I know a lot of you out there are thinking about fund-raising--raising money in order to attend next year's Moebius Syndrome Foundation conference, or doing so in honor of this coming January's Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day, etc. And here's a story about a young boy, who is susceptible to epileptic seizures, raising money in a very unique way:
"Evan Moss’ seizures come quietly in the night. When they strike, the 7-year-old’s parents have to give him medicine to make them stop — or risk brain damage. But to do that, they have to know they are happening. Lisa and Rob Moss live in fear of missing one.
The seizures are so silent that even if Rob and Lisa sleep in the next room with a baby monitor to listen, they can’t hear them, so Evan sleeps with them in their bed. “We go through life pretty much not well-rested and with a strong addiction to caffeine,” says Lisa Moss.
But a service dog, specially trained to detect seizures and alert Evan’s parents could help insure that Rob and Lisa don’t miss a seizure, and also make it possible for Evan to sleep in how own bed. The catch? A dog like that costs about $13,000.
To raise the money for a dog for Evan, who has a genetic disorder and epilepsy, the family discussed the usual options: a 5K run, a dinner with a band, a lemonade stand.
As almost an afterthought, they came up with the idea of self-publishing a short book Evan had written as part of his application for the dog. Initially, they modestly hoped maybe they could sell 150 at $10 apiece. But Evan has now sold 10 times that many copies of the 26-page “My Seizure Dog” and counting. As it turns out, none of the profits from book sales needs to go toward the cost of the dog, because donations alone have topped $26,000 — more than twice what the Alexandria, Va., boy Evan needed for his dog. The additional thousands of dollars, plus proceeds from the book, will make up the difference between what four other children’s families have raised and the cost of their service dogs.
Not a single drop of lemonade ever had to be sold."
There's more--read the whole thing.
Now obviously not everyone can raise money through book-writing. Young Evan is a remarkable boy. But this story just goes to show--if you are creative, if you think hard of different ways to gain peoples' attention, they can and will respond. Evan's story can be an inspiration to all of us.
HEALTH NEWS
More reasons to get out there and exercise--even if you can't manage the 30 minutes a day many recommend:
"Doing just 15 minutes of moderate exercise a day may add three years to your life, a large study in Taiwan has found.
Most people struggle to stick to the standard guideline of 30 minutes a day of exercise, five days a week, and experts hope that by identifying a lower dose, more people will be motivated to get off the couch.
Lead researcher Chi Pang Wen of Taiwan's National Health Research Institutes said dedicating 15 minutes a day to a moderate form of exercise, like brisk walking, would benefit anyone.
"It's for men, women, the young and old, smokers, healthy and unhealthy people. Doctors, when they see any type of patient, this is a one-size-fits-all type of advice," Wen told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Wen and colleagues, who published their findings in medical journal The Lancet on Tuesday, tracked over 416,000 participants for 13 years, analysing their health records and reported levels of physical activity each year.
After taking into account differences in age, weight, sex and a range of health-related indicators, they found that just 15 minutes of moderate exercise a day increased life expectancy by three years compared to those who remained inactive."
"Failure doesn't mean you are a failure, it just means you
haven't succeeded yet." -Robert Schuller
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