Trisomy Tea - Raising Awareness One Cup at a Time

Trisomy Tea

A very special friend, Cindy Chamberlin, is running a very simple fundraiser that I would encourage everyone to consider joining, and it will only cost you $5!  Here is her message:

Well I can’t WAIT any more! March is Trisomy Awareness Month. In honor of our daughter, Jordan Elizabeth Chamberlin, I will be having a fund raiser to support Hope for Trisomy, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, and our local families that have experienced a loss by selling “Tea Cups”.
Each Tea Cup is $5.00 (see picture below) and includes a special bag of tea. They can be mailed within the US for an additional 46 cents (and of course can be picked up/dropped off locally). Message me if you live out of the US and we can work something out!!!!
Because Jordan had Trisomy 18; $3.18 of each cup sold will go to Hope for Trisomy, $1.00 to NILMDTS, and the rest to stay locally in the hopes of having a larger ceremony on October 15 (National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day). I can accept cash, check, and paypal. Let me know if you have any questions. My goal is to sell at least 200! I’m so excited to raise awareness and continue to celebrate what Jordan means to us!!! Thank you for your help and support!Each Tea Cup is $5.00 (see picture below) and includes a special bag of tea. They can be mailed within the US for an additional 46 cents (and of course can be picked up/dropped off locally). Message me if you live out of the US and we can work something out!!!!Because Jordan had Trisomy 18; $3.18 of each cup sold will go to Hope for Trisomy, $1.00 to NILMDTS, and the rest to stay locally in the hopes of having a larger ceremony on October 15 (National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day). I can accept cash, check, and paypal. Let me know if you have any questions. My goal is to sell at least 200! I’m so excited to raise awareness and continue to celebrate what Jordan means to us!!! Thank you for your help and support!

This is what the Trisomy Tea awareness "tea cup" looks like. To order a tea cup, please send a donation (or order request to receive a pre-order invoice) of $5.46 for each cup to the following paypal account: cynster@suddenlink.net. Provide your total tea cup order and your mailing address. $3.18 goes to Hope for Trisomy, $1 to NILMDTS, $.82 to a local WV effort for National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day on 10/15, and $.46 for shipping costs.  Thank you for your support! 

This is Jordan's Gemma's Bear from Hope for Trisomy. Your donation to Trisomy Tea helps us fund Hope for Trisomy's Gemma and Payton bear gifts to families facing a trisomy diagnosis or a milestone birthday. We receive heart-warming comments from families that receive our bears. For more information about the bear programs, please see hopefortrisomy.org.

Cindy and her beautiful Jordan.

My Little Warrior Princess

The Warrior Princess Foundation - The Warrior Princess Foundation was founded by Michael and Chrissy Whitten after their precious daughter, Lilian Grace, earned her wings Thursday, August 5, 2010. She was born with T18, Edward’s Syndrome, on Sunday, April 25, 2010, and fought a daily battle for 103 days. Her parents realized the need and desire to help other families going through this similar journey due to the large costs and grueling daily battles this syndrome creates on a daily basis.  They wanted to create a way to help families, and so they began an annual fundraiser to help in that effort.

The foundation held it's second annual Trail Run fundraiser this past April 2012. They choose trisomy 18/13 children to recognize during the race. Rebekah was one of the these children honored both the first year of the run (2011), and the second year (2012).  We feel very blessed to receive an official Warrior Princess Medal which arrived for Christmas time.  Many thanks to the Whittens for honoring our trisomy children and for helping families in need! 

This is the medal that Rebekah received. The message reads,
"A small token/gift for your grace  & fighting spirit
through your true Trisomy Race. This medal is from the
2nd  Annual Warrior Princess Trail Run 10.3 miles, 10.3K &
Fun Run/Walk 1.03 miles races on April 25, 2012.
Love from Michael, Chrissy, Piper & Lilian (Angel)

Rebekah is totally thrilled at the honor of receiving an official Warrior Princess medal!

Navigate the slides to see more of Rebekah's funny faces. :-)

Stroll for Hope - TEAM BUDD ZOO

TEAM BUDD ZOOBack: Michael & Susan
Front (left to right): Isaiah (6), Jeremiah (8), Elijah (10) holding Rebekah (2), Josiah (4)

Please support TEAM Budd Zoo in a Stroll for Hope to raise money for SOFT.  Your tax-deductible donation of even a few dollars will go to help educate both families and the medical community about trisomy 18, 13 and related disorders!  Read below for more information...

When I was pregnant with Rebekah, the majority of the information I got from doctors and online resources were full of doom and gloom. We prepared for the worst. But when Rebekah ended up living and thriving, I was left without information on how to care for her. One of the few organizations I've found that actually has medical advisors and trisomy experts, as well as an international registry of trisomy 18/13 families, is Support Organization for Trisomy 18, 13, and Related Disorders (SOFT) - a nonprofit volunteer organization offering support for parents who have had or are expecting a child with a chromosome disorder (especially Trisomy 18 and Trisomy 13), and education to families and professionals interested in the care of these children. 

We are excited - all seven members of the Budd Zoo will be attending the SOFT Conference in Chicago in July! The conference will provide a free medical clinic for the SOFT kids, and Rebekah will be able to consult with 3 specialists to get additional advice on her care.  

As part of the conference activities, we will be participating in a Stroll for Hope event to raise money for SOFT. We are taking pledges/donations for our stroll around HOPE Hospital in Chicago, IL. Your donations are tax deductible and go to a great organization! And thanks to SOFT, our family has received a scholarship to help us offset the conference costs, and we want to be able to give back so other families can attend in the future. 

My plug for supporting SOFT (trisomy.org):
I encourage anyone facing a journey with a SOFT child, including the medical professionals that will care for them, to join this organization because of all the things they can provide:

• Help and support for families;
• Medical advisors who are experts on trisomy 18/13 kids;
• Materials available for care of trisomy kids;
• SOFT Times, a quarterly magazine full of informative articles, life experiences, practical information, summaries of latest research articles, tons of inspiring pictures of living and thriving children, and much more;
• New family packet that is a great resource.

I have found their materials to be awesome resources for our family and for Rebekah's doctors. The books include info like typical problems, recommended medical treatments, and growth curves for trisomy kids.

Most important - this is a volunteer run organization! Even the medical advisors are volunteer. All money donated to SOFT goes to subsidize conference costs, create informative materials for families, education opportunities, support of trisomy-related studies, and so many other good programs! It DOES NOT pay for salaries or projects in conflict with the purpose of the organization.

Thank you for your love and support of Rebekah, and children like her!

Timmy's Tasty Treats to Topple Trisomy 18

For Timmy

My T-18 Family friend, Stefanie Hilarczyk, had put together a fantastic collection of recipes in order to raise money for the Trisomy 18 Foundation and to help raise awareness of Trisomy 18. The cookbook is in honor of her nephew, Timmy, who has a mosaic form of triosmy 18. It is called Timmy's Tasty Treats to Topple Trisomy 18, and I know they're tasty, because I submitted several yummy recipes myself!! :-)

Rebekah (along with several of her T-18 friends) is featured in the informational video introducing the cookbook, so check it out! She was about 6 months in that picture.

Pre-sales are going on right now for the cookbook. So please help support this cause and get some tasty treats along the way!

Cooks cost $25 + $5 S&H ($30 total). They are $10 S&H ($35 total) for overseas orders. Just Paypal Stefanie at thilarczyk@optonline.net. Be sure to send her your address with the order! The cookbooks will be in her hands by June 2nd, and she will ship them out as soon as they arrive.

Thank you for supporting the trisomy 18 cause!