Behind the Button

Get to Know MOTHERS FIGHTING FOR OTHERS

A while back I met a guy named Jeff Turner - he's a pretty amazing - innovative, funny and not afraid to shake things up - my kind of guy! He's big on Twitter if you're into that sort of thing @respres. Jeff's pretty focused on real estate so it's not Jeff I want to talk about here rather his better half, his wife Rocky (what's not to like about a woman named Rocky!!) Rocky heads up an organization MOTHERS FIGHTING FOR OTHERS (all caps just seemed right for this one). I hope you'll check (I am) out this amazing charity to learn...what an inspired army of mothers can do to change the world ...no doubt! Rocky's on Twitter too @headmutha

So here's the thing that caught my attention today - as a "writer" (hey you got a blog you're a writer, right?) I have an enormous respect for well written stuff especially when it comes from the heart with a heavy dose of passion - Bill Lublin's post today about Rocky's cause is eloquent, real and poignant. I think some of the things he says about the challenge of fundraising will resonate with some of you as you go about making the world a better place - so I wanted to share parts of Bill's article (below) and hope that you will do two things and realize one...

1. do check out Bill Lublin's post on MOTHERS FIGHTING FOR OTHERS and the rest of his blog - he has something to say and he says it well
2. do check out the MOTHERS FIGHTING FOR OTHERS cause and get involved if you are so moved
3. realize and never doubt for a minute how important and hard it is to volunteer, fundraise or donate to worthy causes - the world would not spin the same way without you!

Now a little taste of Bill's post Help Change the World at MOVEPHILLY

"I'm not the greatest person to participate in fundraising activities.

Don't get me wrong I'm a very charitable guy, but I tend to be the guy who makes the donation more than the guy who asks for them . I always feel like I'm imposing on someone when I ask them to support the fund raising efforts of one of the causes that are important to me like the American Cancer Society, or Easter Seals, or the Lupus Foundation, so when I am asked to be part of a group making the effort to raise money , I am reticent about asking others for their help. Maybe its a character flaw, but that's just how it is. This time I'm making an exception to that behavior because my friend Rocky Turner has allowed me and my son Hal and daughter-in-law Jennifer the privilege of helping Rocky in her constant efforts to raise money for children in Kenya..." for more

Why I love Caleb's Mom and the San Diego JDRF Walk to Cure diabetes...

You know what I love most about Buttons of Hope - Caleb's Mom, Caleb's Crew and of course Caleb...let me explain.

At 4:40pm this past Monday I get a call (try it dial 704.341.1954 you get me, really) from Nancy Cullen in San Diego (I'm in Charlotte NC) - Nancy is doing the San Diego JDRF Walk to Cure diabetes this Sunday in honor of her son Caleb. Nancy found me on Google searching for unique fundraising ideas. 

So of course I told Nancy are you kidding there's no way, how could I possibly make and ship 50 buttons in five days? in time for the JDRF walk....NOT!  But of course the answer was yes - I always say yes and then I just make it happen! Anyway we worked it out, I made the 50 buttons that night and shipped them the next day by FEDEX (always awesome) and I see where they will be delivered today!

Here's why this is so important and remarkable. When I get a call like this I think one thing - that one button (or fifty) is the most important thing to that person - in this case for Nancy the button is her son Caleb and having Caleb's picture will allow her to share Caleb's story (see below) with everyone who asks "Who is on your button?" - and they undoubtedly will ask!  If we had connected earlier can you imagine the impact of 50 people wearing Caleb's button weeks prior to the JDRF Walk - how many people would have asked about Caleb and JDRF Walk to Cure diabetes hundreds, thousands? Now that's a unique fundraising idea!

So why do I do this with so much passion, why do I make sure everyone who wants a button gets a button? (did you know I've outsourced the button making...to my garage haha - making every one of over 10,000 photo buttons myself by hand) Why? Because I know how important each single button is to the person who wears it. And my dream, vision (the reality) is that there are millions of people with a story to share just like Caleb's and I hope that some day they (and charities) too will see the power of "putting a face on their fundraising" with a button!

Here is Caleb's story...

"My son Caleb was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in June of 2008 at 3½ years old. Since his diagnosis he has had to endure approximately over 3,400 finger pricks to test his blood sugar and over 1,275 insulin shots.

