Silent Auction Spirit

In keeping with the spirit of a silent auction as well as respecting that we have people wishing to participate in a variety of locations. We have slightly altered the silent auction, but only slightly. Most items will remain auction items meaning that the highest bidder will receive whichever item they bid on. I will update the item posts online and in person on the 9th as items receive bids. If you would like to outbid the current bid, simply enter your bid online in the comment section of the desired item. The deadline for bidding has not been determined yet, but will be posted at a later date.

To accommodate others we will be offering a select few items as raffle items. Each raffle item will be given its own "donation" button. You will be able to enter any amount, starting with $1.00. For every $1.00 donated, you will receive a raffle ticket towards your selected item. At the end of the night, we will pull raffle tickets and announce the winners.

Please make note that ALL items, regardless if being auctioned or raffled will have their own individual post. All raffle items will have their own individual raffle donate button. All auction item bids will be received via the comment section in their category.

Silent Auction Items

The following are some items that have been donated to our

Go Green Bags & other eco friendly accessories

Manicure/Pedicure Basket

Coffee Basket

Scrap booking accessories

Overloading Bag of flip flops

Disney Explosion

Golfer's Paradise

Halloween Party Mix

100 Cookie Platter (Don't worry about baking Christmas cookies, have someone else do it)

Oakley Sunglasses

T21 Traveling Afghan (own your very own!)

Assorted Toys

Hand crafted jewelery

Down Syndrome Awareness Items

Massage



More donations to follow...just wanted to give everyone an idea of what we had in the works for now.

Call to All Businesses

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to request a donation on behalf of your company. On October 9, 2009 my family in Muskegon, MI will be hosting a silent auction to raise funds for a medical procedure for my daughter, Marissa. We have created an organization for this purpose, called Marissa’s Marchers.

Without further delay...this is our story:

Marissa has Down Syndrome and a repaired heart defect. She had open heart surgery when she was 4 months old at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. As a result of her low tone (a characteristic of DS) and her congenital heart defect she was a very weak baby for the first 5 months of her life. She also has a condition known as torticollis which impedes her movement towards the left. It is because of these various factors that she developed a flat spot on the back of her head, known medically as Plagiocephly.

I have been attempting to treat the flat spot with physical therapy, early intervention, and head massage in the home.  After receiving a referral to a cranial facial specialist and diagnosing her plagiocephaly as a moderate case, we were prescribed positional helmet therapy.  If not corrected, Marissa could develop spinal complications or vision problems so we feel very strongly that this needs to be corrected. 

We were all set to go, signing in at the orthotetics desk at University of Chapel Hill and I was told that our insurance didn't cover the therapy and that it would cost us $3500 to go through with the treatment. Plagiocephaly has a limited window of opportunity in which to treat it because it is only effective while the head is still forming. Essentially, due to this limited window, we had to act quickly and move forward with the treatment. For these reasons, our family is organizing a fund raiser for her therapy.

The silent auction is going to consist of a variety of baskets for friends and family to bid on. We are looking to have a variety of items in each basket to appeal to a wide variety of personalities. We are a military family residing in North Carolina, but we have roots in both Ohio and Michigan. So please note that even though the auction will be held in Michigan, we will have people participating in the auction from these 3 states. Your company will be recognized for its contributions. Anything that you feel would help us raise money towards our goal of $3500 would be greatly appreciated.

Please consider donating services, goods, or financially towards our auction. Thank you, in advance, for considering our cause.

Introduction

Welcome to Marissa's Blog. I am starting this blog for a couple of reasons. Primarily because Marissa is a beautiful little girl who has Down Syndrome. We found out the day that she was born and have been presented with a variety of barriers along the way. However, we continue to march on through these barriers and we continue to land on our feet. Although Marissa's only about a year old, she has quite a story to tell.

First and foremost, Marissa is in need of your support. It was recently decided that she needs to undergo positional helmet therapy. Our insurance company (and many others do not cover the cost of this) so we found ourselves in a bind. The physicians explained that helmet therapy is only effective before the soft spot on the head closes so we needed to make a decision immediately. We put our faith in God's hands and moved forward with the treatment.



Since the treatment will cost $3500 we are looking for support from our friends, family, and the community. Our family in Michigan is organizing a silent auction to be held on October 9, 2009. We are currently in the process of contacting businesses in Michigan, Ohio, and N. Carolina to donate goods or services to be placed in a silent auction to raise $3500 for this therapy. Please know that if we raise in excess of #3500, we will donate the remaining funds to our local Down Syndrome chapter to provide a scholarship to another family that may wind up in a similar situation.

Some things to make note of:

The silent auction is to take place on October 9rd in Michigan, but I'd like for our friends and family to be able to participate no matter their location. Auction categories will be added periodically to this blog, however bidding will not begin until the 9th. Pictures of our items will be posted the week of October 5th, or as they become available.


Please consider following Marissa's blog and keeping track of our progress as we add items to our auction categories. If you would like to participate in the auction please contact me by posting a reply message.

Very sincerely,
Marissa's Mom