As this weekend of Thanksgivng is heading toward a close and the season of GIVING is drawing near, I was wondering if those that read this thread, have added the OCF to their list of places to give.
Many of us "old timers" have an inkling of what it costs to run this website and the Oral Cancer Foundation itself, but we really don't know the half of it, I'm sure.
We are all bombarded by phone and mail solicitations at this time of year for many worthwhile organizations. Some of those that we give to have a great deal of meaning to us and many we just give to because we give every year. The OCF doesn't solicit!!! You won't be getting name labels from Brian. I should only live long enough to use all the return address labels I have on my desk.
Last April I received generous donations from 17 OCF members to sponsor me in the 2nd Annual Oral Cancer Walk in NYC. They went a long way toward reaching the total that I raised, which was over $3,600.
The OCF cannot survive on the money raised from this event alone. If you have received just one good word of advice, one heartfelt word of compassion or one good suggestion to help get you through the day, then maybe you can find it in your heart to make a gift to the OCF. Every little bit helps. It doesn't have to be $100. If every member of the OCF gave just $5 ot $10, it would make a tremendous impact on meeting expenses.
It's real easy..just click here
http://www.ocfstore.org/SearchResults.asp?Cat=1 And don't forget to shop Amazon.com from the link on the top of the forum home page. Tell your friends, too.
Wishing everyone Happy Holidays.
Jerry
Just to add to Jerry's post, I sent the Amazon link to everyone in my family and all my friends and asked them to please remember to use that link when they are doing their holiday shopping on Amazon. And, I keep reminding them in person....
Thanks Jerry for bringing this up. It is that time of year when people think of giving. The big organizations really take in the donations in December when good will towards man seems to be in the air. Unfortunately smaller non profits like OCF don't get the exposure or money of others. We are just like them, an IRS registered 501(c)3 charity, and your donations to the foundation are tax deductible. I hope that you will consider us as an organization worthy of your support. The work that OCF does is much more than just this message board and web site, and there is much left undone... I promise that your charitable donations will be used with purpose and be meaningful. Unlike large organizations very little of OCF's income goes towards overhead expenses and salaries, with the bulk of the funding going directly to service the cause. Just think of this, not only will you be helping an organization that is directly related to a disease that you are very familiar with, but unlike the big cancer organizations you won't hear of us spending 30% or more of our money on fundraising efforts.
For donations under $500 your receipt from the OCF web store, or your cancelled check is all you need for the IRS. Larger donations will get a letter of receipt and thanks which becomes your IRS record.
Just bringing this back up to the top in the hope that more people will read this thread.
Jerry
I want to share the email and Christmas card insert I have come up with and sent out. I used some of the posts from the OCF site as well as some of the important data, so if you see some of your own words coming back to you, thanks for your input.
Feel free to use and edit as you see fit to help.
All of you know of my personal battle with oral cancer last year. Oral cancer is in the closet and needs special attention in its own right. It is not like all other cancers by the very nature of its location. It takes away the most basic and necessary functions of the lives that it destroys.
It goes without saying that life can spin out of control at times and the best we can do is plant our feet in the sand, hold hands and help each other get through the spinning. One of the nurses here at the University of Tennessee Cancer Center told me that the body is a wonderful healing machine and that the mouth heals very quickly and thankfully she is correct. It's been over a year since my chemotherapy treatments and surgery, and 11 months since I finished my last radiation treatment and I am doing very well with 2 clear scans under my belt. The radiation was by far the worst part of my overall treatment but I got through it.
The second biggest help outside of my family, friends and co-workers has been the Oral Cancer Foundation website. The information contained on this site is squarely focused on Head and Neck Cancers. There is a support message board which can be far more important than even the American Cancer Society. The message board is chock full of information, assistance and support, given by people who were going through cancer or helping someone with cancer. Each person there has been touched by the effect of this grossly disgusting disease, from young adults to older adults, from all over the world.
If I was ever an advocate, I would be now for Oral Cancer. This is a dreadful disease and the treatment and surgery can be very ugly. The importance of the board is paramount, especially for people who are unable to talk after surgery to have a place to go to obtain information, compassion and support by the very people who understand what they're going through.
The Oral Cancer Foundation and Oral Cancer in general needs more press. Approximately 34,000 people in the US will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer in 2007. This is the second year in a row in which there has been an increase in the rate of occurrence, this time of about 11% over last year.Worldwide the problem is far greater, with new cases annually exceeding 481,000.
It won't hurt a bit. Help us fight Cancer.
If you buy gifts for the holidays from Amazon, please help us in our fight against Oral Cancer. Oral Cancer claims one life every hour of every day in the U.S. You can help make a difference!
The Oral Cancer Foundation (http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/) is a national public service non-profit entity.
You can support the OCF by shopping at Amazon by using this link
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/oralcancerfou-20)
at NO cost or obligation to you!! Happy Holidays All !!!
Kevin
Kevin,
That is a great idea. It should help many members reach out to their family and friends to help infuse some cash into the OCF coffers.
Happy Holidays
Jerry
Kevin, that was really well put, and I thank you for the effort. I have written something to send out to our friends, neighbors, and Ingrid's business associates from Astra Zeneca, the only addition is that after the line about Amazon I put:
If you are thinking of donating to a charity this year, please think of OCF. You will get the same deductions from the IRS as any of the big name charities, and you will be helping an organization that spends more than 90 cents of every donated dollar directly on the cause vs. fundraising or G&A expenses. The link to do so securely on the web is
http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/membership/membership.htm Also do not be surprised if you get an donation "ask letter" from OCF in the next couple of weeks in your email. I am sending a letter out to people who are registered on the message board, and to people who have left their email address on our newsletter link.