We are participating in the 2009 JDRF Walk for Diabetes in San Diego.  Our team, Caleb’s Crew, was formed in honor of our son.  We are hoping to raise funds to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes for Caleb and the more than 3 million Americans who have the disease.  Caleb has been a great inspiration to me because no matter how tough things get he is still a happy, bright, and lovable boy." Nancy Cullen, Mom

...that's quite a story, did it make a difference to see Caleb's picture? let us know leave a comment below

Erin Ott "each step I take will be for her" | Susan G. Komen 3 day Walk Arizona

When Erin visited the Buttons of Hope website - she was a stranger now her story(s) and her passion are out there for everyone to see. Erin tells me she loves her buttons - but it's really not about the buttons so much as its about what those buttons say about the powerful stories she has to share. I love it when the light goes on and someone finds the photo button fundraising idea. When I see someone like Erin proudly wearing her buttons I know that while they are a powerful fundraising tool more than they are helping her be the change she wants to see in the world...wow!

From Erin...I would love to offer you my story, so here it goes:

"I initially signed up for the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day (Arizona 2009) as a challenge to myself to commit to a wonderful cause and to better myself and those around me. I learned of the walk from my boss and her daughter-in-law.  I immediately said where do I sign up???? I registered and started walking a little each day...and then a little more and a little more...[if you've never done a Komen 3 day Walk it is one of the most physically demanding fundraisers]

My aunt is a TWO time breast cancer survivor, and multiple women and men that I work with are survivors.  So I started walking and started asking those around for donations.  Fundraising was tough, but I just kept asking and emailing and posting on facebook and finally I reached my goal of $2,300!!  Then something happened that made this walk much more personal than I ever thought imaginable.  My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Her surgery date will be just days before my 3-day journey and each step I take will be for her.  My camelbak is decorated with buttons of hope so all who see me walk down the street will know who I walk for...I walk for my aunt, I walk for my co-workers, I walk for my sisters, and I walk for my Mom, my best friend for life!"

If you'd like to support Erin please leave a comment for her at the end of this blog post and / or if you like you'd care to contribute to her Susan G Komen 3 Day fundraising page - to make a contribution to Erin simply click on the button of Mom (really try it works)!

 

Over 10,000 buttons - every one has a story and every story is different!

If ever there was something that defined what Behind the Button is all about...
well this takes the cake! I know there's a story behind every button (I've personally made by hand well over 10,000) sometimes the story is shared / sometimes not but either way there's a story here like that of twin sisters Ellie and Grace Potvin.

For me the stories are more than curiosity - as I'm making the buttons I feel like I get to know these people (it's the eyes) and I wonder if I could be as brave as the people on these buttons and my customer/friends who order them. I stumbled upon this video of Ellie and Grace from just last month September 2009 - knowing what was (and is) going on at that time I doubt I could ever be as brave as these little girls or Amy the camerawoman ~ Godspeed team Potvin!

If you'd like to wear a button in support of Ellie see button gallery here

I have the best customers in the world! Michele Kwok | Team in Training

One thing about my customers they are filled with passion! It blows me away when I see what they are doing for causes like Team In Training's fight against leukemia and lymphoma.

What an awesome surprise - So today one of my favorite customers Michele Kwok dropped me a note on the Buttons of Hope Facebook fanpage to page (become a fan) follow up on her quest to run the Chicago Marathon in honor of her Dad ~ some of you might remember me writing about her story "My Dad will be running with me the whole way" - Michele is going to to fly! in April. Michele was looking for a fundraising idea that would help her honor her Dad and meet her Team In Training fundraising goal!

Clearly Team Kwok is a rousing success.....yeah Michele, yeah buttons!

Buttons help keep Ellie Potvin in your mind as well as your heart!

It is with a heavy heart that I write what is at best an update on a sweet little girl's condition. As many of you know I befriended Ellie, her twin sister Grace and their parents Tim and Amy last year within days of Ellie's cancer diagnosis 

The MojoRiding cycling team - I wrote "I Specialize in Kindness" and many others joined together to ride the 24 Hours of Booty in support of Ellie's just beginning fight with cancer (rhabdomyosarcoma) - after more chemo and heartache than any child or family should endure things brightened late this summer as Ellie's cancer took a breather (as I wrote here "winning her fight"). But that joy was not long-lived as within weeks the cancer was back and once again Ellie and her family are immersed in the misery of cancer treatment and life altering decisions.

