Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2010!

in the mean time i wanted to share a few things…

a few months ago i was more than a little surprised when i was asked to contribute an essay to be published in the shriver report: a woman’s nation changes everything, a study by maria shriver and the center for american progress.

i found a copy of the book in the middle of my mail mountain when we returned from our trip. i had no idea whether or not they planned to use what i wrote, but as i flipped through the book i ended up on page 368 and was thrilled to find my essay.

you can read it here.

i’ve read a bit of the book and it’s great. it appears that you can read most it online, but if you’re anything like me, you may want a hardcopy of the thing. if that’s the case, you can buy one here.

enough about me.

i wanted to alert you to a couple of events that benefit some great causes, including the liz logelin foundation…

The week of December 7, a group of bloggers, including Buried with Children,Mayhem & Moxie,7 Clown Circus, Scary Mommy, Adventures in Babywearing, The Extraordinary Ordinary, & Mama’s Losin’ It, will be working together to promote an event entitled, Blog, Bid, Hope. By hosting a three day auction, their goal to raise money on behalf of the Liz Logelin Foundation, as well as Anissa Mayhew, a 35 year old blogger who recently suffered a stroke. The auction will offer a variety of items, including blog designs, accessories, baby gear and art. Do some good over the holiday season and donate to the members of the on-line community who need our support. Because different items will be available for bidding on all seven sites, you are sure to please anyone on your holiday list!

finally, one of my best friends in the whole wide world, anthony downs, has offered to donate a portion of the proceeds from his annual holiday party to the liz logelin foundation.

if you’re in the minneapolis area, the following invite is for you:

Join us in celebrating the Holidays by dressing up in your favorite holiday attire. Wear your ugly Christmas sweater, your sweet red/green outfit, or maybe your best Kwanzaa Kaftans. Feel free to bring friends, the invitation is open to all.
Donations will be accepted for The Liz Logelin Foundation and Youth Frontiers. We hope you can join us in supporting these two very worthy causes.

Location: The Local – 931 Nicollet Mall Downtown Minneapolis
Time: Saturday, December 12th 9:00pm

Facebook members can view the event page here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=166473189314

i wish i could be there.

finally, today is the 7th, so here’s my monthly reminder about the liz logelin foundation’s 7th on the 7th campaign.

please consider donating

via a network for good:

Donate Now to The Liz Logelin Foundation

via paypal:

more soon…

taking a break from showing my daughter and rachel the wonders of north india (we’re going to see the taj mahal tomorrow morning) to share a message from the liz logelin foundation.

as you know, we’ve been raising funds for a few months and we plan to distribute some of these funds to needy families in the near future (more on that when we do). we have a board meeting tomorrow morning (india time) during which we’ll be finalizing our first round of distributions. we’d like to help everyone, but at this stage, it’s impossible to do so. someday we hope we can give money to everyone who applies, but in the mean time, we have to make some rather tough decisions. here are just a few of the 50+ stories we’ve read during our selection process:

…a 47 year old mother of 4 who needs help caring for a daughter with special needs…

…a 39 year old father of 3 girls who would use the money to pay for the girls’ school, Girls Scouts, piano and dance…

…a 29 year old mother of 4 whose husband was killed by a drunk driver who would use the money to pay rent…

…a 34 year old mother of a 3 year old who would use the money to help pay medical bills…

…a 33 year old father of 2 girls who would use the money to save his home that is in foreclosure…

…a 30 year old mother of 3 who would use the money to buy groceries…

…a 49 year old father of an infant daughter who would use the money to pay for medically necessary items…

…a 42 year old father of 3 who would use the money to pay for funeral expenses…

the great news is that we’ve done in an incredible job with our fund raising.

our $7 on the 7th campaign has been very well received.

the gala, 5k and online auction events were a huge success…just check out what you all contributed:

5K: $8,814.83
Gala: $27,071.69
Online Auction: $5,091.69

for a grand total of: $40,978.21

but to help the maximum number of families, our efforts must continue. and to make this easier, we’ve made a significant change to our donation platform. the liz logelin foundation has partnered with network for good to securely process your online credit card donation.

why did we do this?

