30 days of Giving and Thanks - Giving Blood and Marrow

November is rolling right along, isn't it? I've been trying to do extra deeds of giving and thanks, though we typically do this year-round.  I've been able to do my normal activities and add a little here and there. We often bring meals, food and other items to friends.

The boys will be featured in a Winter Days of Giving commercial that airs in our local area all December long.  We shot the commercial last month-- we hope it will encourage others to donate blood.  This time of year is when they REALLY need blood donors. I'm continuing with the challenge, but won't write about all of the extra things I've done. Somethings are better left unsaid, right?

I'm hoping that others will give blood this Christmas Season, this is what I'd like to write about right now.  Blood and bone marrow donors save lives. Having two boys with Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome, a bone marrow failure syndrome,  we realize the need for blood and blood products. We have many friends whose lives were saved by generous blood donors.  Sean and Joseph received IgG (a blood product made from blood plasma) for over 9 years.  Joseph has been off of IgG for a few months and we are hoping he will continue to do well lke his brother, Sean, who has been off of IgG for 2 years.

Joseph almost went to transplant back in 2006-early 2007. The doctors felt it was a real possibility-- so much so that they did a preliminary search of the bone marrow donor  and cord blood registries registries (6.5 million registered donors) in preparation. We found out that Joseph doesn't have a match.  Our family was retyped (HLA typing was also done back in 2000 when they felt the boys wold be going to transplant) -- it confirmed that Matthew is a perfect 10/10 match for Sean and not a match for Joseph. 

We lost a  SDS friend last year because he developed leukemia and did not have a match. He died waiting to receive a bone marrow transplant. There are many people who are waiting for life saving bone marrow.   If you are interested in how to become a donor, please visit www.marrow.org

30 Days of Giving and Thanks Days 3 & 4

Yesterday, I sent out two notes of thanks to people who have been a blessing in our lives. Today, I want to drop off little gifts and send notes.  That is my plan. I'm hoping to stick to it. I went to Mass this morning and offered prayers of Thanksgiving, so that was also mission accomplished for my challenge.

30 Days of Giving and Thanks Challange (Days 1 & 2)

Over at Bushel and a Peck, Christie is having a year of challenges.  She started this a few months ago.  November's challenge is 30 days of giving and thanks. This Challenge is designed to stir up our sense of gratitude for all the blessings in our lives. Over this thirty days, we will be finding ways each day to Give or to offer Thanks. It doesn’t have to be monetary, but it certainly can be. You can sign up by visiting her blog here.

Here is what Christie's family is doing ( took this from this link):

Here’s what Christie says her family is doing:

"Even days of the month (2nd, 4th, 6th, etc.), an act of “Thanks” - a notecard to a family member, co-worker, friend, or neighbor to say that you are thankful for them. 

Odd days (1st, 3rd, 5th, etc.) an act of giving, just because. We’re going with small gifts that will either be hand-carried or mailed. From homemade items to small gift cards ($5)

You can do 100 different things. You can make baked goods and deliver them with a note-card every other day. You can create homemade crafts. You can show up at someone’s house and clear their leaves. You can clean for an elderly friend. You can volunteer at a soup kitchen. You know what your family is good at and can commit to! You can come up with a variety of amazing ways to offer Thanks or Give to others. Whatever you decide, the discipline is to make it happen all of the 30 days of November. This is a choice to say that for this year, for this month, for this holiday season - we’re reaching out to those we maybe haven’t been so great at keeping up with, or maybe those we just want to show extra love to, or to those who have needs that we can meet. Whatever your reasons, and whomever you lavish your Thanks and Giving on…we want to turn-around the habit of taking care of ourselves or always looking out for #1 into Giving and Thanks. You will be blessed! (trust me…)"

 

 I like to make cards for people... I often donate them to others to give to their friends and family.  I've been working the last several days on making cards to give away. Today, we brought a friend to the range, does that count as giving a gift? ~smile~  As each day goes by this month, I hope to complete this challenge each day!