Last weekend, Chris and I had the privilege of attending the Bat Mitzvah of a very special young lady, Lexi Goldberg.  Lexi has been very involved with The B+ Foundation and was pretty much the leader of the bone marrow drive that we ran at our Spring “FUN Raiser”.  That night, Lexi and co. signed up 94 potential donors.  Just think, we may have saved a life that night.  I can’t wait to hear that we did.  Chris and I had a great time, both at the synagogue as well as at the party.  It was a really special day.  Alison, Michael, and Jared — you should be awfully proud of your daughter/sister.  We were truly honored to be part of this important day and I just know that Andrew was smiling down on Lexi.  On a lighter note, please take a look at the one-of-a-kind B+ yarmulke that I wore at the synagagoue.  :)  (See caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough). 

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I am very pleased to report that the Phillies Charities, Inc. has selected The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation as one of the recipients of their 2009 community grants.  YOUR Foundation will receive $5,000 from the Phillies!  Thank you to Mark D. for nominating us and thank you to the Phillies for your generosity.  Your kindness will go a long way.

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Just a few reminders…

• Please help us win between $25,000 and $1,000,000 by voting for The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation in a FaceBook contest sponsored by my former employer, Chase.   All you need to do is go to FaceBook and vote for The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation.  PLEASE spread the word to all your friends.  This money could help out a TON!
• For those of you still in the United Way campaign season at work, just a friendly reminder that our UW-Delaware # is 11776 and UW-Southeastern PA # is 47481
• For great holiday gifts, please visit the homepage of www.BePositive.org for all kinds of great ideas.  And, if you’re local, please bring the attached flyer (click on http://76.12.197.222/documents/marini2009.pdf ) to Marini Christmas Trees as they are donating $5 from every tree sale to The B+ Foundation.  Marini is located on Veale Rd. across from St. Edmond’s Academy in North Wilmington.  Thank you to the Marinis.

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I hope you all enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday.  Try not to be down about going back to school or work tomorrow.  Just remember how blessed you are. 

Live Like Andrew - Make every day count…even Mondays!

B+

Ali’s & Andrew’s Dad

www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough

I hope you have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

Even though we are living through our worst nightmare, we know that we are tremendously blessed.  I have a wonderful wife of 26 years and two great children; even if I can only hug one of them.  We have family and friends who have shown us so much love, kindness, and support over this very difficult journey.  And, we have met so many brave young children that inspire us so much.  And, I know that God is always there for us and will always provide for us in this mission.  But, it hurts me SO much to not have Andrew physically here with me.  I don’t think the pain ever lessens; you just find ways to cope and survive.  Please keep in your prayers those families who have lost loved ones this year - especially the families of Savannah, Lynne, Billy, Alexa, Jack, Joe. Lara, Cynthia, Joan, Michael, and many others.  Please remember this holiday is much more than the turkey, stuffing, etc.  Thanks!

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We receive many letters of thanks from the families that YOU assist with The B+ Foundation “Family Assistance Program”.  During this holiday, I just want you to know that your generosity has helped 187 families in 30 states with a total disbursement of approximately $160,000!!!!  These are families struggling with their worst fear - their child facing a life-threatening illness (usually cancer) - all while trying to keep all of their bills paid.  Yesterday alone, we received 7 applications.  That was a record for one day.  Thank you very much for your kindness and generosity.

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If you’d like to get a little exercise tomorrow before you eat all the good food, please consider running in the Face To Face Germantown (PA) Turkey Trot.   For more information about running for a good cause, please visit http://www.facetofacegermantown.org/

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Thank you very much to Kierra Lynch and all of the young ladies at Villa Maria Academy in Immaculata, PA.  In follow-up to my talkat the school a couple of weeks ago, I stopped by Villa on Monday to pick up the items that they collected for the brave children in the hospital.  The girls collected about a dozen boxes of books, crayons, and all kinds of things that will keep the B+ Heroes entertained and, hopefully, distracted from the medical world for even a little while.  The families, Sisters, and teachers at Villa Maria should be tremendously proud of these young ladies.  Thank you very much!!!

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Please be careful on the roads as you travel to see loved ones.  Enjoy every minute and always remember how blessed you are.  And, don’t worry if you overcook the turkey or the pie.  Life WILL go on! 

God bless you.

Live Like Andrew - enjoy your time with your family & friends.  Make memories!

