January 9 - Dear Nicholas Sparks

Dear Mr. Sparks,

Today was a pretty huge day at our charity.   We announced how much money we've raised so far at CHERUBS.

For two decades we have been raising CDH Awareness, funding research and providing free support services to families affected by Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia.

We are very proud to announce that we are extremely close to raising $1,000,000 for our cause.

This is 1 million dollars that has paid for care packages for newborns, events for families to meet other families and learn more about CDH, research grants to hospitals, awareness projects and much, much more over the past 20 years. Every single penny has gone to further our goal of helping families while ending CDH.

20 years ago, there was nothing for families struck by CDH. Now, there is a tremendous amount of support services, research funding and participating and international awareness thanks the group effort of everyone at our charity! CDH families are no longer alone.

We are very close to reaching that goal. 

Anyone who is reading this blog and wants to help can donate or fundraise at https://www.firstgiving.com/10125/1millionCDH

$1,000,000 isn't much to most causes.  Or even to some people.  Heck, my son's medical bills were $4,000,000.

But to the CDH community, it's more than these babies and families have ever had and we are grateful for every penny of progress.

$1,000,000 is the most money any CDH charity has ever raised by far.   

Let's me tell how much this helps by breaking down the numbers:

20 years - $50,000 per year.

1600 babies born with CDH per year in the U.S. - $31.25 per family (only if we help new families)

Worldwide, about 53600 babies are born with CDH per year - $0.93 per family (again, helping only new families)

We do a whole lot with very little.  But we are grateful to be able to do what can.  And when you consider that all we do and all the families we are help are financed with money raised by little old moms, dads, grandparents, survivors and family and friends without grants or large sponsors or celebrity endorsements.... $1,000,000 is something to be proud of.

Imagine what we could do with a voice like yours to help our children.   Imagine the babies helped, the research funded, the families supported if we had a larger voice that the world would listen to.

Your efforts to help us would certainly not go to waste here, Mr. Sparks.  

Sincerely,

Dawn M. Torrence Williamson
Very determined CDH mom