JOHN FENZEL

An Auction for the People of Darfur...and a Portrait Artist You Should Know

There is a professional portrait artist in Laguna Hills, California named Enzie Shahmiri who you should know about. In 2007 Enzi painted a little Sudanese girl at a feeding center in Darfur for an online auction organized through the United Nations UNHCR. Unfortunately, the auction never took place and Ms. Caitlin Van Orden (Development Assistant - USA for UNHCR) suggested that Enzi raise funds by auctioning off the painting herself on Ebay.

 

Enzi is doing exactly that.  The auction will take place on October 1st, 2008 on Ebay through Mission Fish and will run for approx. 10 days. 100% of all the proceeds will be donated to the UNHCR to benefit the people of Darfur. Above is a teaser, to see a full image of the painting, go to:  http://enzieshahmiri.com/Sudanese-Girl.html. Enzi has also included a link where people who like to participate in spreading the word can find out how they can help further. It has my full endorsement!

Visit Enzi's Gallery at http://www.EnzieShahmiri.com

or her Blog at           http://world-market-portraits.blogspot.com/ 

The Yellow Ribbon Express...

Mr. Ross Rowland, President of the Yellow Ribbon Express Foundation, Inc.(YRE) has begun a project called "The Yellow Ribbon Express" (YRE). If you haven't heard about it, you certainly will in the months and weeks ahead. What is it? The YRE will be a 24-car long steam locomotive powered exhibition train that will tour the nation for 3 years starting in 2011 in order to mount a very visible national "thank you" campaign to all Americans who have stepped forward and served our nation in uniform from the 1700's to today. In addition, the project aims at raising 1 billion dollars through the" A Billion for the Brave" program. These funds will be used in the years ahead to help our wounded Soldiers and their families.

The Yellow Ribbon Express is not an entirely new concept. In the 1970's Ross also created the American Freedom Train (AFT) as a vehicle to help celebrate our nation's 200th birthday and to highlight some of the amazing things our nation accomplished in 200 years of participatory democracy. In 1970 he founded the American Freedom Train Foundation, Inc., receiving support from five major corporate co-sponsors (GM, Pepsi, Prudential, Kraft Foods and Atlantic Richfield, each of which donated $1.5 million each. This $7.5 million (about $22 million in 2008 dollars) built the train and the organization. With this and some help from President Nixon, the American Freedom Train Foundation was allowed to borrow 512 original artifacts from 283 museums and private collectors from across the nation. These priceless artifacts, coupled with an award winning multi-media display in the 10 railroad display cars, attracted a sell-out audience across America. The AFT displayed at 138 towns/cities in all 48 states during its 25,000 mile, 21 month journey with 7.6 MILLION people paying to see the exhibit. The ticket revenues paid for the operating expenses and at the end of the journey a small surplus was donated to the American Cancer Society and the Red Cross. Based on his experience with the AFT, Ross estimates that approx. 12 million Americans will visit the YRE during its 36 month, 48 state, 150 city epic journey, and an additional 100 million will come down to trackside to cheer it on its way.

Please go to: http://yellowribbonexpress.com and www.freedomtrain.org to see more on each project.

The project has now begun to make significant forward progress as they begin to gain corporate co-sponsor support. Ross has already been successful in signing up Mr. Barry Howard, an award winning exhibition designer (www.barryhowardlimited.com), to design the show. Mr. Howard has just begun the process of writing the script for the ten display cars.

The YRE can can go a long way towards reconnecting our fellow citizens with the brave men and women now serving our great nation. Also, I believe that of the estimated 6 million school students who will tour the YRE exhibit, many will come away with a much greater appreciation of service to the nation and a desire to seek opportunities to serve something bigger than themselves.

Here is a quote from Ross Rowland about the YRE: "The Yellow Ribbon Express project is a HUGE undertaking and will only happen if we can attract the help of a lot of good folks who share our belief that we owe a HUGE debt of gratitude to our true heroes!!"

Ross Rowland, President
Yellow Ribbon Express Foundation, Inc.
401 W. Main St.
Sackets Harbor, NY 13685

If you would like to be a part of this great project, go to: www.yellowribbonexpress.com

Encourage others to join in...through everyone's involvement the Yellow Ribbon Express will become a reality. I'm sure you will agree that the entire nation stands to benefit!

