Kristen Marie's Blog

Where Shopping Gives Back

You need to know Ramona Russell. She is a woman on a mission to make a difference.

Uptown Liz is her brainchild, created in loving memory of her fashionista sister Liz who died on February 1, 2006 from stage 4 breast cancer. At 23 Liz was told that bump in her breast couldn't be cancer - she was to young. By 26 she was experiencing pain throughout her body, and was eventually diagnosed. She died at 28.

What strikes me the most about Ramona is her vision of what's possible. Uptown Liz is a collection of products that give a portion of their purchase price to a charity. Search by cause, or by product, it doesn't matter. Uptown Liz is a fabulous resource for those of us who love to make a difference whenever we can.

Here are some of my favorites:
for the tea drinker in your life....Livestrong Tea Pot
for the new dog owner....The Ultimate Puppy Toolkit
for the girlie, girl...The Bare Escentuals Pink Passion makeup kit

Shop. Make a Difference.

A helping hand

Michelle Lamar,  my friend and online media goddess shared with me about a mom-blogger that needs our prayers and support. Read all about this woman, the unexpected accident her husband is healing from and what we can do to help.  There is a page on her blog at White Trash Mom that gives information on how to help.

Diary of a fundraiser: Pay it Forward

Ok, several weeks ago the light bulb went off as I was talking to myself..... "So, we've created this fabulous Book and Blanket bundle to benefit breast cancer, and people love it. After all what could be better than the combination of affirmations and inspiration?"

"And people want to buy it to help raise money for research and education. Ok, this is good. But, really does everyone want one for themselves? What if they wanted to give it to someone facing treatment right now? What if they wanted to pay it forward and touch the life a someone they may never meet? What if we could make that happen with the click of a mouse?"

Mike Dooley from The Secret says, "Thoughts become things."

And he's right! We made my thought a reality. We created a PAY IT FORWARD button, so now folks can buy a bundle, and we'll donate 20% to charity and if our customer says so, we'll donate the actual bundle to one of our cancer care partners! It just doesn't get any better than that!

Want to inspire another? Buy a bundle today.

Diary of a fundraiser

Creating the Book and Blanket Bundle to benefit breast cancer education and research was an easy decision. Doing good in the world is what our company is all about.

Spreading the word about our vision to raise $400,000 by October 31, 2007 in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a totally different conversation.

Today I want to thank and acknowledge several people who are helping spread the word and encourage folks to spend $39.95 to make a big difference in the lives of many. We are grateful for their support.

Shannon Bruce, CPCC and Founder of Your Greater Purpose included a wonderful article about Affirmagy in her May enewsletter.

Nancy Juetten, Kathe Shaw Basset, Elke Siller Macartney  & several other ‘Affirmagy Angels’ who will remain anon at this time.

Thank you all for finding inventive ways to help us raise $400,000 for breast cancer education and research.

If you have an idea, a insight, and action or an ah-ha that you believe will help us reach our goal, please email to kristen@affirmagy.com. And please, share us with your world.

Click here to learn more about why we are doing this.

The Power of Pink!

I discovered Play for P.I.N.K. cruising the internet, researching organizations that I could ‘put my name to”. That’s one of my standards for the charities we align with - would I personally write them a check.

During my years as a board member and president of Washington Women In Need, I learned a great deal about non-profits, how they run (yes, they are businesses) and what to concern myself with as a donor.

I was impressed with Play for P.I.N.K. for many reasons, so I decided to give them a call (see my post on the The Task is to Ask). Boy am I glad I did. What a great group of powerful women totally dedicated to raising money for cutting edge breast cancer research.

Today you can donate to this great organization by designating 20% of your purchase at Affirmagy by entering “Play4Pink” in the promotion code box as you check out. It’s easy.

We have also decided to give a portion of the dollars raised from the sales of our Book and Blanket Bundle to PFP. Together, we’re making a difference!

Raising Money for Breast Cancer, part 2

April 16th I was in Washington DC at an event and I got it! Raise $300,000 through the sale of Affirmawraps in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.

It was so clear!

Now all I needed were some strategic partners, one hell of a PR campaign and a ton of word of mouth to propel this idea to success!

I also knew from other brainstorming we’d done, that creating a gift pack with a Chicken Soup for the Soul book was a winning idea. And so the Book and Blanket Bundle was born!

After collecting our thoughts, and sharing the idea, the team at Chicken Soup embraced it. And I couldn’t be more grateful to have them on our team. Remarkable!

Next, what organizations shall we give $400,000 (yes, in the process our goal grew $100K)?

Great question…..

Raising money for breast cancer

One day it dawned on me that two of the most influential women in my life were breast cancer survivors. One more a survivor of colon cancer. My life would simply not be what is it without these women in it. Period.

Back in November I received an email from a woman named Erin whom I have never met. Her email floored me. That week she’d lost her best friend to breast cancer. Reading her email, I cried and cried at the prospect of losing one of my dear friends. The pain would seem unbearable.

Then I began connecting the dots. How could Erin have the courage and poise to write me a thank you letter after her friend lost her battle with this awful disease? What strength. What grace. What a perfect example of women all over this country who face cancer everything it is to be human.

So, the light bulb got brighter. An idea began to take shape. And I knew what I had to do.