Dear Heart Kids Friend
The Heart Kids Blog Marathon ended on Sunday - at 6 p.m. my time
(I live in India).
In a week, thanks to the generous support of wonderful people like
you, we raised over $9,200.
Having had just 2 hours sleep since Friday night, I crashed - and
woke up 10 hours later to discover more donations had come in,
raising the tally to over $10,500.
Which means at least ...
FIVE Children Will Have Heart Operations - Probably MORE!
Isn't that WONDERFUL? Wouldn't you stay awake all night if you
could do it again? Of course you would. And I'd do it too.
Thank you for your amazing support. Without it, this entire event
and its benefits might never have happened.
To help you understand better what you have helped with, I'd like
to take a moment of your time to give you some history about the
event - and share some of my plans for the future.
LAST YEAR... was magical!
In July 2003, for the very first time, I dared to put my long-term
dream to the test.
I did the "Heart Kids Blogathon" - and for the first 12 hours, not
much happened. Around $500 had trickled in - but I kept plugging
on. And then, magic...
A friend told his list about the event. Another friend passed the
message along to his own list.
And literally within minutes, contributions started flooding in.
Stunned, I gazed at my computer screen as the emails came in a
torrent. By the time Blogathon 2003 ended, we had more than FIVE
times what I had expected. The total - over $12,000
The hard work had just begun. I learned a LOT in the year since.
Still am learning.
Foreign exchange laws in India are VERY strict. Funds entering
India must meet stringent requirements. I first founded a non-
profit trust, had it registered, then set about the process of
seeking permission to bring funds into India.
In the meantime, to show supporters the effect of their generosity,
I used my personal funds to sponsor two heart operations - so they
could feel first-hand the joy which comes from helping save a
child's life.
The procedures are so complex, they aren't over even a year later.
They are almost done - very soon, I hope to bring in the funds
raised during the events, and put them to use right away.
HERE'S MY PLAN...
The months ahead will be VERY busy ones - for me. I have a list
of things to do:
* complete the formalities of bringing in funds to India
* work out the best way to help the most children receive
heart operations
* execute the detailed plans we have made to create a self-
sustaining process to keep helping more kids each year, year
after year (I'll write to you soon with more details on this)
* keep you informed about progress, at every stage
This last step poses challenges. Email is no longer very reliable.
I'm not even sure if you'll read this message.
So I've come up with some alternatives.
1. I'm creating a blog (web log) specifically to keep donors
updated about progress with the Heart Kids blog marathon.
The URL is:
http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com/chd-donors/
2. If enough people are interested in receiving this information
delivered to their desktop via 'feeds', I'll set up one through
Klip folio - just like this one I use for my other blog -
http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com/klip/
3. If you use any other kind of 'feed reader' like Amphetadesk
or even a "My Yahoo!" homepage, you can add the feed from this
blog to your reader. Here's the XML feed address to use:
http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com/chd-donors/index.rdf
4. You will receive email updates of the same information at
intervals (no more often than once a month)
5. I'll even write to you via regular postal mail, giving
you more information about the event and the kids who benefit
from your support
Hopefully one of these will make it through filters and reach
you :-)
I'll stop here with another heart-felt "Thank you" for your
support. Please drop by the blog to stay updated with events
around the Heart Kids blog marathon - and I'll be in touch :)
All success
Dr.Mani
Help Spread CHD Awareness
http://www.CHDinfo.com/chdaware/