15 Very Easy Ways That You Can Help CDH Families!

We have a lot of new projects and funds going on at CHERUBS this summer! And we really need some help! Please take a few minutes to look over this list to see if you can help. Simply volunteering 5 minutes of your time or $1.00 to help with a project really does make a big difference! By working together we can help so many families affected by Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia!


1. CHERUBS HOPE Totebag Project - http://www.cdhsupport.org/donate/hope.php

- Donate just $1.00. If all 3000 CHERUBS members or all 6000 CHERUBS at Cause.com members donated $1 each, we could provide 100's of totebags for new and expectant CDH parents with all the information and support that they need to get through those rough first days.

- Do you quilt, crochet or knit? We need baby blankets for these totebags! We also need baby hats and booties.

- Check or homes and offices, we need lots of (new) items that you may have laying around;

* pens
* notebooks
* disposable cameras
* footprint and handprint kits
* teddy bears
* newborn button-up shirts
* small bottles of lotion or hand sanitizer
* gas cards
* small picture frames
* chapsticks
* CDH awareness bracelets
* CDH awareness ribbon buttons
* See our site for a complete list.


2. Kid's CDH Book

- We are putting together a kid's book and video and we need your kids' help! We are looking for videos of children explaining what CDH is in their own terms. All videos will be included in the video project and the best video (voted on by our members) will be turned into a kid's book. Submission deadline is August 20th! You can e-mail your videos to cdhcherubs@yahoo.com

- We are looking for a publisher for this book. If you can help or know someone who can, please contact us.



3. CHERUBS CDH Baby Book

- We are putting the finishing touches on our new Baby Book for Cherubs! We all know too well that the "normal" baby books do not apply to CDH kids so CHERUBS has created a special baby book. This book will include your "typical" baby book stuff (photos, handprints, family tree, etc) but it will also include information about CDH, medical terms, your child's medical history, journals, contact information, medication lists and much more.

- We need kid's drawings for this book! Please mail them to dawn.williamson@cdhsupport.org

- We need specific photos for this book! We are particularly looking for photos that show clear images of cherubs during medical procedures; ECMO, EXIT to ECMO, Oscillating vent, feeding tubes, etc. These will be used to help explain procedures to new parents.

- We also need items for these books, which will go out to all new and expectant parents in the CHERUBS HOPE totebags! We need; 1.5" white view binders, business card sheets (3 hole for inclusion in the binders) and photo sheets (3 hole for inclusion in the binders).


4. Adopt A Hospital Program - http://www.cdhsupport.org/donate/hospitaladopt.php

- Would you like to help families affected by Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia? Would you like to do something in honor or in memory of a cherub? CHERUBS has created a new program that will soon be helping CDH families across the country.

- How does it work? You make a $100 donation to CHERUBS and we order and put together the materials and send them to the hospital in honor / memory of your cherub. CHERUBS Adopt A Hospital Care Package Includes; 1 copy of "Stories of Cherubs" Volume I, 1 copy of "Stories of Cherubs" Volume II, 1 CDH awareness poster, 20 Parent Reference Guides, 40 CHERUBS CDH Info Brochures, 40 CDH Awareness Ribbon Pins, 10 copies of our latest newsletter

- We have a lot of hospitals still needing to be adopted! For a complete list of those already adopted and to donate for an adoption, please visit http://www.cdhsupport.org/donate/hospitaladopt.php


5. Change for Cherubs CDH Research Project

- Starting now to October 31st we are encouraging members to empty their piggy banks, pockets and coin jars to college change to help us fund CDH research.

- On Halloween we encourage kids to dress as cherubs and trick-or-treat for change instead of candy. It's healthier and for a good cause!



6. CHERUBS Angel Ball Baskets - http://www.cherubsangelball.org

- Our annual Angel Ball will be held on October 30th in Durham, NC. We encourage all of you to come and attend. Money raised for CHERUBS will go to our CDH Family Support Fund.

- We need baskets and other items for our silent auction! We encourage members to donate baskets in honor or in memory of their cherubs. Last year we had dozens of baskets in many different themes. This year we hope to have over 50 baskets.

- We are also looking for celebrity autographed items to auction off. If you can help us to contact celebrities or can donate items, please contact us.


7. Volunteer - http://www.cdhsupport.org/volunteers/index.php

- We are about to revamp our entire volunteer system and will have a lot of empty volunteer positions! We especially need State & International Representatives. If you can help, please e-mail us at volunteer@cdhsupport.org


8. Printing

- We print A LOT at CHERUBS. Baby books, Parent Reference Guides, newsletters, programs, letters.... we go through a lot of paper and ink here at our office. We desperately need a printing company to sponsor us and all of our projects. If you can help or know of a company that can help, please contact us.

- We also need donations of ink for our hp LaserJet 4600n printer


9. Sign the Petition - http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/cdhawareness

- Yes, we're still fighting the trademark on "Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness"! We've handed over the fight to our (pro bono) lawyers so we can concentrate on all of our other amazing projects but we are still collecting signatures. We have over 6000 so far but our goal is 10,000! Please sign and recruite your family and friends to sign as well. This is too important to not participate in - our children and future CDH babies are counting on us to protect CDH awareness!


10. Donate to CHERUBS - http://www.cdhsupport.org/donate/index.php

- CHERUBS does not charge membership fees or hire employees. We subsist completely off of donations and fundraisers. All donations are tax-deductible and very much needed and appreciate. Every single dollar helps us to help CDH families.

- We have 5 different funds to help CDH families, all of which need donations:

* CDH Family Support Fund
* CDH Research Fund
* CDH Family Assistance Fund
* CDH Awareness Fund
* CDH Scholarship Fund



- Please donate directly through our web site at - http://www.cdhsupport.org/donate/index.php



11. Participate in CDH Awareness events and Fundraisers!

- See what's happening and what current events and projects are going on by visiting our forums. http://www.cdhsupport.org/members/viewforum.php?f=184

- Join in on our awareness projects. http://cdhsupport.org/awareness/

- Consider holding an event in your town! From something small such as a balloon release to participating in our Change for Cherubs or holding something huge such as a golf tournament, there are lots of projects parents can do to honor their cherubs.



12. Join in our forums. http://www.cdhsupport.org/members

- Meet other parents and offer support while gaining knowledge and support also! We have an amazing CDH community that really works together to help families. Our forums are safe, friendly and a wonderful place to come talk to people who truly know what life is like dealing with CDH.


13. Start a Firstgiving Page in Honor / Memory of your cherub - http://www.firstgiving.com/10125

- Firstgiving.com offers a FREE web portal to raise money for your favorite charity (which is hopefully CHERUBS!). You can set up a page with your cherub's photo and information and people can donate in his/her honor or memory and leave comments as well.

- This is great for birthdays, angelversaries, holidays and other events! You can invite your family and friends to participate. Often, family and friends want to help but don't know what to do - this gives them an opportunity to do something.


14. Wear Your Awareness! - http://www.cafepress.com/cherubs

- CHERUBS offers literally 1000's of CDH awareness items through our store at http://www.cafepress.com/cherubs We have shirts, sweatshirts, onesies, bibs, dog shirts, bumper stickers, clocks, calendars, books, cards and so much more!

- Our items are marked only slightly over production costs so CHERUBS makes less than $1.00 on the sale of most of our items. Our goal is to keep the prices low so that you can buy more and raise more awareness!


15. Refer CDH parents to CHERUBS - http://www.cdhsupport.org

- Know of other CDH families? Help to gain the most CDH information possible by joining the world's largest and most productive CDH organization, CHERUBS! We have the latest CDH Research information as well as the largest long-term study database. We have over 3000 other CDH families and doctors to talk to and gain support and knowledge. We also have get-togethers and conferences to meet families face-to-face and learn directly from CDH experts. Our goal since 1995 is to support all CDH parents, raise awareness and promote and conduct CDH research - and we've been very, very busy doing that and more for 14 years. And it's all FREE for CDH families!


These are just a few of the projects that we have going on at CHERUBS! Drop by our site at http://www.cdhsupport.org to see how we're helping families affected by Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia