hello.

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).