well, paypal has been great (and if you’d prefer to use it please do so. honestly, we’ll accept anything: checks, moneyorders, or even well-concealed cash), but we wanted to use a donation platform that was designed specifically for non-profits. one of the biggest advantages of the switch is the ability to schedule automatic payments (something many donors have requested, but recurring payments are not required). you can now schedule your payment for $7 on the 7th, $24 on the 24th, $2 on the 2nd or any amount at any time. you can also donate in memory or on behalf of someone else. it gives you the option of telling us who you are or making your donation completely anonymously. we want every dollar that comes in to really count and this will help us make the most of all of the generous donations.

and to give you an incentive to sign up for recurring payments, we’re going to be giving away prizes to the 50th, 100th, 250th, and 500th persons to sign up. in addition and we’ll randomly choose someone to receive a very special gift from india, a gold bangle, picked out by me.

so…get signed up for recurring payments.

or make a one-time donation.

either way, you’ll be helping families in situations none of us could imagine. as you know, i’ve had the great misfortune of living many people’s worst nightmare. but thanks to the help of folks like you, my daughter and i are thriving. let’s work together to do the same for others.

Donate Now to The Liz Logelin Foundation

(don’t forget, all donations are 100% tax deductible).

(oh, and here’s a video of madeline dancing to a puppet show at our hotel in jaipur).

first, go here to help the foundation win $10,000, $5000 or $1000, depending on the number of votes we receive. i pledge a 20% match on any amount we win. when added together, if my math is correct, and it may not be ’cause it’s 5:00am here in bangalore and because i suck at math, that could be an $12,000, $6000 or $1200 for the foundation. voting ends on oct. 15.

second: check this out. apparently i got nominated for “best daddy blog” over at the bump. now, i normally wouldn’t promote this kind of thing, ’cause i don’t write my blog to win awards (and i frankly, i dislike being labeled as a daddy blogger), but in this case, if i get enough votes to win “best overall blog” then the award comes with a $1000 prize. i find it almost ridiculous that i was even nominate, but if i somehow win this contest, i’ll donate the $1000 prize to the liz logelin foundation, plus match it 100%. this math is easy on this one. when added together, that could mean an additional $2000 for the foundation. voting ends on monday, october 19th.

so help a foundation out.

it just takes a few clicks.

oh, and here’s a photo of maddy to keep you busy until i finish up a blog post about our first week in india:

(you can also follow the photos and very small bits of writing by clicking here, updated almost daily).

A.J. here.

Matt asked me to give you an update on this weekend’s events.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The Gala last night was a huge success!

Thanks to everyone who came to the event and donated to help families in need.

Thanks to everyone who donated merchandise or services for the auction.

Thanks to all of the volunteers who worked tirelessly over the past weeks and months to ensure that it would be a success.

We couldn’t have done this without everyone, and so we thank you!

If you didn’t get a chance to come to the Gala last night, you still have a chance to bid on some awesome items. We have an eBay site set up, with an auction running through this week. All proceeds go to benefit the foundation.

In addition, there is a story about Matt and Maddy on the front page of the Star Tribune today, A Father Alone Spreads Help to Others Like Him

Matt and Maddy Logelin were in the Twin Cities this weekend for two events to support a foundation Matt established earlier this year in memory of his wife. The nonprofit “Liz Logelin Foundation — for the love of Liz” offers financial support to men and women whose partners have died and left them with dependent children.

“I could have easily sat back and said poor me, poor me, please continue to send me clothes, send me gifts for my daughter,” he said on Sunday as Maddy played at his in-law’s house in Minnetonka. “But that’s not the case. I know there are other people way worse off than me. I see that as a big responsibility.”

The second annual 5K walk at Lake Calhoun on Saturday drew 300 people and raised more than $9,000. A gala Sunday night at the Calhoun Beach Club with a silent, live and Internet auction was expected to raise even more. An original painting by Maddy had a high bid on eBay of $400 as of Sunday afternoon.

Help us spread the word about The Liz Logelin Foundation! Send the article and the foundation website to your friends and family.

A.J. here.

Matt and Rachel have been all over the local media for the past few days to promote The Liz Logelin Foundation and our 5K and Gala events

Rachel was on WCCO yesterday to talk a little about the foundation and our upcoming events. Check it out!

Matt was interviewed on Twin Cities Live this afternoon. He talks a bit about his blog, the foundation, and there is a special appearance by Maddy!

Here’s the video:

Matt was also on Kare11’s EXTRA segment, first airing yesterday. From their site:

Over the last 18 months Matt’s blog has become, literally, famous. More than a million people hang on his every word. A book is now in the works.

