of her life (key word here being "temporarily" because there is NO doubt that Lisa is going to beat this.)

When we learned of the Free to Breathe National Walk, without hesitation, current and former colleagues and friends from across the globe signed up and organized walks to show our love and support for Lisa and rally behind the noble cause so that someday no one will have to go through what Lisa is now enduring.

Walks were organized in New York City, Boston, Rochester, NY, Seattle, San Francisco, and even Sydney, Australia in honor of Lisa. All in all, we raised over $14,000.

What provided the comic relief we all needed, were the buttons you created for us. While we may have outed her secret crush of Tween heartthrob, Rob Pattinson, it was totally worth it for the collective smiles it brought to everyone’s faces, including Lisa herself. We learned of your company through the Free to Breathe website. Once we read of your work with charities and non-profits including the portion of the proceeds you donate to the causes, we knew that if we were getting buttons, they were going to be through you! Thanks for working with us to create the buttons especially on short notice, they turned out great!"

What a story! I'd like to say Godspeed to Lisa - you have a lot of people who care right there beside you - LIVESTRONG! And to everyone at Text 100 I hope you'll do what you do best ~ join me help spread the word about this "overlooked" disease lung cancer - and this story, Lisa's story. Follow Buttons of Hope on Twitter @buttonguy and become a fan on Facebook and then together on your Twitter, your Facebook let's spread the word around the globe!
Text 100 walks for Lisa *click on an image to enlarge

Who is on your button?...photo buttons are a powerful fundraising idea

People ask YOU about your cause...that's why photo buttons are such a powerful fundraising idea!

Erin Dennis gets around (in a good way)! Erin, a busy mom gets around to the supermarket, the Target, her church and school... and everywhere Erin and her girls (above) go people ask about Ellie Potvin! Why would a friend, family member or total stranger ask Erin about Ellie Potvin?

Because Erin is wearing a photo button with Ellie's 1000 watt smiling face and people can't resist asking Who is on your button? And every time they ask - Erin is ready to share her personal version of Ellie's story. 

I don't think Erin is using the button as a fundraising tool but if she were you can see how powerful a fundraising idea it is. Think about it...the hardest part (it's just human nature) of fundraising is asking for a donation - even just starting that conversation can be uncomfortable for many people..and yet with a button pinned to her shirt or her purse or knapsack - people start the conversation, they ask Erin. The other amazing - powerful thing to consider is that without the button none of these conversations would have happened! 

This is what Erin had to say about wearing the button...

"I've been asked about the Ellie Potvin button in many places - the bank, my church, the supermarket, Target, at the YMCA - people ask me all the time about the button - one mom even purchased one. Ooh - I forgot. I also wear my button to work - I teach at Community College. The students ask about Ellie every week we meet. One of my students even brought in a gift for me to give to Ellie!"

So next time you're looking to spread the word about a cause, honor a friend or raise money for a charity - consider making & wearing a custom photo button right here @ Buttons of Hope. Photo buttons may just be the most simply powerful fundraising idea...ever!

** Erin's kids weren't the only ones at the Miley Cyrus concert - here's Ellie (left) with her twin sister Grace and Ms. Montana and her button!

Everyone has a story...

....and they want to share IT! Everyone participating in a charity fundraiser has a story to share (often more than one) whether it be; Susan Komen Race for the Cure, Relay for Life, Memory Walk, March for Babies or Walk to Cure diabetes. There are literally millions of stories to tell!

Are you helping make their story part of your cause?

*watch for more more slides from the upcoming Buttons of Hope presentation and e-book of fundraising ideas. And please (I'm very proud) check out the short but sweet video "Could a photo button really change the world?" at TiltingatWIndmills.posterous.com

"I want to take in as much as I can" Jake Olson

If you wonder (as I do) if there are people left to truly believe in - genuine people, heroes - the answer is yes and here's proof!

Can Seven Photo Buttons Change the WORLD?

*just added a beautiful picture of the "Potvin Girls" Grace, Amy & Ellie

There's a story behind every button. But sometimes the buttons themselves become part of the story. If you'll bear with me I'd like to share a story of how making buttons leads to so much more.

