Friday, February 21, 2014

Win an I-Pad AND Cure Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis!!!!!!

Enter TODAY to win an Apple I-Pad Mini ($400 retail value). The raffle will be held on April 15th, tickets are $20/each and we are limiting the pool to 100 tickets.

Why should you buy a (or many) tickets? To help the 1.4 million Americans suffering from Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. All the proceeds from raffle sales will go directly to the CCFA to fund vital research for better treatments options and, of course, a CURE for these debilitating diseases.

To buy a ticket, simply click on this LINK and make a donation (for every $20, this will buy you 1 raffle ticket). If you would like your donation to count as a raffle ticket, please EMAIL me to tell me so (otherwise it will be assumed that you are simply making a donation).

If you would like to buy your raffle tickets with cash or check, please email me for details.

Best of luck to you! And thank you for making a difference by participating!!!!

Friday, February 14, 2014

Dublin is calling, but so is Ayla!!!!!!!!

So "Katie's Crew" is at it again! And of course we are, there is still no cure. My father, Peter, and I have signed up to tackle the Dublin half marathon on August 4th and have also promised to bring $9,000 to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, to provide vital funds for research to bring better treatments and, ultimately, a CURE for the 1.5 million Americans suffering from these debilitating digestive diseases. If you've been a follower of my blog, there is no need to tell you that pediatric diagnoses are on the rise and more and more adults are diagnosed every day. Symptoms often have an acute onset. I, for one, went from being an extraordinarily healthy 17 year-old to abruptly spending the next decade + on terrifying medications, spending months hospitalized, undergoing major abdominal surgeries and being in overall very poor health. IBD does not discriminate. Sadly, chances are, either you or someone you love will need the assistance of CCFA at some point in your life.

So, who needs you NOW? Children like 2 year-old Ayla, who is able to survive only via a feeding tube. She has never tasted food and, until we find better treatments, she probably never will. It's 7 year-old Doobee. Diagnosed at the age of 4, Doobee has undergone treatment after treatment and is not even a candidate for colon surgery as the damage to her small intestine is too severe. Grassroots efforts, like ours, have been getting us closer and closer to a cure for years. It's people like you and me that fund these research efforts. Without us, patients like Ayla and Doobee (and even me), would not be able to survive. Now the goal is to let people like Ayla and Doobee LIVE. To taste food, to run around... to have a childhood and a long, fulfilling life.

This year we have a few twists to our fundraising campaign.We of course have our fundraising site, where donations can be made at any time (why not now?). But we are also offering a few other fun ways of getting in on the good:

1. On Sunday, May 18th, we will be hosting a tour bus that will take guests to three vineyards on the North Fork of Long Island (all-inclusive, with boxed lunch). Tickets are $150, with proceeds going directly to CCFA. If you would like to reserve a spot on our bus, please mail a check for $150, made out to "CCFA", to my home (email me for address information @ kboccard@gmail.com). You can also make a donation of $150 directly to our fundraising page, but PLEASE email me to reserve a spot on the bus.  A 50/50 cash raffle will also be held on the day of the wine tour.

2. We are also hosting a raffle for a brand new, 16GB Apple I-Pad mini. Raffle tickets are $20/each. The drawing will be held on Tuesday, April 15th (hopefully it will bring some joy to "Tax Day"). Again, a check can either be made to CCFA and mailed to me, or a donation can be made on our fundraising page, but again EMAIL ME so I know you would like raffle tickets for your donation.

Another fun Happy Hour on the Beach is in the works, and will be planned for sometime in June or July. Details forthcoming.

Here's to another successful year of Team Challenge! "Katie's Crew" has raised, to-date, almost $70,000 for CCFA-funded research (BIG shout-out to my major cohorts, Regina Orelli, Gabrielle Orelli, Mary Boccard, Peter Boccard, Chrissy Whiteman & Billy Pearce). We are so honored that YOU have chosen to be a part of our miracle march toward a cure.





 Meet Ayla. Two year-old Crohn's patient, making the best of it!