The life he leads with Maddy has become so inspiring a foundation was formed to help people just like them.

The Liz Logelin Foundation works to grant money to men and women who lose their partner to death, and are left to parent alone.

The video segment up on their website, and it airs again this evening at 6:30pm.

Finally,

We just got some news from Becky about the fund-raising totals for the 5K.

You raised over $9,000 for the foundation today.

We are overwhelmed by your hard work and generosity.

Thank you.

we’re working on a few changes around here on the blog. please excuse the mess as we get a few things back into place. matt and i are pretty excited about it, and we hope you like it!

update: the changes are mostly complete. we have a few more things to get back into place, but I think you’ll find this new layout a bit easier on the eyes and easier to navigate.

matt is going to fill in some additional info about a special project…

(Sep. 19, Update, I made some fixes so that the site displays properly on Blackberries…)

after.

the beard is gone.

(the mustache stays for 24 hours and an extra $100 for the foundation).

go ahead and make fun of me.

i don’t give.

to those of you who wanted the beard to stay, well, so did i.

and i’m already growing it back.

but (almost) anything for a good cause, right?

(and for the record, i nearly vomited when i saw myself in the mirror. maddy didn’t care a bit).

thanks to everyone who purchased a ticket during the last 7 days.

you raised $6095 for the foundation.

and if you haven’t purchased your ticket to the liz logelin foundation gala, you have until september 13th to do so.

please do it.

it will be fun.

i promise.

and it’s for a great cause.

***update***

within two hours of me publishing this blog post, some of my twitter peeps were so disgusted by my sweet ’stache, they decided to raise an additional $200 for the foundation, just to see it go away.

i was so eager to get rid of it that i threw in $50 of my own money.

so here i am.

clean shaven for the first time in like, 9 years.

(thanks to @VDog and for the idea (and for donating) and @childsplayx2, @redneckmommy, @mamaspohr, @SnglMomSurvives and@moburns67 for donating. you’ve all made my mother happy).

***update #2***

maddy’s reaction:

i understand.

well, i just wanted to remind you that there’s only two days left to register.

but…

donations are great, even if they’re late, so we’ve extended the registration deadline.

simply fill out the registration form and send it to becky electronically at 5k@thelizlogelinfoundation.org and pay your registration fee by sunday, september 6th via paypal (link below).

and if for some reason you hate mailing in checks or making donations via paypal, but you still really, really want to support the foundation on the day of the 5k, our treasurer (liz’s dad) will gladly open his hands and accept your cash on behalf of the foundation. the thing is, you won’t get a t-shirt, but you will get a tax deduction.

i’m just saying.

anyway…

we hope to see you on september 19th!

(also, if you want to see my beard go bye-bye, you still have until friday, sept 4th to help us sell 100 tickets to the liz logelin foundation gala).

actually, they’ve been having a lot of fun at the expense of my beard.

they’ve been saying things like:

@Buck21 said: “I’m scared of the swine flu.Perhaps I’ll just curl up in @mattlogelin’s beard & hunker down for the duration of the flu season.”

@essembee said: “Any remaining shreds of my dignity? Hmm. Probably in @mattlogelin’s beard, with all the other hopelessly lost stuff.”

@rachelanna said: “$50 billion invested with Bernie Madoff…did anyone check in @mattlogelin ’s beard?”

and my friend, sara jensen has taken to calling me, “beardo”

now, this beard of mine has been around for years, but it’s current incarnation has been growing for a few months, unchallenged by my clippers.

it has become part of the family.

i love it like maddy loves throwing apples.

(that’s a whole lot).

and while the teasing is all in good fun, i figured i could part with my friend beard just to shut these smart-asses up and raise money for the foundation.

so. i told the ladies that i would shave my face clean if we could sell 100 tickets to the liz logelin foundation gala by next friday, sept. 4th.

consider it a challenge.

(oh…and i’ll get a kate gosselin reverse mullet haircut and wear some ed hardy gear to the gala if we sell 200 tickets by the 4th. for reals.)

and finally, a letter to my beard:

dear beard,

i will miss you.
but this is for a good cause.
and besides, i can bring you back whenever i want.

your pal,

matt

(and while you’re at it, don’t forget to sign up for the llf 5k).