Happy Donna Day!

Today is March 1 and the second annual Donna Day. Now, I'm sure you're wondering, "who the heck is Donna?!" Donna is a little girl that spent most of her four years battling a rare brain tumor. Her story can be found here. Please read it. You will cry, I promise you that. When I first found Donna (more in a minute), I sat at my desk and cried like I had not cried since my mother died 17 years ago. But you will also be overwhelmed with love and hope. That is Mary Tyler Mom's (Donna's mom) mantra...Choose Hope. That is a powerful message on the best of days but to be able to cling to it in the midst of every parent's deepest, darkest nightmare? Incredible.

By now I'm sure you're wondering why we're celebrating a day that has no impact on you. Oh but you're wrong. I stumbled across Donna's story a few weeks after my niece Emma started treatment for her own brain tumor. I was blindly Goggling trying to find any information I could on what she was facing. I'll be honest, Donna was not what I was looking for. However, I started following MTM on Facebook and started to learn about the deplorable state of funding for pediatric cancer. This, friends, fires me up like nothing ever has before. I am passionate about protecting children. If you know me, you know this. And frankly, I am beyond pissed off about how shabbily our babies are being treated by The Man. You can read about that here. Please read that post if you have not. In a nutshell, our babies are being given the shaft because saving their lives is not profitable.

For months, I've been feeling both helpless and fired up to do something. I want to help. I want people to know that buying pink can openers and dropping pocket change in a purple bucket does jack squat for the kids. This is where St. Baldrick's enters the picture. St. Baldrick's funds pediatric cancer research. Good research. Please, please check out their site. Donna Day is the kick off to MTM's event in Chicago at the end of the month. I am donating a smocked dress to the auction. It is not much, but dammit, I feel like I am finally doing something. But I want to do more. I want to do a St. Baldrick's event for Emma. I will be looking at this and getting more information. Stay tuned......