Sophie's Rainbow Magnet

I am slowly but surely putting some of the ideas I had into something real. As I said before though, things just seem to take much longer than I anticipated.

Anyway, the above picture is of a car magnet that is currently in production and should be available for purchase through Sophie's site in a few weeks. This is just the first step in raising funds for a new project that I am starting to help other families dealing with what our family did last year. The funds that we raise will be divided into three parts to be used to support and help families in three different ways.

I am planning to give one third of all funds raised per year to St. Jude. You know how strongly we feel about supporting St. Jude because of the wonderful care they gave to Sophie, and for all the help they give to families who are faced with catastrophic diseases.

Another third of all funds raised per year will be given to the Prayers From Maria Foundation. This is another foundation that is very near and dear to our hearts because of the relationship we have with Ed and Megan and because of the personal help we received from them and their foundation. You also know that this foundation helps families through their website, and also provides money for grants so that further research can be done, through "traditional medicine" as well as alternative therapies.

The final third of the yearly funds raised will be dedicated to funding a meal program to provide a small amount of help for families afflicted with gliomas.  The idea is that the family can apply for a dinner here or there as needed and we will ship it to them on dry ice.  I know I was greatly blessed by Kim Walters and all the women who so generously volunteered their time and talent to provide meals 3 days a week to my family for many months while we were spending all our time caring for Sophie when she was battling her tumor. Those meals were a Godsend as it was one less thing I had to worry about each evening (as most were large enough for 2 nights!!) Because I know how much of a help it was, and also because I think this is a great way to honor Sophie's love of cooking, (she always wanted to "help me in the kitchen," even as a toddler), I want to be able to do the same for families all over the US. I am looking for a company to be the supplier of the meals that we can purchase...hopefully at a discount. My hopes are that regardless of where the family is, the meal can get to them. I am planning to start small and then grow as able.

So, as a way to not only get these projects up and running, but also as a tribute to my beautiful daughter Sophie and as a way to raise awareness, I came up with the idea for this magnet. J.J. Lipski's  parents, who created the gray ribbon for pediatric brain tumor awareness and are selling them through their website icouldbeyourchild.org, were so kind as to allow me to incorporate the ribbon into my magnet design. As J.J.'s mom said, "awareness is not copyrighted." All proceeds from the sale of this magnet will go directly to this Smiles For Sophie fund.

As of right now, we do not have non-profit status, but are hoping to work towards that very soon.  We are going to establish an account with the remaining money that was donated to us during Sophie's illness and will add to that as we find other ways to raise funds.  In addition to the magnets, we will soon have rainbow headbands and the "Sophie & Maria's Rainbow Connection" puzzle available for purchase.

Stay tuned as we again get the website and paypal kinks worked out. We are hoping to be able to sell here on Sophie's website using paypal. If not, we might have to do it the old-fashioned way with mailed checks. Nonetheless, the magnets are in production and will soon be available!!

Thanks for the continued prayers and support!! Together we can all make a difference!