Through the magic of networking and schmoozing at mixers I was introduced to Marla Schulman. She is passionately involved with reaching out to others to raise funding for Pancreatic Cancer. Having experienced a family loss to the cancer, Marla has first hand knowledge of just how deadly it is and how funding for research is almost non existent. She has been campaigning for years now to raise awareness about this specific kind of cancer.
The sad truth is most people who have pancreatic cancer die of it. Marla is working with Lustgarten Foundation to reach more people through social networking. A few years ago, Marla lost her cousin to this cancer, he lived in New York where the foundation began. She started participating in the foundation and found out last year that the walk would be coming to Southern California for the first time. She called and offered to volunteer in any way. She worked at Fox 11 at the time and was able to bring them in a s the media sponsor. She produced a PSA and brought in anchor talent to come for the ribbon ceremony.
“They had me speak about my experience… I felt my cousin’s presence so deeply there in the faces of the families who also lost their loved ones”
This year Marla volunteered to be a media consultant/PR activist to help spread the word. She primarily used Facebook to raise awareness on her personal site and is working on getting the Lustgarten Group into the Causes list. She is also currently working on creating a Twitter presence for the foundation.
“I think as a non-profit with limited budget it’s a perfect vehicle to broadcast themselves and keep followers engaged during the year and pass on knowledge”
They are also facing a huge hurdle with the economy in the state that it is. They realize that people are tightening their wallets and may find it difficult to give to charities. Marla expressed that if we all took a look at all the small purchases we make each day they could quickly add up to a donation. It may not have been as big as one you would have considered before, but with more people giving a small amount a difference can still be made. Two things came up in the conversation that really resonated with me:
“If every social media friend that I have gave $10 dollars you could really make a difference”
“If people give up 2 or 3 lattes they could help give other families a chance for hope and for those stricken with this silent killer a chance for survival.”
This got me thinking of all the disposable things that people might spend $10 on that we could be giving to help benefit others:
2 servings of Pinkberry
1 time valet parking
1 cocktail anywhere in LA
2 movie rentals
2 lattes
1 theater ticket
2 packs of cigarettes
1 lunch
The Lustgarten Foundation walk for Pancreatic Cancer Research is taking place this Sunday, March 8th at the Santa Monica Beach Park. Marla will be participating and if you would like to as well check out www.Lustgarten.org. If you can’t participate in the event or just want to make a donation you can do so here. As for me, I’m making my donation now, I know there are quite a few things on that list that I could easily go without for a day.
Details
Date: Sunday March 8th, 2009
Time:
Registration begins at 8:00am
Walk begins at 9:00am
Location: Santa Monica Beach Park
Contacts:
lustgarten.org
(866) 789-1000
sbeck@cablevision.com
Photo From Lustgartencommuinity.org
