At the mention of “fundraising”, many people cast their eyes downward, quickly leave the room and— in some cases— run away screaming “Not me!”. But not the people I thank here. Instead of avoiding the effort, they fully embraced it and for that we are very grateful. Thank you Marie, Janet, Sharon, Steve, Sarah, Erin, Bonnie, Heather and Kari for keeping the “fun” in fundraising!
– Linda
Flapjacks for FX!
Jake and Chris
Have you ever wished you could organize a fundraiser, but thought the the work would be more than you could handle? So did Marie Horowitz and Janet Armetta—“two FX moms,” as they call themselves—until they found a partner in Applebee’s Restaurants. Applebee’s Flapjack Fundraiser program makes it easy for the inexperienced to run a successful event. Last October, Marie and Janet hosted a Flapjack Fundraiser in Northvale, New Jersey, which drew 167 attendees plus donations from many more.
At these breakfast fundraisers, Applebee’s takes care of the food preparation and even provides flyers and tickets for event promotion. You do the rest. For the New Jersey event, Janet organized what turned out to be a highly successful raffle (for which she had obtained donated prizes), and Marie played a couple of the NFXF parent videos. The rest of their families got involved, too. Their sons, who are both affected by Fragile X syndrome, were hosts and greeters; other family members checked guests in, helped serve and clean up, and chose winners of door prizes.
Thank you, Marie and Janet, for your creativity and success in raising over $3,500, which will go toward scholarships for New York and New Jersey families to attend Advocacy Day and the NFXF International Fragile X Conference in July 2014.
Bowling for X’s
Thank you to the Manlick family of Wisconsin for organizing their first fundraiser, Bowling for X’s, on October 19. Twenty bowlers spent the afternoon in the lanes while many more showed up to donate, buy raffle tickets for the wonderful gift baskets and join the fun. Thanks to helpful friends Sandy Nelson-O’Donnell and Erin Murphy. We appreciate the generous donors, including Steve’s company MasterLock who together contributed over $3,800 to benefit the and the NFXF.
Back row standing (L-R): Bill Lisocki (Sharon’s dad), Steve Manlick, Sharon Manlick (FX carrier), Tom Pipines (friend and sports news anchor for FOX 6), James Manlick (FX full-mutation), Barbara Lisocki (Sharon’s mom)
Second Row (L-R): Joan Latawiec and Jean Marlega (Sharon’s sisters and both FX carriers)
Brandon Janhke and James Manlick
And many kudos to several of our enthusiastic and energetic fundraisers this fall!
- Bonnie Lucio, OTR – Mandeville, Louisiana for cleaning up with her fall Garage Sale!
- Heather Browne – Mission Viejo, California for directing a percentage of the sales proceeds from a recent Pampered Chef party to the NFXF.
- Kari Schwartz – Hornell, New York for organizing an event in honor of Talan Schwartz!
Author
Linda Sorensenhas been a staff member of the NFXF since 2004 and currently serves as associate director. She has over fifteen years of experience in non-profit programs, development, board and volunteer development and operations management. She loves the company of family and friends and enjoys entertaining, hiking and reading great books.