I received what seemed to be a normal order for seven buttons and one hope stand ~ Ellie Potvin ~ "In It To Win It" buttons. Hailey Arthur, my customer called me to say the buttons were beautiful but I had forgotten to include the hope stand. Hailey's in Charlotte so I decided to run the hope stand out to her - she recently opened PigTails & Crewcuts the place for kids to get their hair cut!

If I've learned anything writing Behind the Button ~ it's this ~ there's a profound story behind every button ordered - and Hailey's is a powerful one. When I stopped in to give Hailey the stand I knew right away this was much more than just an order for buttons. The hair stylists were all wearing Ellie's button on their smocks bringing to life Hailey's idea to support Ellie Potvin who just happens to live a stones throw from the shop! I asked Hailey why she felt moved to do this...

"We are glad that we can help spread awareness of this family and Ellie's courageous fight. If anything, I just hope the Potvin family will get additional prayers sent their way.  As I mentioned to you, having a child with special needs is so hard**, I can not even begin to imagine the pain and difficulty they must be experiencing. I also have two year old boy/girl twins, so I see that twin bond as well and feel for little Grace (Ellie's sister) in this situation too.

My sister, Mary Claire Busby, in Greenville, SC works with Tim (Potvin) at Merck.  She does not know Tim personally, but is aware of who he is and has always heard wonderful things about him.  She forwarded me Ellie's Caringbridge site in early October and I have been following them ever since."

**Talking to Hailey I learned that she has a six year old son Shep with special needs - Shep's fight with cerebral palsy was the inspiration for opening Pigtails and Crewcuts - a simple haircut can be a traumatic experience for children with special needs - Hailey wants to help other families in this situation. (I will be writing a post with more details about her shop and special mission) more about Hailey here at Charlotte Smarty Pants

To some this might not be a big deal - but think about it for a minute - those little buttons can be pretty powerful and a surprising catalyst for great things! From these seven buttons people will ask Who's on your button? learning more about Ellie, I learned (and now you did too) about Hailey's shop and her mission and Hailey shared with me some promising treatment ideas for my nephew Jack Vaden who suffers from mitochondrial disease ~ all this from a simple button, a simply powerful button!  

**So DID seven buttons change the world? You tell me!

Get to Know MOTHERS FIGHTING FOR OTHERS

A while back I met a guy named Jeff Turner - he's a pretty amazing - innovative, funny and not afraid to shake things up - my kind of guy! He's big on Twitter if you're into that sort of thing @respres. Jeff's pretty focused on real estate so it's not Jeff I want to talk about here rather his better half, his wife Rocky (what's not to like about a woman named Rocky!!) Rocky heads up an organization MOTHERS FIGHTING FOR OTHERS (all caps just seemed right for this one). I hope you'll check (I am) out this amazing charity to learn...what an inspired army of mothers can do to change the world ...no doubt! Rocky's on Twitter too @headmutha

So here's the thing that caught my attention today - as a "writer" (hey you got a blog you're a writer, right?) I have an enormous respect for well written stuff especially when it comes from the heart with a heavy dose of passion - Bill Lublin's post today about Rocky's cause is eloquent, real and poignant. I think some of the things he says about the challenge of fundraising will resonate with some of you as you go about making the world a better place - so I wanted to share parts of Bill's article (below) and hope that you will do two things and realize one...

1. do check out Bill Lublin's post on MOTHERS FIGHTING FOR OTHERS and the rest of his blog - he has something to say and he says it well
2. do check out the MOTHERS FIGHTING FOR OTHERS cause and get involved if you are so moved
3. realize and never doubt for a minute how important and hard it is to volunteer, fundraise or donate to worthy causes - the world would not spin the same way without you!

Now a little taste of Bill's post Help Change the World at MOVEPHILLY

"I'm not the greatest person to participate in fundraising activities.

Don't get me wrong I'm a very charitable guy, but I tend to be the guy who makes the donation more than the guy who asks for them . I always feel like I'm imposing on someone when I ask them to support the fund raising efforts of one of the causes that are important to me like the American Cancer Society, or Easter Seals, or the Lupus Foundation, so when I am asked to be part of a group making the effort to raise money , I am reticent about asking others for their help. Maybe its a character flaw, but that's just how it is. This time I'm making an exception to that behavior because my friend Rocky Turner has allowed me and my son Hal and daughter-in-law Jennifer the privilege of helping Rocky in her constant efforts to raise money for children in Kenya..." for more

Why I love Caleb's Mom and the San Diego JDRF Walk to Cure diabetes...

