barbara6193
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Hello Elsy,
First I want to say that I am sorry for the loss of your grandmother. I lost my husband, the love of my life, my Jacques, 6 years ago this November 10th. I am organizing my 2nd Annual Memorial Silent Auction Benefit and I thought I would share a few things with you that may help. When I first started planning for the 1st Benefit – I was originally going to do something like what I think a tricky tray is. Is this where you have items and people purchase raffle tickets and then put the raffle tickets in the bin that is for the item they hope to win? If it is – that is a good fundraiser – but to raise more money it is much better to have a Silent Auction – this is where you have bid sheets in front of each item and people put their name and the amount they want to bid on the sheet – as the night goes on others can out bid them. You set a time for the bidding to stop and collect the bid sheets – and then announce the winning bidders. Many people may wind up with winning bids on several items – but they only have to write one check. You will need help to compile the bids and collect the money. Last year was the first time I held a Benefit and I raised $5,000. My 2nd Annual Event is coming up on October 26th and it is going to be bigger and better. I know that you are doing this in conjunction with Bingo Night, which is great because your grandmother loved Bingo. My benefit is held at a restaurant and will consist of a Silent Auction, appetizers, cash bar, and entertainment (the band is donating their time and the restaurant is charging $15 per person for some pretty amazing appetizers that will be passed all night – Tickets are $25 – so $10 per person goes to the CCF. People really love it as they come and bid, dance, and reminisce as we honor and remember my Jacques. This year we are also honoring Becki Mignogna who lost her battle with cholangiocarcinoma in January – her son Rob is very involved helping with this fundraiser. Tickets are $25 per person. The success of this Benefit depends on the creative and interesting items we receive as donations. We get many items from local businesses and also family and friends such as: Gift Certificates to local restaurants, stores, florists, spas, tickets to shows, sporting venues, local attractions, toys, tools, vacation packages, hotel stays, handcrafted items, sporting goods, electronics, Theme baskets etc.
Don’t be afraid to go to the chain restaurants in your community – they usually have a department that deals with donations and it only takes filling out a form – the ones I have dealt with were done online.
If you have any questions – feel free to email me. I can tell you that organizing a Benefit is a lot of work – but the feeling of contributing and making a difference is all worth it and everyone that attends will have a great time for a great cause.Marion, Percy, Lainy, & Gavin,
Thank you all for the kind words. My devotion is my mission, I will never give up raising awareness and doing whatever I am able to do – to fight the beast called cholangiocarcinoma, so one day others will not have to go through what my family and I had to endure.
Percy – you are right about “training my bladder” – that is actually the teacher in me. Whenever you can come to New England – we will treat you to a delicious Maine lobster – THE BEST!!!
I will keep you all posted. Be well everyone.
Hugs from NH,
BarbaraPam and family,
I do not post often, but I have followed dear Lauren’s story and I as so sorry for your loss. She fought a brave battle and I know that she is resing in peace in heaven. My thoughts and prayers are with you all during this very difficult time.
Hugs from New Hampshire,
BarbaraThank you for the kind words. Percy, you are right – my perseverance and dedication is all in loving memory of my Jacques. You see. I had two choices when the love of my life passed away – do nothing and be angry that the beast called cholangiocarcinoma took my Jacques, or get involved to try to help find a way to help others facing what I went through. I’m so glad I chose the latter, which all came about from me looking for some answers when Jacques was diagnosed and I found the CCF website. I’m so glad I did, as I have met many wonderful people, Stacie – Marion – Percy – Dawn – Sara – Stella etc., and corresponded with many others over the last 6 years.
Today was a great day. It is so exhilarating to hear all the positive comments and the interest from so many people I met from around the world today. I spoke with people from Brazil, Mexico, India, Chile, Egypt, Spain, Canada, France, Germany, England, Iraq and all across the US. We sure have come a long way from my first convention I attended when very few, if any, attendees even knew about Cholangiocarcinoma. Today, there are so many that have visited our site, referred patients to our site, or are very interested in the CCF. A few people stopped to talk to me and said they were glad to meet someone in person, as they love our site. It has so much information for patients, family members, physicians, researchers etc.
Percy, you are amazing – attending as many sessions as possible. We need to get you a pair of roller skates, as you are all over the place. You are also very dedicated.
If anyone out there is thinking of getting involved, but are unsure. I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that after a long day of spreading awareness – when you put your head on the pillow at night – you will have a true sense of knowing you are making a difference! Do as little or as much as you want – The time you give is time well spent.