B+

Andrew’s & Alis’ Dad

www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough

OK, B+ Nation, we really need your help…and it’s super easy.  My former employer, Chase, is putting up $5,000,000 to award to charities.  All you need to do is go to FaceBook and vote for The Andrew McDonough

B+ Foundation.  The top 100 charities will receive $25,000 each and one lucky charity will receive $1,000,000!!!  You can only vote for us once, so it will only take a minute, but it will make a HUGE difference to the Foundation if we’re selected.  Thank you and thanks to Chase as well!

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Kudos to six year old, David Pic, who took it upon himself to organize a fundraiser in honor of Jack Langseder who went to Heaven recently.  David’s event, “Family Cards & Game Night”, will be held from 6:30-8:30 on Dec. 11th at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Hockessin, DE.   How COOL is that!  A six year old caring enough to organize a fundraiser for The B+ Foundation in honor of a brave young man who went to Heaven!  Thank you, thank you, thank you, David!

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Now for my editorial on the important news of the day.  I’m struggling to decide which of the MAJOR new stories should I address that have blanketed the media in the last 24 hours -  Oprah Winfrey announcing that she is going to stop her network talk show in 662 days for a new talk show on her ‘OWN’ network or the oh so troubling ending of “Jon & Kate Plus 8″.  I just don’t know what to do with myself.  How will we be able to go on each day?  Well, I’m so tired of Jon & Kate, I’m not even going to go there.  How are we, as a society, going to survive not seeing Tom Cruise jumping up and down on Oprah’s sofa while she fawns all over him?  Oh, that’s right.  He’ll still do that, it will just be on the NETWORK that Oprah will own.  Oh, and by the way, OWN will be the name of the network (Oprah Winfrey Network…you just can’t make this stuff up!)  I don’t have anything against Oprah; she’s done a lot of good and is probably a really nice lady.  But, did it really need to be the lead story on many newscasts?

Did you know that 46 precious children were diagnosed with cancer yesterday?

How many brave soldiers died in Afghanistan this week?

How are the jobless numbers looking?

We DO need our dose of fluff, but let’s not confuse it with important news!

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Thank you all for your great comments in response to Ali’s letter to the Senators.  Has this young lady found her ‘voice’ or what?  Great job, Ali.  We’re really proud of you!

Live Like Andrew (and Ali) - stand up for what you believe in!

B+

Ali’s & Andrew’s Proud Dad

www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough

Hi.  It’s Ali again…

How was your weekend?  Are you ready for the week?  When you or a family member is fighting in the hospital, weekends and weeks run together.  You don’t get a break, just because it’s Saturday.  The fight on Sunday is the fight on Monday. 

Saturday, a few of the girls from my sorority and I went down to Washington DC.  My plan was to go to the Senate buildings, but I didn’t make it.  I was so ready. I wrote a letter to our Delaware Senators.  I figured they wouldn’t be there because it was the weekend — time for a break — so I planned on giving it to anyone willing to take it from their office. Even though I didn’t make it, I plan on going back to DC, just to give them the letter and talk to anyone willing to listen.  (I think I’d have a better chance of it getting to them if I actually went rather than send it in the mail.)

So the letter’s pretty long, but it’s necessary.  If you want to read it, click the link: http://livelikeandrew.com/documents/SenatorThomasCarper.pdf

————

Please send some prayers up for Carrie Maniscalco (www.caringbridge.org/visit/carriemaniscalco).  Carrie had surgery Friday and is in serious pain.  Please pray that her pain goes away and that the doctors are able to figure out what to diagnose her with and treat it.  Carrie’s a truly awesome, inspiring girl.  Carrie has been so kind to me after she followed Andrew’s journey; she feels like a big sister to me. 

———–

Saturday and Sunday, Hockessin Soccer Club hosted the Kohl’s Cup soccer tournament and B+ had a table to spread the message and sell merchandise. Thank you to everyone who came out and volunteered! 

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I’ll leave you with one last thought. If you’re a ‘fan’ of “The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation” on Facebook, you’ve probably already seen this.  If you’re not yet a ‘fan’, please join!! We’d love to have you on our page. 

So I’ve been wondering…Why do people say someone “lost” the battle when referring to cancer?  Andrew didn’t lose ANY battle.  He never gave up.  He’s in Heaven, completely healed. The brave warriors fighting that, sadly, pass away didn’t lose the battle.  They fought so hard and were healed….just in a different way than we had hoped. They suffer no more.  Never should the memory of these heroes and the phrase “lost the battle” be used in the same sentence.  They truly won.  

www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough

 

As hard as it may be to sit through work or class tomorrow, enjoy your day! Do something nice for someone.  Tell someone you love how you feel.   