All the Very Best,

John Fenzel

Operation Dreamseed: A Success Story in Afghanistan

Cast members from the FX show "Rescue Me" congratulate Army Maj. Todd Schmidt during the Microsoft Above and Beyond Awards ceremony in New York City, Nov. 12, 2007. Schmidt, a member of the headquarters Army staff at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., received the award for providing school supplies for children in Afghanistan. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Adam M. Stump, USAF

Here is a National Review article about a philanthropic and humanitarian organization called "Operation Dreamseed," started by a good friend of mine, Army Lieutenant Colonel Todd Schmidt. I believe it's efforts like these, far more than the kinetic solutions, that will ultimately endure in Afghanistan. It's a cause that I fully endorse. To visit, Todd's website and learn how you too can contribute, CLICK HERE.

Science Class for Kandahar Girls: Winning hearts and minds.

By Stephen Spruiell

For U.S. Army Major Todd Schmidt, it all comes back to a quote attributed to Joan of Arc: “All battles are first won or lost in the mind.” Preparing to deploy to Afghanistan in 2004, then-Captain Schmidt knew he would encounter poverty and illiteracy on a scale unknown to most Americans, and he figured he would want to do something to help for humanitarian reasons. When he got there, he found that helping made strategic sense as well.

Schmidt is the founder of Operation Dreamseed, a nonprofit organization that started as an effort to distribute school supplies to kids in Afghanistan. Schmidt said he talked to his mother, an Indiana schoolteacher, before his deployment about organizing such an effort. Once deployed, he saw that the need was clear.

“No chalkboards, no desks, no chalk, no tablets of paper, nothing,” he says, recalling the first schoolhouse he saw in Afghanistan. “They’re literally sitting in rows on the floor, no glass panes in the windows, drafty schoolhouse that’s been gutted. We knew there was a real need here, and if we started providing basic school supplies, we’d be making an impact.”

Schmidt says he saw a way to meet that need by tapping into the generosity of the thousands of Americans who send care packages to the troops. “We were receiving these care packages,” he says, “and everybody that sent us something, we’d send them a note back saying, we truly appreciate your patriotic support for us and what we’re doing over here. You don’t know us, but you took your time and your energy to contribute this great gift. But if you really, truly are committed to helping us, we’d appreciate if you send school supplies.”

Schmidt says that American soldiers “really do have everything we need over there . . . we have Burger King, we have Pizza Hut, we have Subway, Green Beans coffee . . . they do everything they can to make sure that soldiers have a little taste of home. Even soldiers that are in some of the more remote forward operating bases . . . we still have much more than the locals have.”

Schmidt says that shortly after he started asking for school supplies in his thank-you notes, they started arriving in large quantities. “Before we knew it, we had filled a metal shipping container with school supplies,” he says. “We’d take them out on missions and distribute them to the schools.”

Operation Dreamseed grew from there, and at a fundraiser in New York City last month, Schmidt announced that the nonprofit is now sending school supplies to Iraq, Kosovo, Nicaragua, and Colombia, and has broadened its work in Afghanistan to include bigger projects.

One of those projects is the construction of science lab at a girl’s school in Kandahar. On this project, Operation Dreamseed has partnered with another nonprofit working in Afghanistan called Afghans for a Civil Society. ACS was founded by Qayum Karzai (Hamid’s brother). His wife Pat Karzai volunteers as the organization’s U.S. administrator.

“There are a few girls’ schools in Kandahar, but none of them have a science lab,” Pat Karzai says. “So we’ve been working with Operation Dreamseed on getting some budgets together and talking to some science teachers to learn what would be needed to supply it, what it would take to build it, and my husband is in Kandahar looking for a location — to choose the best girls’ school.”

Both Schmidt and Karzai spoke of the resistance they’ve encountered from factions in Afghanistan that remain opposed to girls’ education. “It’s very unfortunate, especially in the south,” Karzai says, “but if more NGOs and aid agencies came into the area and started doing more work, it would help with the insurgency. As long as people stay away and don’t help with development process, nothing can change.”

Schmidt insists that efforts like Operation Dreamseed engage a crucial battle space in the war on Islamic extremism. “To begin to break down the walls and begin to build the kinds of personal relationships we needed to build with the [Afghan] villagers,” Schmidt says, “my thought was, let’s reach out to the children. Children will make a friend at the drop of a hat, and it might be easier if we were to interact with kids and use that as a bridge to the adults.

