As the year winds down

What a weekend! We had such a wonderful time with the Comedy Sportz team. If we could make all our FUN-raisers work using improvisational sketch comedy, I think I would be a happy girl! There are so many people to thank:

Thanks to the fans who came out on Friday and Saturday evenings for our organization. 

Thanks to Kate Hall and all the folks at Richmond Mom for promoting the event. Kate sacrificed herself to the comedy gods and the results were HILARIOUS! She does a mean Martha Stewart impersonation. 

Captain Rachel takes on Captain "Boots" 

The teams show off their mad rhyming skills in Doo-Rap

Kate Hall shows she's suited up
& ready for battle

Boots and sweatpants
are an excellent fashion choice

 Thanks to Roger and CJSTUF board member Lauren Coe for also stepping up to the stage for a good cause. Lauren's boots were the hit of the evening on Friday and Roger wielded so much power on Saturday he was even able to rename cast members.  If you happened to catch the late show, Roger and I even managed a brief cameo in the spit-take game. Let's just say things got a little damp on stage. 


















Thanks to Christine Walters, Dave Gau, and all the other incredible performers at Comedy Sportz for offering this opportunity to spread the word about CJSTUF and make some money in the process.  There are talks of making this an annual event so stay tuned.

In other news, we just learned that the Spirited Art fundraiser will be delayed due to some challenges with their grand opening plans. We will announce when the event has been rescheduled. 

This means that, as of now, we do not have any "official" events scheduled for CJSTUF for the rest of 2011.  However, our wait list for financial assistance grants continues to grow.  We still need your help and there are great ways that you can support our cause. 

CJSTUF merchandise is available for purchase on our website. 100% of the proceeds from merchandise sales goes towards our Meal Fairies program, providing healthy snacks and meals to families in the hospital.

If you know someone who has a birthday coming soon, consider a request for gifts to CJSTUF in lieu of presents. We have some fabulous goodie bags that you can give your guests as a thank you for their donation.  

Stave off the holiday weight gain and start training now for your next race! If you need more motivation, consider running your next race for CJSTUF. It doesn't matter if you're walking a 5K or running an ultra-marathon. Team CJ would love to have you on board.  You can join our race team and ask your friends and family to support you through dedicated donations.  New Team CJ race shirts will be available in 2012 and you can get your own personalized website to track donations. 

Are you trying to make a little extra money for the holiday shopping season by selling your old stuff on eBay? Want to get rid of gifts that you didn't really want in the first place? Consider donating a portion of your eBay sale transaction to CJSTUF through the eBay Giving Works program. You can designate anywhere from 10-100% of your sale price as a donation to CJSTUF. In return, you get a portion of your selling fees refunded and help a great cause while you shop. 

Finally, remember that our corporate partner, Barefoot Books, has great gift ideas for kids of all ages. Shop through the link on her website and a portion of proceeds benefits our organization. 

That should keep you busy for a while. Stay tuned for news as we move towards 2012. 

On Sale Now!

Who doesn't love a sale?  


All CJSTUF t-shirts have been discounted.  We would like to get some new merchandise with the NEW CJSTUF logo but we need to clear out some of our existing inventory. 


Start your holiday shopping and get a shirt for everyone in the family! Quantities are limited and these shirts will never be made again (at least with this design). Many shirts are available in adult and youth sizes.

Butterfly Tee, Ladies Cut (white)
Available in sizes S-XXL
Now $15
*Note: This shirt will not be discontinued

Bald Chicks Rock Tee (pink)
Available in Youth Sizes XS-L
and Adults Sizes S, L, XL, XXL
Now $11.25

Team CJ Tee (purple)
Available in Adult Sizes S-XL
Now $7.50

TUF Chicks Tee (pink)
Available in Youth Sizes 2T-Large
Now $7.50

TUF Guys Tee (pink)
Available in Youth Sizes 2T-Medium
Now $7.50

Also available: window clings, posters from the CJSTUF Art Auction (limited quanitites available), and the downloadable single of Strengthened By You.

The Art Auction 2011 Poster Design
Suitable for framing

Shipping is $5 for out-of-town orders but waived on all in-town (local pick-up) orders.


Do you have any ideas for new CJSTUF t-shirts or merchandise? Email your thoughts to us! (or just comment on the blog)

Check out our new look!

We are excited to announce some big changes for CJ's Thumbs Up Foundation. In April of this year, CJSTUF was selected as one of 12 Richmond area nonprofits to participate in the CreateAThon on Campus project. Each team of marketing and advertising students worked with representatives from the respective organizations to help develop marketing materials.  

At our quarterly board meeting on July 19th, the Board adopted the new logo and color scheme created by our CreateAThon team. We love it. We hope you do too.

The original CJ butterfly will still be around in various forms but look for changes in the coming months to our website as well as other marketing materials. You can see some of the immediate changes on our Facebook page! (Are you a fan already?)  

