Behind the Button

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