A Message to our Family & Friends...
(We've updated these pages as of 12/31/11.)
Fundraiser for the LAM Foundation - Danielle is donating 20% of the sales from this Close To My Heart online gathering! (12/31/11)
Danielle has been a consultant with Close To My Heart now for almost ten years. The LAM Foundation has always provided unmeasurable support and has been instrumental in their ongoing fight for a treatment and cure for LAM. Close To My Heart has a huge variety of papers, inks, accessories and more for scrapbooking, cardmaking and crafting. This is an online gathering, so it is easy for everyone to browse and purchase whatever they want and have it shipped directly to them, with 20% of all the proceeds going to the LAM Foundation.
Here is the link to a web page with all the details, where you can start shopping right away, invite a friend, or even see a few card ideas that Danielle has created: Fundraiser for the LAM Foundation
THANKS - 4th Annual Breath of Hope LAM Charity Benefit! (11/12/11)
We'd like to thank all our friends and family for either attending or contributing to the fundraiser for LAM in Chicago: the 4th Annual Breath of Hope LAM Charity Benefit. It was on Saturday, November 12, 2011. My buddy Dennis and I went to enjoy the food, drink and auction items. The benefit was able to raise over $100,000 for the LAM Foundation. How unbelievable is that! Thanks again to EVERYONE for their support. Here is Dennis bidding on something and a finished artwork piece that an artist painted while the bidding was going on! It was really cool.
LAM Foundation Fundraiser - Raffle (5/11/11)
The results are in! First of all, THANK YOU to everyone who supported our fundraiser and purchased tickets for the LAM Raffle. I just got an e-mail from Holly Gersbacher, the Development Coordinator for the LAM Foundation. She let me know that they raised over $120,000 during the Gala on Saturday night. As for raffle tickets, they sold about $11,000 in tickets! I feel very blessed as we personally sold 201 tickets to 82 different people and raised $4025! With about 1/3 of the tickets for the raffle sold being our group – I hoped we would have at least one winner. Sheepishly, I have to admit that the Benich Family was lucky enough to win THIRD PLACE – a prize pack similar to last year’s trip! I guess the kids can make the trip with us this time. And, to prove that I didn’t put my name on all the tickets – we also have to congratulate the FIRST PLACE winner, with a hotel stay in Maui, Hawaii, a bunch of restaurant certificates and a $1000 gift card to help with flights – a package worth over $2500 – to our Crown Point friend – BRAD HENDRICKSON!!!! Congrats Brad – hope you enjoy your trip.
LAM Foundation Fundraiser - we're selling tickets! (2/11/11)
Each year the LAM Foundation has a big fundraiser with a silent auction and a raffle. Believe it or not, last year Danielle and I won the second prize and enjoyed a great mini-vacation in California. This year we are assisting in raising some much needed funds for research by helping sell tickets for the raffle. If you are interested and would like to help, please check out our Fundraising link for more information. Thanks for all your support and prayers!
ATS Conference in New Orleans! (5/26/11)
The ATS Conference wanted a patient speaker to talk for 5 minutes about their
experience with Pulmonary Rehabilitation. My husband saw the request, noticed the
conference was held in New Orleans, and pretty much volunteered me to do it
(as obviously, it isn't something I would normally volunteer for on my own). In his
defense he did ask first, but I didn't think they'd pick me and halfheartedly said
sure. Well, imagine my surprise when I found out I was going to New Orleans to give
a speech. YIPES! Then, when they were going over everything, the coordinator thought
I would also fit in well for a longer 15 minute speech on having an acute lung injury
and how it affects you and your family's lives. Well what do they say? In for a dime
- in for a dollar, I figured if I'm going there anyway... why not? And if it would
help bring more attention to LAM in front of researchers who actually might be able
to treat or cure the disease, then I couldn't very well argue against it.
The 5 minute speech was the first one, and I could get through that one without a problem. It was just a little bit on my experience with Pulmonary Rehab, which was mainly a positive experience, and it really did help me learn how I can best exercise with LAM and my unique needs.
The longer 15 minute speech was next, and I never could get through the entire speech without becoming emotional. I was hoping with some practice I could get acclimated to it and get past that -- but apparently not! Anytime I talk about my kids and how this affects them and our family, I cry. (* sigh *) So I just had my kleenex up there with me, and I somehow got through the entire thing. Kenny said I did all right, but I think he's biased. :-)
We sat though a lot of doctor's presentations waiting to give my speeches. While
just about all of it was WAY over our heads, the basic idea was that they are
working on repairing lungs at the cellular level. Looking around the room during
their presentations complete with powerpoint slides, there were many doctors and
researchers nodding their heads and taking lots of notes.
We had several other days in New Orleans just to ourselves, and we had a lot of fun.
We posted some pictures on our family blog on May 26, 2010 if you'd like to see them.
THANKS - 2nd Annual Breath of Hope LAM Charity Benefit! (11/10/09)
We'd like to thank all our friends and family for either attending or contributing to the fundraiser for LAM in Chicago: the 2nd Annual Breath of Hope LAM Charity Benefit. It was on Saturday, November 7, 2009. Kenny and I were there along with some great friends! The benefit was able to raise $56,000 (net) for the LAM Foundation, which was even over their goal of $50,000. How unbelievable is that! Thanks again to EVERYONE for their support.
Love,
The Benich Family