“When you’re fighting for the minds of Muslim youth, education is one of your biggest tools for that,” Schmidt says. “We’ve received as much support from liberals as from conservatives because they get it, they understand that Joan of Arc quote, that ‘All battles are first won or lost in the mind.’ When people can question authority, and they can begin to express ideas, and they are connected to the rest of the globalized world . . . that offers a measure of prevention against tyranny.”

— Stephen Spruiell is an NRO staff reporter.

THE FINAL PUSH: Madison's Mission: Possible!

Dear Friends,

On April 26th, our family will be walking again this year to help find a cure for diabetes. As most of you know, this is a cause very close to our hearts because our niece, Madison, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when she was 4. We stay frequently with Madison’s family (my sister) during our stays in Washington, D.C. Being around Madison so often, and helping her with her carb counting at each meal is a constant reminder to us of what this fun, vivacious little girl has to manage every single day … until we find a cure.

We appreciate everyone who donated to Madison’s Mission: Possible! last year, and ask that you consider donating again this year. Scroll down this post a bit and you will find all of the details. If you are in the D.C. / MD area you can also join our team and walk on April 26th. There is information on walk sign up below as well.

If you do anything, please read below to learn more about juvenile diabetes and Madison’s Mission: Possible! and then forward this link on to others. Our mission is to ultimately create more awareness about juvenile diabetes. More awareness we will certainly help raise more money…which will actively contribute to finding a cure for this terrible disease. By sending this on to others, you are helping. Thank you for your generosity.

Warmest regards from our family to you and yours,

John, Ciri, Anna, Erin and Luke

*************************************

Madison's Mission: Possible!

Madison with her brothers Nick (7) and Braden (4)
There isn't a day that goes by without us hoping that this disease doesn't effect the boys too.

Dear Family, Friends, and anyone who will lend an ear and a hand:

Since our daughter Madison was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in July of 2003 at the age of 4, we have been very active in volunteering and fundraising for The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). We realized very quickly that there was no known cause for the disease, and thus no known cure. Without so many of you behind us and supporting us along the way, we could not possibly do what we are trying to do in getting Madison, and so many kids just like her, cured.

When the doctor told us that Madison had Juvenile Diabetes, the first reaction was to ask when it would go away (assuming that with the word 'juvenile' in it, she would grow out of it). The solemn response from the doctor was that it was a chronic disease with no cure, only management with insulin. While Madison is so responsible and good about handling all that she has to endure (multiple finger pricks, insulin pump site changes and counting every carb that she eats), these are not the things that a 9 year old should need to be great at.

The one day that we feel like we have power over this disease is when we participate in the JDRF Walk For A Cure. It is a day that we come together with friends and family to actively find a cure instead of wait for one. It is amazing to see the number of people that come out for this event. The sad thing is that the numbers are growing because more and more families are being diagnosed each and every day. We say "families" because it is the whole family that lives with this diagnosis.

It is time for us to walk again on Saturday, April 26th, and we hope you will help us to make this our most successful year yet, both in fundraising and in the size of our walk team.

With our most sincere thanks,

Mike, Lisa, Madison, Nicholas and Braden Zehring

What is JDRF?

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 diabetes research worldwide. Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.16 billion to diabetes research, including more than $137 million in FY2007. More than 85 percent of JDRF's expenditures directly support research and research-related education. JDRF is consistently among the highest rated charitable organizations for its fiscal responsibility. Click Here for more information about JDRF.

All donations to JDRF for Madison's Walk are 100% tax deductible.

What Can We Do?

It all starts with that question...and grows from there! After we got home from the hospital following Madison's diagnosis, we told her that we would do everything that we could do to find a cure. We found JDRF shortly thereafter, and have been actively involved ever since.

In the past 4+ years you have helped us to raise more than $45,000 to get Madison one step closer to life without diabetes. We have been consistently blown away by the generosity of our friends, family, and people we have never even met.

This year we are hoping to raise even more! We have set our goal this year to raise over $20,000! We cannot do this alone, so we are asking for your help once again!!

Join Our Team!

Madison's Mission: Possible

Sign up to join us on walk day!