This also means that all of our current t-shirts containing our old logo have now become limited edition collector's items! Get 'em while they last.

Stay tuned for more announcements with our August newsletter (coming soon!)

Who's ready to shop???

Very important news! It's been a busy weekend!

First of all, the Stella & Dot fundraiser will still go on through the end of the month so if you didn't get a chance to attend the trunk show and want to order some fabulous jewelry, go to www.stelladot.com/leighpace and select Susan Ferguson as the host. I bought a beautiful personalized necklace with CJ's initials and her birthstone charm on a pink satin ribbon. Can't wait to show it off!

The REALLY BIG news is that we have CJSTUF merchandise for sale.

You can see more on our website (www.cjstuf.org/shop) but here's a preview. There are Bald Chicks Rock tees for kids and adults.....

There are women's cut tees featuring the CJ butterfly...

(A big thanks to our neighbor, Abby Horn, for modeling the new tees!)

PLUS we have more kids tees, featured below. These are also the t-shirts that a child will get when he or she has a Birthday Party for CJ.

You can place orders online through our website. Right now we can't accept credit cards (coming soon!) but we can accept checks for both local and long-distance orders. Information on shipping charges are found in the shopping cart. You can email me if you have questions.



Mark Your Calendars for two upcoming events:



This Saturday, 7/31 is the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Duck Walk in Downtown Richmond. We have been invited by local kids band Diggity Dudes to share their booth space and display some CJSTUF information. This is a great PR opportunity for us but we need some assistance. Email Roger if you are able to volunteer your time at this event.



Also coming up is the Wine Down Wednesday event at the Wine Loft in Short Pump. This event is August 4th from 6:30-9:30 PM. Admission is $5 and extra raffle tickets are just $1 each. There is a cash bar with great wines, free appetizers, and a great opportunity to socialize. I will be talking about CJSTUF and local authors Joni Davis and Lisa Hyatt will discuss their book Feng Shui Love. All proceeds from the admission and raffle tickest benefit CJSTUF so let's make this an amazing event!

Inching Along

I can't believe that July is almost over!

Tonight is the Stella & Dot Trunk Show at Sue Ferguson's Home. It was rescheduled from last Thursday. If you can't attend but still want to order, you can go to www.stelladot.com/leighpace any time before the end of the month and place your order. Be sure to name Susan Ferguson as the host so proceeds go to benefit CJSTUF.

You also have one more week to contact Meredith Hayes from Reflections Interior Design for a consultation. When you book, 20% of your consultation fee will go back to CJSTUF.

In other news...

Now that August is upon us, we have even more events to plan. We will send out another blog post in a few days but you can also check out all of our current events on our website. Be sure to check our Fundraisers and Events pages often for announcements. Also, I know that many of you our fans of ours on Facebook, but if for some strange reason you haven't "liked" us on Facebook yet, be sure to do so and tell all your friends. It's one of our best ways to communicate with our friends and supporters.

We are inches (and I do mean inches) away from getting our determination letter from the IRS. I had to fill out some additional paperwork a few weeks ago and a follow up call to our rep at the IRS indicated that we should get our determination letter in the next few weeks. That is good news for MANY reasons but the main reason is that we will be able to get our PayPal link fixed. I apologize to anyone who has tried to donate in the past few weeks without success. We should have the online option fixed soon.

And just in time because we have CJSTUF merchandise for sale!!!
I will post pictures, prices, and information about how to order over the weekend but I will tell you that there are four current t-shirt designs. Some are exclusively for adults, others are for kids, and some are available in youth and adult sizes. We also have CJSTUF window clings available. Again, I will work on getting all of this information online (including pictures) but you will just have to be patient.

Finally:

Now that Roger and I are each working two jobs (in addition to our CJSTUF endeavors), we are in need to seriously rally the volunteer corps. Please go to our website and click on the volunteer link. This will direct you to our Volunteer Database sign up form. We are currently in need of:
People willing to serve on committees to plan and execute events

• Individuals and small groups to help with managing CJSTUF merchandise and creating our swag bags
• Some miscellaneous office duties (database management, etc.)
• Creative and motivated folks who want to help in lots of ways

Once you enter into our volunteer database, we can have a better idea about who is available and when (and how) they can help. We may not call you tomorrow but please know that we will call you when we need you!

On an emotional note:

I think that personally, I'm in a much better place emotionally than I was a few weeks ago. Still sad. Life still sucks sometimes. But I have some great friends who have been providing all kinds of emotional support to me (and Roger) in the past few weeks. Thank you so much! It seems the crying jags come in fits and spurts but I've felt a lot more stable in the last week. I did get rather teary in Target today. Of all things, I walked through the school supplies aisle. And realized that my baby would not go to Kindergarten. It made me very sad. BUT....I carry her Tinkerbell lunchbox with me to my new job at the Faison School every day. She is with me in small but meaningful ways.

That's all for now but I promise a lengthy post about upcoming August events will be coming soon!

Rachel