Glad to help. I'd like to see a good chunk of the hosting fees taken care of by this. After Brian described what type of system OCF is running I have a very good idea of the costs, staggering.
I have had quite a few positive responses to my holiday request, all we can do now it wait and see.
Kevin
On a much teenier scale, have left a small donation with my daughter.
I didn't get the opportunity to get to the OCF office whilst in CA, but she lives in Huntington Beach and has promised to call in one day after work.
Brenda
Have her call me if she wants to meet. The Newport Beach address is a mailing address not a physical location. (I could never afford to live in Newport.... let alone rent office space there. After Beverly Hills, it is the most expensive bit of real estate in So Cal. Thank you for the donation. Every little bit helps, and more than that, it means to me you find this site and the work that OCF does in Washington and elsewhere of value, and you care about helping others.
Hi Brian,
I am happy to include the amazon link in my xmas letters too. Although, realistically, the address isn't easy to remember and I don't know how many of my friends and family will use it as I don't anticipate they will carry my letter with them. I know a lot of people shop from work and xmas cards generally get piled up or displayed at home.
Any chance you could put an amazon logo/link on the first page of the OCF web site. Then, they would just have to remember the oral cancer main web address (which is easy to remember) and the link would get them to amazon.
I'm not a techy, so I don't know if I'm asking for something that's an implementation nightmare. I'd just really like to see more people use the amazon link...especially for the holidays.
Or is there any other options for providing a link that's easier to remember?
I will check with Cester for options, but what this rather long link lends itself to is making it a hot link in the signatures of all our emails. In that respect no one has to remember anything they just have to click it.
I have the embedded links that you can use as an email signature on the front page of my website:
http://www.kevin.fastbytes.net
Kevin - this is really great, but you need to fix the OCF link as it goes to .com (not us) and should go to .org (main OCF site). Also would someone who DOES NOT currently have an Account with Amazon check the link that comes up when you clink of Kevin's Amazon link, and confirm that the link that comes up contains this piece of coding 1&tag=oralcancerfou- If it does not, OCF will not get credit for the purchases. Since I have an Amazon account stored in my computer it works for me, bringing up my specific OCF/Amazon account. I just want to be sure that it does it right for someone without an account.
Yes it works. It also has 1&tag=oralcancerfou-20 in it. Good work guys. And by the way Kevin, pretty neat web site you have.
Ooops,,, I fixed it
The amazon link is coded
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/oralcancerfou-20 which I copied from the forum site
Thanks Bill. Just something for me to play with.
Kevin
This last quarter of 2008 OCF has accomplished more in three months than ever before. We have reached more newspaper reporters who have gotten the oral cancer story out there. We have created a new TV PSA with Colleen Zenk Pinter, a new tongue cancer survivor and long time TV actress on As the World Turns, as well as worked to get her on morning talk shows and magazine article that are yet to appear. We have sponsored research in areas where early detection is a focus a three major institutions. I have testified before a congressional sub committee on oral cancer and patient issues. I have lectured at professional scientific symposiums, and to groups like the American Academy of Maxillofacial Prosthetics on the changing demographics of oral cancer. We printed our 750,000 copy of "What you need to know about oral cancer", a waiting room brochure for medical and dental offices. We purchased the software to put up a new more efficient web store for donations and more, due to go live in January (December if I can beg Chester to give up a few weekends.) We have formed an alliance with the Paltrow family to allow us to use Bruce Paltrow's name in a fundraising effort starting soon. I have, as the first non-doctor member of the American Academy of Oral Medicine, edited the first draft of that organization
Since I didn't get one email on this post over the weekend I am bringing it back to the top
You should have received at least one e-mail as I requested brochures from you this afternoon.
It's out of my comfort zone to try to solicit donations, but I'm happy to push my own envelope a little because I am impressed and grateful with all that you have accomplished. I'd really like to help!
Also folks
Use your MySpace, Facebook or other social networking site page to help spread the word.
A signature line in your email can help as well.
I have the embedded links that you can use as an email signature on the front page of my own personal website:
http://www.kevin.fastbytes.net I know I used to think that these type of sites were just for kids, but in my computer consulting work I am finding more people "over 30" than you might think have these personal pages to try and "keep up with the kids".
Kevin
Brian or Jerry
What id we change the Topic Title to something like
Please Help the OCF !
Brian please send me the envelopes, this is a good time of year to collect.....Thanks! my address is 613 Dorsey Rd. Bel Air, Md. 21014
Hi Brian,
OK, went to Donation page... Some what confused?? I hope it went through OK. If so that is great, if not need a step by step map I guess... Ha ha!!
All I can say is a big THANK YOU !!
Unfortunately, the donation page will not acknowledge Canadian donations. One is given the option to enter a country but the only option is the United States. Oooooh kay. Please let me know if there is a secret handshake or password that I need! Thanks.
Donna
Thank you for the thought Donna, but because of all the Internet fraud, the bank which runs the finances of the store will not allow out of the US credit card transactions. The only way that it can be done is by PayPal or check. But your desire is greatly appreciated.
For some reason, I was unaware that donations could be made through paypal. It was nice to see that as an option. I was a little confused by the donation page as well, but that's probably due to having radiation to my head and neck. Ha ha.
Hi - I'm also in Canada and would really like to donate to OCF. I've tried a couple of times and was also told I could pay by PayPal but the donation page won't let you get that far if you don't put in your full address and, as discussed above, the only country it will accept is United States. If I get an international money order in US dollars where would I send it? Thanks
Thank you for telling me about the store issue. I guess with Paypal out of the country you would have to just go into Paypal directly (not our store) and send the money to OCF's email address. The about us link on the main navigation bar of the web site has the foundation's address there. Thanks for looking into this and your willingness to help.