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CAMPAIGN KIT

[TELL US YOUR STORY]

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Each year, the Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation hosts an essay contest, asking the national community of young survivors of catastrophic illness to share their stories. Four winners are selected out of the hundreds of applicants.

This year’s winners, Emily Ransom, Colette Jaycox, Arianna Elnes and Joseph Tong, will have their stories shared across the country during the month of October.

The Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation is reaching out to YOU, the community of young people across this country who are doing amazing things, who have powerful stories of your own to share about your own survival, a friend or family member’s struggle or the every day challenges you may face and obstacles you overcome.

Our essay winners have shared who they are. Now, we ask you to

TELL US YOUR STORY.

YOU

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YOU

Today, Emily is a healthy eighteen-year-old living life to the fullest. She is currently a freshman at Boston College. Her major is Elementary Education and she plans on becoming a kindergarten or first grade teacher. She is honored to be part of the BC community and has happily transitioned into college life.

Emily was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia at age eleven. Through her experience with cancer, she learned to appreciate relationships with others and to embrace opportunities in life. The Andre Sobel Award gave Emily the chance to share her story with others. Emily knows the feeling of lying in a hospital bed, being told you have a terminal illness. Fear, confusion, sadness, loneliness and even anger take over your body as the message sinks in. The poem Emily wrote is meant to inspire others on their journey back to health. Emily hopes that others will connect with the feelings and emotions she felt throughout her journey and that they will continue to fight back. Never give up hope!

AWARD WINNERS

“I had cancer;

cancer NEVER had me.”

Emily Ransom,First Place Winner

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YOU

Colette has almost completed her treatment protocol, but it has been a long journey for her to get there. Before her diagnosis, she was actively involved in her school and community as the captain of her high school debate team, president of her Amnesty International chapter and events manager for the Phoenix, her school’s arts and literary magazine, as well as interning for a local mayoral campaign. After cancer yanked her out of her old life, she continued to stay involved with all of her old commitments long distance as well as complete her AP classes through the Stanford Hospital School, muscling through the queasiness, exhaustion, memory loss and pain associated with chemotherapy to finish her coursework.

Colette was particularly inspired to write her piece by her struggles with memory loss during the darker days of her treatment, and how this affected her and her relationships with the people around her. She is so grateful for the support of her family and her closest friends, without whom she would have been unable to cope as well as she did.

She plans to use the Award funding to help pay her tuition costs at Columbia University, where she is currently a freshman.

AWARD WINNERS

Colette JaycoxSecond Place Winner

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YOU AWARD WINNERS

Arianna ElnesThird Place Winner

Arianna’s battle with cancer has empowered her and given her the courage to live the life she’s always imagined. After graduating high school in 2009, she took a year off to simply gain experiences while continuing her recovery. With a new outlook on life, she spent the summer working at a salmon cannery in Alaska before traveling around Central and South America as well as Iceland, seeing the world with a new set of deeply appreciative eyes. Arianna is now attending Knox College in Illinois, and is currently undecided in terms of a major, but has an interest in Creative Writing, Linguistics and Anthropology.

Arianna’s advice to somebody else going through a similar battle is to acknowledge that this process is life altering; it’s a shock. “You will hit times when you are emotional, and you won’t understand. Just know that it’s ok to be sad sometimes. Recognize that feeling, but don’t feel a need to try to explain it.”

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YOU AWARD WINNERS

Joseph attends Richard Montgomery High School in Maryland and enjoys playing competitive soccer on his school’s Varsity Soccer team that is ranked #10 in his state. He is a student in the International Baccalaureate program, and homework is a constant in his life. Joseph is an avid skier and snowboarder throughout winter and makes trips to local ski resorts weekly during the peak of ski season. He has drawn and played piano nearly all of his life and even tried his hand at oil painting for a couple of years. Many of his paintings are hanging in his house as decoration. Joseph likes to believe that he lives by the saying, “I had cancer, but cancer never had me.” He hopes all cancer survivors will keep that thought in mind no matter the circumstances.

Joseph TongHonorable Mention

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Share your story with the Andre Sobel community.➡ Post your story to our Facebook Wall.

➡ Tweet us your experiences @asriveroflife or use the hashtag #mystory.

➡ Take the Facebook Cause Challenge and raise money for a family in need.

➡ Take the Campus Challenge and organize an event at your school.

➡ Email us your story.

YOU HOW TO TELL YOUR STORY

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➡ Each week, Andre Sobel will be hosting a cause challenge on Facebook to raise money for one of its families in need. The goal will be $500.

➡ Taking the Cause Challenge is easy. Get your friends, relatives and others in your community to donate through Andre Sobel’s Facebook cause.

Here is the link: http://bit.ly/cD9hDl➡ Ways to Get People to Participate:

✓ Send a message to all your friends on Facebook.

✓ Post the link and “Please Donate” as your status message.

✓ Share your story and the stories of Emily, Collette, Arianna and Joseph on your wall.

YOU TAKE THE CAUSE CHALLENGE

There are hundreds of ways to get people involved, through text message, other applications like Twitter and, of course, Facebook. Get creative!

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➡ Take the Campus Challenge by organizing an event on your campus for Andre Sobel. Event ideas include:

✓ Class Announcements to get your fellow students interested.

✓ Organize a fundraiser on campus. Get a local band or performer to help out.

✓ Tie this into a volunteer organization, like a Greek philanthropy or a campus club.

✓ Host a fundraising night with a local business, like your favorite hangout.

YOU TAKE THE CAMPUS CHALLENGE

Students from Cal State San Bernardino raised over $10,000 and put on a fundraiser for the Foundation this last June!

If you are interested in holding an event or want to find out how, contact us!

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YOU MOST IMPORTANTLY...

How would you describe yourself?Each award winner described themselves in a series of adjectives, shown on the front page of this campaign kit. We encourage you to do the same!

We have started a thread on our Facebook page and will be tweeting daily to find out who YOU are. Participate daily to share your story and your passion with people across the country.

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YOU ABOUT ASRL

This is OUR story.The Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation was created in the wake of founder Valerie Sobel’s loss of her teenage son Andre from an inoperable brain tumor. She realized that it had been a blessing that she was able to care for her son and not worry about finances and other resources. Upon discovering that many single parents with critically-ill children are forced to chose between working to provide basic needs and staying with their terminally ill child, she created the foundation to relieve this financial and emotional burden.

The Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation provides emergency assistance within 24 hours to single caregivers of children with catastrophic or life threatening illnesses who are in financial crises. Now in its tenth year, the foundation pays urgent expenses so that single parents can stay by the bedsides of their catastrophically ill children. Since 2000, ASRL has provided $4M in urgent assistance to 9,300 family members in 22 states.

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YOU CONTACT US

Mail donations to:

P.O. Box 361460, Los Angeles, CA 90036T: 310-276-7111 F: 310-276-0244

For media inquiries and other information, please contact Christina Gagnier.

T: 909.576.1411 E: gagnier@realpolitech.com

If you live or attend school in the Claremont area and would like to volunteer, please contact us at:

 Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation

201 North Indian Hill Boulevard, Suite 202, Claremont, CA  91711 

Phone:  909-626-0244aswire@andreriveroflife.org

ANDRERIVEROFLIFE.ORG

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Copyright 2010. Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation. All Rights Reserved.