Make the best of your Monday!

- “Andrew’s Sister”

“Thank Our Veterans” Day!!!   (”Happy Veteran’s Day” just didn’t sound right for some reason.)

I would like to take a minute to thank all veterans who serve, or have served, our country.  While we go about our lives here, we sometimes forget the tremendous sacrifices that these soldiers and their families endure for our freedom and protection.  I would especially like to recognize my grandfather for his Army service in WWI, my father’s service in the Navy in WWII, my father-in-law who served in Vietnam and gave a total of 23 years to our country in his Naval career, to my niece’s & nephew’s father who served in the Marines in Desert Storm, and to my nephew, Bob, who is currently serving in the Army in Afghanistan.  While there are so many to acknowledge, I would like to pay special tribute this day to a local family who I have had the honor to meet.  Our prayers go out to the family of Elizabeth Loncki, Padua graduate and member of a bomb disposal unit in Iraq, who was killed in action in Iraq on January 7, 2007.  May our prayers and thanks bring you some small measure of comfort to you today.  It is my great honor that the Loncki family are supporters of The B+ Foundation and sport the B+ apparel.

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I would like to congratulate Heather Frank for posting a personal best in the NYC Marathon.  While that is impressive enough, Heather also ran the race with Andrew’s name on her singlet.  Thank you, Heather, for honoring our boy this way.

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Thank you, Steve Baron, for inviting me to speak at Montgomery County (PA) Community College today.  I hope I didn’t bore you too much!  Remember, when you lay your head down on the pillow tonight, did you make a difference in the life of at least one person???

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Please take a look at the homepage of www.BePositive.org for great holiday gift ideas.  “We Craft for You” is donating a percentage of all of their holiday sales to our Foundation, Marini’s Christmas Trees in Wilmington is doing the same, and we have some nice B+ jewelry that would make great holiday presents.  We thank “We Craft for You” and Marinis for their support. 

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Live Like Andrew - be comfortable in your skin.

B+

Ali’s & Andrew’s Dad

www.BePositive.org

I have asked some of our B+ Heroes for their personal perspectives on the battle with cancer.  I just think we need to hear from the brave ones that are going through these battles.  I am so appreciative to receive permission to print their thoughts.  Thank you, Sydney Lysinger, for sharing your insights in tonight’s posting.  You are so brave and inspire us more than you’ll ever know.  God bless you!

“I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in July of 2008.  When I started my freshman year of high school, I had been through two cycles of chemo and already lost my hair.  Freshman year can be tough.  Most of us are going to a new school and meeting lots of new people and hoping to make new friends.  Try to imagine doing this with no hair and unable to be at school for most of the first four months.  Most of the people at school were pretty nice but I didn’t really know anyone and I felt alone.  In the first few weeks (on the few occasions I was able to attend) another student made fun of the hat I wore everyday to school.  It hurt my feelings but it also made me really mad.  I really didn’t need someone picking on me while I was trying to fight this disease and try to fit in at school.  It only happened one more time after that, but it hit me hard and broke me down inside.  I didn’t feel welcome at this new school and that was very difficult.  I had been looking forward to attending this school for over a year.  Everything I was going through was huge – sometimes I thought it was too huge to handle.  I often wonder if that student had any idea of what I was going through or what my family was going through.  I still wonder why anyone would choose to be mean to someone going through something so horrible. 

            The one good part about having cancer was and is the people I have met and how it brought the people I love closer to me.  I had the privilege to meet Joe, Chris and Ali McDonough, Savannah Pauley, Lara Philips, and so many other amazing people.  My family and close friends were there for me.  But even people I didn’t feel that close to – reached out and showed their support.  All of these things made me happy even though I was very sick and very scared.  My friends and family and the great people I met are the best things in my life.  I am thankful for them helping me through my journey and beating this disease.”

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I’ve got to tell you about the surprise that I had yesterday.  Ali had a tough week with a few exams and a presentation and surprised me by coming home and kidnapping me for a ‘road trip’.  I had NO idea where we were going.  I just got into the car with her and she told me which way to go…it was a little hairy at times with Ali trying to make sense of the mapquest directions!  :)  (i.e. like the time that I almost took out a few cones on the road because she told me to turn at the last minute!!!)