You know what I love most about Buttons of Hope - Caleb's Mom, Caleb's Crew and of course Caleb...let me explain.

At 4:40pm this past Monday I get a call (try it dial 704.341.1954 you get me, really) from Nancy Cullen in San Diego (I'm in Charlotte NC) - Nancy is doing the San Diego JDRF Walk to Cure diabetes this Sunday in honor of her son Caleb. Nancy found me on Google searching for unique fundraising ideas. 

So of course I told Nancy are you kidding there's no way, how could I possibly make and ship 50 buttons in five days? in time for the JDRF walk....NOT!  But of course the answer was yes - I always say yes and then I just make it happen! Anyway we worked it out, I made the 50 buttons that night and shipped them the next day by FEDEX (always awesome) and I see where they will be delivered today!

Here's why this is so important and remarkable. When I get a call like this I think one thing - that one button (or fifty) is the most important thing to that person - in this case for Nancy the button is her son Caleb and having Caleb's picture will allow her to share Caleb's story (see below) with everyone who asks "Who is on your button?" - and they undoubtedly will ask!  If we had connected earlier can you imagine the impact of 50 people wearing Caleb's button weeks prior to the JDRF Walk - how many people would have asked about Caleb and JDRF Walk to Cure diabetes hundreds, thousands? Now that's a unique fundraising idea!

So why do I do this with so much passion, why do I make sure everyone who wants a button gets a button? (did you know I've outsourced the button making...to my garage haha - making every one of over 10,000 photo buttons myself by hand) Why? Because I know how important each single button is to the person who wears it. And my dream, vision (the reality) is that there are millions of people with a story to share just like Caleb's and I hope that some day they (and charities) too will see the power of "putting a face on their fundraising" with a button!

Here is Caleb's story...

"My son Caleb was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in June of 2008 at 3½ years old. Since his diagnosis he has had to endure approximately over 3,400 finger pricks to test his blood sugar and over 1,275 insulin shots.

We are participating in the 2009 JDRF Walk for Diabetes in San Diego.  Our team, Caleb’s Crew, was formed in honor of our son.  We are hoping to raise funds to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes for Caleb and the more than 3 million Americans who have the disease.  Caleb has been a great inspiration to me because no matter how tough things get he is still a happy, bright, and lovable boy." Nancy Cullen, Mom

...that's quite a story, did it make a difference to see Caleb's picture? let us know leave a comment below

Erin Ott "each step I take will be for her" | Susan G. Komen 3 day Walk Arizona

When Erin visited the Buttons of Hope website - she was a stranger now her story(s) and her passion are out there for everyone to see. Erin tells me she loves her buttons - but it's really not about the buttons so much as its about what those buttons say about the powerful stories she has to share. I love it when the light goes on and someone finds the photo button fundraising idea. When I see someone like Erin proudly wearing her buttons I know that while they are a powerful fundraising tool more than they are helping her be the change she wants to see in the world...wow!

From Erin...I would love to offer you my story, so here it goes:

"I initially signed up for the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day (Arizona 2009) as a challenge to myself to commit to a wonderful cause and to better myself and those around me. I learned of the walk from my boss and her daughter-in-law.  I immediately said where do I sign up???? I registered and started walking a little each day...and then a little more and a little more...[if you've never done a Komen 3 day Walk it is one of the most physically demanding fundraisers]

My aunt is a TWO time breast cancer survivor, and multiple women and men that I work with are survivors.  So I started walking and started asking those around for donations.  Fundraising was tough, but I just kept asking and emailing and posting on facebook and finally I reached my goal of $2,300!!  Then something happened that made this walk much more personal than I ever thought imaginable.  My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Her surgery date will be just days before my 3-day journey and each step I take will be for her.  My camelbak is decorated with buttons of hope so all who see me walk down the street will know who I walk for...I walk for my aunt, I walk for my co-workers, I walk for my sisters, and I walk for my Mom, my best friend for life!"

If you'd like to support Erin please leave a comment for her at the end of this blog post and / or if you like you'd care to contribute to her Susan G Komen 3 Day fundraising page - to make a contribution to Erin simply click on the button of Mom (really try it works)!