I made some new buttons picking up on Amy's new battle cry TEAM POTVIN - and I wrote to her that "I guess I don't know what to say so I make buttons" - Amy I'm sure had a little chuckle about that, that's just who she is. But I also know that the buttons I've made have been at times a badge of honor for the Potvin's and I know that Ellie likes seeing other folks wearing "her picture". So more or less I wanted to update this story and to thank everyone who has ordered buttons I hope you are wearing them and that they help keep Ellie in your mind as well as your heart. The Potvin's encourage everyone to wear buttons to support Ellie both in spirit and financially - it does make a difference ($2 from each button goes to the The Ellie Shoal Potvin Supplemental Needs Trust)

If you'd like to (please do) read more about Ellie and all the support she is receiving please visit her CaringBridge site (please leave a message of support) or her website Lift Up Ellie. And if you'd like to show your support by wearing a button or pinning one on your purse, golfbag or knapsack you can find them by clicking here at Buttons of Hope. Thank you for keeping this brave little girl and her beautiful family in your thoughts and prayers. makehope

Buttonguy Riding the Ride to Fight cancer.

 

Team MojoRiding raises $44,686

 

With your help this little cycling team Rhonda and I started in 2005 has raised over $290,000 $310,000 for charity! MojoRiding has turned the amateur cycling/fundraising world on it's ear and we even got to meet and ride with a very special person because of it (more on that below)

So now we are at it again Rhonda, myself & fifty MojoRiders will be taking to the tree-lined streets of Myers Park in the 24 Hours of Booty << (watch the video it's amazing) to benefit LIVESTRONG and Charlotte cancer charities July 25-26.

And now you can add a LIVESTRONG yellow bracelet to Twitter @buttonguy very cool...

Like so many of my Buttons of Hope customers I will be walking the walk OK riding the ride and fundraising for a great cause. We'll be riding for our cousins Dale and Janie who passed away too young from cancer. And will also be riding for Robin Perkins wife of Dave Perkins our good friend and fellow Mojo. Robin was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and is battling through surgery and treatments. We'll also be out there in honor of our dear friend Brandon Elam who passed away, and to support little Ellie Potvin who is battling a rare cancer BUT after a year of chemo is winning her fight! Robin and Ellie are examples of the promise of research, early detection and treatment that is funded by your donation to our efforts!

Rhonda and I are going to ride a combined 300+ miles (20 hours) in the 24 hour period (through the night and summer heat)....

We realize there are a number of ways to give and some remarkable causes - we hope you'll consider our physical effort and commitment should you decide to contribute - maybe you have someone you'd like us to honor - for every $50 donation we'll wear a button of your loved on our jersey (one for you too) and ride in their honor! It's very easy to donate** online simply click on the link below to make a donation.

http://budurl.com/BootyForMichael 

Any size donation is greatly appreciated - Thank you for your generous donation!

OK so back to the "mystery person" - because of the generosity of our donors and the hard work of the Mojoriding team last fall Rhonda and I were invited to Austin where we both got to meet Lance Armstrong and I had the dream of a lifetime honor of riding with Lance.

 

You Can't Move On, So You Try to Move Forward

Mary and John Kelker are moving forward ~ and it's a big deal! I think often of the Kelkers and of course of their daughter Janine who is such a big part of what Buttons of Hope (and I) have become. If it's true (and it is) that you can tell a lot about a person from there friends and family ~ well then Janine Kelker must have been some kind of wonderful person.

This past Saturday morning I walked with Janine's family & friends in the Charlotte Walk Like MADD walkathon to end the scourge of drunk driving. It was a beautiful morning and it was so good to see Janine's Mom Mary truly smile ~ I have seen Mary smile a few times before in he three years I have known her but this time was different ~ she seemed more at peace and while never forgetting, never moving on Mary seemed like she was starting to move forward. We walked a good part of the walk together talking about kids, jobs, the economy, life and of course Janine - knowing full well that the world would be a wondrously better place with Janine walking beside us.

You might ask why someone I never met means so much to me? If I've learned one thing from the hundreds of tragic stories I have embraced the past three years it is this ~ as many gifts as a person has to give in life, there are also gifts that can only be given in death. This is not to say that by any measure death is better than life ~ just that I have seen such strength and purpose in the people who have lost loved ones ~ that the only explanation is those who have gone help us, nurture us all to move forward in peace.

I am glad to have cone to know the Kelkers, proud to call them my friends and I only wish I could have met Janine ~ who inspires me everyday.     

Something(s) to Believe In - Hugh Mcleod & Buttons of Hope

"the market for something to believe in is infinite" ~ Hugh MacLeod

The image above was originally drawn on he back of a business card. I am pretty sure Hugh Macleod does not think of himself as an artist per se. His work is funny, provocative, sometimes petulant and always remarkable - he is collaborating with his good friend Seth Godin to offer limited edition prints of his "back of the business card art" -- very cool check it out here & here. 

So why am I writing about this in Behind the Button? Because "something to believe in is [indeed] infinite" and I'll add [increasingly rare] and as Hugh says...

"...the idea that products were not just functional things to be mass produced and foisted upon consumers, really began to take on meaning for me. We human beings are here to find meaning, not just to consume stuff - and that has informed my philosophy ever since." Mine too!

Helping people find meaning, making a product that is so much more than a combo of paper, metal and plastic is what Buttons of Hope is all about. Just yesterday I was telling a friend about a post I did on behalf of Michele Kwok and her Dad. He said "she must have been a big customer" - no not really she ordered one button (and I made another for free) - see for me it's not all about the money, it's about the project, it's about making a really, really big change in the way people view causes, raise money and in how they view themselves. My friend Will said "(I) was much more about making a difference than a profit" ~ I like that he said that!

I think for most of my customers their buttons are simply a tangible expression of "something to believe in and hope for"

"My Dad will be running with me the whole way" - Michele is going to to fly!

On occasion I make buttons for runners, but much like cyclists runners can be a little different from walkers. I had one runner recently who did not want to wear a button ~ he said it might "weigh him down"! (the buttons are about 1.5 oz!) Well here's a story about a runner who is most certainly going to be lifted up by her button - Michele Kwok is going to fly at the 2009 Chicago Rock & Roll Half Marathon ~ in part because of this button of her Dad!

"I will wear this button on the day of my race, my Dad will be running with me the whole way, he is my inspiration to finish these 13.1 miles without stopping." ~ Michele Kwok

I am no longer surprised by people like Michele BUT I am still in awe of the strength people muster in the most heart-rending of circumstances. Michele lost her dad to cancer less than a year ago and now with the support and motivation of The leukemia and lymphoma Society's awesome Team in Training Michele has the courage to run further than ever before in honor of her Dad. Please take a minute to read Michele's story and if you are touched by her story please consider donating to her cause click here so that in the future people like Michele's dad will be there to run beside her in more than spirit!

From Michele Kwok....

"It has always been a goal of mine to participate in the Chicago Marathon. I have participated in a few 5K races during the past few years and finally this year I decided to take it a notch up towards my goal. I ran in the 2009 Shamrock Shuffle 8K this March even though it was snowing and there were puddles everywhere, as long as it wasn't cancelled, I didn't care, I was going to run it. I finished with a great time and it was a great experience. The next step is at the end of May when I run the 15K at Soldier Field. When I was researching the Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon, I saw that the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society were offering their training services for this event and I thought that if I could conquer the 1/2 marathon then eventually I could do the full. I signed up right away and I knew that I wouldn't be able to train for this big event by myself and I also wanted to help fundraise for the society. This event means a lot to me, I'm running in memory of my Dad who lost his battle with Leukemia last September.

My Dad was a kind, loving, genuine, loving, and hardworking man. He was diagnosed with Leukemia right after Christmas in 2007. He went through 2 rounds of Chemo and throughout the whole time, he had the greatest spirit and positive outlook even through all the pain. He had found an article in the newspaper and the title read "I Will Survive!" He clipped it out and posted it next to his bed. He always loved to make jokes and had a unique sense of humor, his cheerfulness always made everyone smile. His chemo sessions resulted well and he was feeling good. He was able to make it to my Commencement and see me walk across the stage, I was so thankful for that.