Well, to make a long story short, one of the shows that Ali and I watch together is “Cake Boss” about a family-run bakery in Hoboken, NJ.  It’s a pretty funny show.  Well, yesterday afternoon, we visited “Carlo’s Bake Shop” in Hoboken, NJ, home of “Cake Boss”.  It took us about 2 hours or so to get there.  After taking some pictures and wolfing down a couple of cannolis and eclairs, we then headed into Manhattan for dinner.  Ali LOVES NYC!  She spent a lot of time in the city when she was a toddler, but of course, she doesn’t remember it.  Maybe it’s subconscious….  We met up with my nephew who is going to school in the city and had a nice dinner and then headed home to Wilmington.  It was a blast!  Ali and I had a great time and I was touched that she wanted to do this with ME!  I’m a lucky Dad!

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Last Tuesday, The B+ Foundation was privileged to be the beneficiary of a high school soccer game between Archmere Academy and Dover HS.  Both teams wore B+ shirts as their game jerseys, B+ gear was sold, and Andrew’s bud, Marco DiPrinzio, and I got a chance to address the crowd before the game.  Our most heartfelt thanks to Dover Coach Paul Booton, Archmere Coach Bob Bussierre, and all the players abnd families.

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Please keep Molly Anderson, one of our B+ Heroes, in your prayers as she is also battling H1N1.

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As a reminder, as many corporate United Way campaigns are kicking in, we appreciate you considering The B+ Foundation in your giving plans.  Our United Way numbers are as follows:

United Way of DE — 11776

United Way of Southeastern PA — 47481

To date, we have provided financial assistance to 160 families in 26 states.  We have distributed $250,000 in research assistance and $141,000 in Family Assistance Program aid.  We thank you for your generosity.  We ARE making a difference!

Live Like Andrew - “Be who you are, and be that well!” (St. Francis de Sales)

B+

Ali’s & Andrew’s Proud Dad

www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween.  It was pretty quiet at our house…not too many trick-or-treaters.  As one group was heading up to the front door, Ali heard one of them say - “Yeah, this is his house.  See the B+ sticker on the window.”  Then, the kid said “I wonder if they’re giving out B+ hoodies!”  Sorry guys, just candy.  The hoodies cost a little too much to give away. 

Chris reminded me of a Halloween story from several years ago.  She was explaining to Andrew that eating all of that sugary Halloween candy would give him a temporary rush of energy, but then he would crash.  Andrew had a solution for that problem.  He said “Then I guess I’ll just have to keep eating candy”.  Problem solved! 

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I had an opportunity to join one of our U.S. Senators for a breakfast meeting this morning.  I hope Andrew and all the families ‘in the club’ were proud as I expressed my tremendous disappointment that our federal government dedicates only 3% of the NCI research budget to childhood cancer research!  It’s just unacceptable.  All cancers are bad, but how can we not do more for our most vulnerable - our kids ???!!!

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Calling all volunteers!!!

On Sat. Nov. 14th and Sun. Nov. 15th, we will be staffing a B+ Foundation table at a large soccer tournament in Hockessin, DE.  The Kohl’s Cup tournament will be held at Hockessin Soccer Club and I’m trying to scare up volunteers for both days to sell B+ gear.  I don’t have the exact times yet, but it will be pretty much all day.  If you can help out for a couple of hours, we’d appreciate your help.  High school students, if you need service hours, this is a pretty good way to get them and I can sign your service form for school.  If you’re able to help out, please email me at joe@livelikeandrew.org.  Thanks!!!

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About 10 years ago, I played in an adult baseball league with my two brothers as teammates and Andrew as our batboy.  Andrew called himself “Mini Me”.  What a nice compliment.  While the Phillies season is still alive, I thought I would post this picture of us on www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough .  As much as I would like for the Phillies to win, it’s only a game after all.  Ask Cliff Lee, tonight’s starter for the Phils, which is more important — a victory tonight in Game 4 or the victory that he family enjoyed when his young son survived leukemia?  Enough said. 

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Thank you very much to Chi Omega and Delta Gamma sororities for allowing me to speak at their Chapter Meetings at UD last night.  Make the most of each day and keep your life in perspective.

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Please keep all of the B+ Heroes in your prayers.

Live Like Andrew

B+

Ali’s & Andrew’s Dad

www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewmcdonough