Your Community » Stories of Hope
A Plan of Action: A Family Goes Online to Raise Awareness and Funds
|
When it came to having kids, Jennifer and Mathew Pletcher had a plan. They wanted two biological children and an adopted child with special needs. According to plan, they had their first biological child, a girl named Arlington, and soon after, began the process of adopting a young boy from China named Cainan who had a cleft palate and lip — a condition that was manageable, but would require several surgeries. The Pletchers even created a blog to keep friends and family up to date on their efforts to bring Cainan to the U.S. and his progress once he arrived. While having their second biological child, Finley, was consistent with their plan, they never imagined she would be diagnosed at three years of age with severe and progressive vision loss from Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA). “With the diagnosis, we went from thinking Finley just needed glasses to learning she could go blind. We were blown away,” says Jennifer. In the family’s quest to find out more about LCA, they came across a blog, Gavin’s Groupies, started by the Stevens family in California who has a young boy born blind from LCA. That’s where the Pletchers first learned about the Foundation’s VisionWalk program, and how it was raising millions of dollars for research. “When we heard about VisionWalk and the work of the Foundation, we become an activist family,” says Jennifer. “We decided that we were going to take action and try very hard to find a way to fight the disease.” The Pletchers also began using their blog and a VisionWalk fundraising page to let friends and family know about Finley’s retinal disease, and how people could help raise money for their team, Finley’s Fighters. They had learned about the 2009 Boston VisionWalk just three weeks before it was taking place. So, given the short time they had to get the word out, they had low expectations for fundraising. But to their surprise, they brought in $5,000. “When people saw Finley’s story and photos on our blog, they immediately asked us what they could do. We asked them to support the research and they responded,” says Jennifer. “People want to give. They want to be charitable. They just need some guidance. With the VisionWalk page, we made it easy for them.” In addition to their blog www.pletcher5journey.blogspot.com and their VisionWalk page, the Pletchers used Facebook to spread the word and keep their network up to date. The Pletchers have already raised more than $8,000 for the 2010 Pittsburgh VisionWalk taking place on October 2. They chose the Pittsburgh event because both Jennifer and Mathew are from the area and have several friends and family there. They’ve created all kinds of promotional items — magnets, t-shirts, and fliers — to get the word out. A Finley’s Fighter logo adorns everything they disseminate to publicize the cause. Jennifer has a little apprehension for when both Finley and Cainan start kindergarten next year. However, while both kids have their challenges, Jennifer says they’ll look out for each other. “They’ll watch each others backs. He knows her vision issues. She knows about the challenges he has with his speech impediment. Because they are so close in age, they’ve always had each other. They always will.” The Web — An Indispensible Tool for all VisionWalkers The Internet is an incredibly powerful resource for raising awareness about your VisionWalk team and the Foundation Fighting Blindness’ sight-saving efforts. VisionWalkers are using their Facebook pages to recruit supporters, and share VisionWalk posts and photos. The Foundation and VisionWalk also have Facebook pages. Become a fan today! Facebook.com/FoundationFightingBlindness In 140 characters or less, VisionWalkers are letting people know about VisionWalk, raising money for research, and asking everyone they know to “retweet” their messages. VisionWalkers are following the Foundation at Twitter.com/FightBlindness YouTube VisionWalkers are sharing their videos including: clips from their walks, inspiring stories about their loved ones affected by retinal degenerative diseases, and messages of hope. The Foundation has its own YouTube videos at YouTube.com/user/FndFightingBlindness Blogging Some of our VisionWalkers are using their existing blogs to publicize VisionWalk and support of the Foundation. Here is a link to the Pletcher’s blog: www.pletcher5journey.blogspot.com |