Barbara from NHThank you so very much, Lainy – Karen – Pamela and Marion, for your kind words. It was amazing and I already have pages of notes for next years – 2nd Annual Jacques Dupont Memorial Silent Auction Benefit.
The one thing that I did not do this year – I did not think of it until the next day – was to have pictures taken. But, I solved this already – I have a photographer that already volunteered to do this for me, next year. I am truly blessed to have so many kind, caring and generous people in my life.
Looking forward to representing The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation at AASLD The Liver Meeting in Boston this weekend.
Love from NH,
BarbaraThere is much more to this story, I’m sure. This is actually in my area of New Hampshire. He was surrounded by family at home in his final hours. I believe she linked the foundation as a place for donations to go in lieu of flowers, as she knew that The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation would put it to good use with the hopes of helping others with research and advocacy. Her brother-in-law was suffering. I don’t condone what she did, but I won’t criticize her either, as none of us know what conversations or wishes happened within the family. A tragic story. Rest in peace, Randall.
Hello from Boston,
Yes the ASTRO Convention closed at 1:00 today, the buses are stopping at 2:00. I just got back to my hotel safe and sound. Attendance was down at the convention, but handed out information to those who stopped by the booth. Most of them being from London, Asia and India. Doing the best I can to raise awareness one person at a time. The wind is really howling in the city with a light rain. Going to get worse later in the day. Staying put with a good book. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
BarbaraHello Everyone,
I just returned from ASCO and it was such an exciting conference. Being in such a prime location was such a high. I remember being at ASCO 2 or 3 years ago and being in the back of the exhibit hall, wishing we could be in the front “corral”. Well, we have made it to that prime spot. So much traffic and many conversations with physicians, researchers, oncology nurses and other advocates – I was so proud to be representing The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation. I also had the pleasure of meeting Stella – she is so wonderful, her daughter Barbara, and Patty. It was also great to see Marion, Percy, Stacie, Sara, Seth, Rick, and Dawn again. I came home recharged, I want to do so much more to help raise awareness – I will do whatever I can anytime they need me and when I retire I will do even more.
I am going to start organizing a 5k walk for Cholangiocarcinoma – hopefully in Boston in the fall – I hope there is not too much “red tape” to get through. If any of you out there are in the Boston area and want to help me with this, or have any contacts or ideas- please contact me. Let’s raise some money – raise awareness – get together – and make a difference.
My sincere thanks to The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation for being such an important part of my getting through life since losing my amazing Jacques three and a half years ago. Being involved with this is extremely rewarding to me.
Love from NH,
BarbaraHello,
This is Barbara and it was great to meet you at the symposium. Both you and Sue warmed my heart.
Love from NH,
BarbaraCarol,
I, as well as so many others on this wonderful site, can totally understand your pain had heartache. It has been 2 years since I lost my wonderful Jacques, and every day is a journey, but not a day passes that I do not think about my Jacques. Some days it seems like it was yesterday and others it seems like an eternity. I know my Jacques walks with me, and no matter how heavy my heart is, I am taking it one day at a time, and trying to be the strong person he so wanted me to be. This is an especially hard time of year, but somehow our wonderful memories pull us through. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. Take care and I am sending you heartfelt wishes and love from New Hampshire.
Peace,
BarbaraKaren,
We talked about this at the Philadelphia Convention, this is so exciting. I am looking forward to seeing the banner at a convention soon. What a wonderful gift to raise awareness for the CC foundation. Take care and Be well.
Love from NH,
BarbaraI have to say that when I first met Marion in Boston it was an amazing connection, I felt like I had known her forever. Then I met Stacie in Orlando last year and again, another amazing feeling. I recently met Karen in Philadelphia and it was wonderful – all of us had a connection that is apparent from the first introduction, it is hard to explain it to anyone who is not connected to this site. I hope to meet more and more people on this site. I also, hope to be able to more to help the misson of this foundation move forward and make a difference.
Love from NH,
BarbaraPam,
As I posted earlier – I had a memory quilt made, although it took me a while to be able to gather the items together and ship them out. My “Jacques quilt” arrived last week and it is so womderful that I can sit with a book or just sit and listen to music and wrap myself in memories. It is helping me – I totally understand how difficult the healing process is – but just remember to take baby steps and follow your heart – I am sure it leads us in the right direction.
Love from NH,
Barbara