We will be walking on Saturday, April 26th at Centennial Park in Columbia, Maryland. We have been so fortunate to have our team grow each and every year, and hope that if you are around and available, that you will join us too! The walk registration begins at 8am, the walk kicks off at 10am, and there will be lots of food, friends, music and fun!

To walk with us, click to Join Madison's Team.

Make A Donation!

If we could find a cure on our own, we would do it. It is so hard to ask others to help sometimes, but when it is something that is as important as our child's health, and the well-being of so many other children and families out there, we have to put our pride aside and just ask.

Madison has asked us when her diabetes will go away. Madison has asked us how much a cure costs. Madison has even asked Santa to make a donation to help find a cure for her (Which he did...What a great guy!). Madison has told us that there is a cure, the scientists just need enough money to find it. This is where we come in, and we cannot do it alone, so all we can do is ask you: Please help us to help Madison!

How?

There are a couple of ways that you can make a donation to support JDRF and to support Madison's Mission:

1) Click HERE to make a donation online.

2) You can mail a check directly to Madison and we will forward it onto the JDRF office for you. All checks should be made payable to JDRF. Mail to:

Madison Zehring
7120 Altford Court
Elkridge, Maryland 21075

If your company is looking for charitable giving opportunities, please share our information with them. If your company does matching donations, please take advantage of the opportunity to double up on your donation!!

With corporate donations of $2500 or more, we can include the corporate logo on the Maryland walk t-shirts, as well as on the signage at the walk! To be eligible for this the donation amount and commitment needs to be made prior to March 3rd! Please let us know if your company would be interested in this sponsorship opportunity!

Whether you can donate $1, $5, $500, $5000 or even $50,000, all of these donations come together and a make a big difference for these kids and their families and are very much appreciated! If you cannot make a donation at this time, please pass this e-mail along to your friends and family, and know that we understand and appreciate all you do to support us and our cause!

Share Madison's Mission

The success that we have had in the past with our fundraising has so much to do with all of you passing our message along to your friends and family, and them doing the same, and so on! So please take a moment to forward this e-mail on to everyone in your address books and keep Madison's Mission going!

We have consistently been touched and blown away by the generosity and kind messages and cards that we have received from friends, family and people we have never even met. We cannot even begin to express how much this effort and outpouring of support has meant to us over the years, and truly gives us hope that Madison will not have to live with this disease forever!

Each year we have a chart in our kitchen that tracks our donations toward reaching our goal. This year we will have another chart...to see if we can receive donations from every state in America!!

What is it like to have diabetes?

Have you ever wondered what it is like for Madison having diabetes? Outside of actually having it, there is no absolute way to have you experience it (nor would we want you to), but if you would like to have a brief glimpse into what Madison has to do on a daily basis, I would encourage you to do this exercise.

~ First, put a tight rubber band around your wrist. (It is important to have it somewhat tight so that you are constantly aware that it is there, as Madison is constantly aware of her disease.)

~ Next, when you wake up in the morning, before you eat, snap the rubber band against your wrist (This is Madison's first finger prick of the day).

~ Now, around 10am, if your stomach starts to feel like you are really hungry, it means your blood sugar may be going low...snap the rubber band against your wrist. (Madison needs to check her sugar any time she feels really hungry, nauseous, shaky, emotional or lethargic to see if her blood sugar is causing these feelings.)

~ Before you eat lunch, snap the rubber band again.

~ In the afternoon, if you are feeling shaky or lethargic, snap it again.

~ Before dinner, snap it again.

~ Before you go to bed, snap it again.

~ Set your alarm for midnight, wake up and snap it again (this is just one last check to make sure you will be ok through the night).

~ The next morning, you can take off the rubber band, Madison can't...she starts all over again.

* If you thought that it was annoying and uncomfortable doing this for a day, imagine being 9 years old and pricking your little fingers more than 11,500 times...several pricks every single day over the past 4 1/2 years! This isn't even accounting for the shots she used to endure several times a day, or the insulin pump site changes that she endures now.

Please help us get this rubber band off of Madison and all the other kids like her!

Thank you so much for your time in reading through this information. If you can make a donation to Madison’s Mission, we thank you! If you would like to join our team for the walk, we welcome you! If you pass this information along, we are in debt to you. For you simply supporting our goal to find a cure for Madison and all the others living with this disease, we appreciate you more than you may ever know!

Sincerely,

Mike, Lisa, Madison, Nicholas and Braden Zehring

Improving the World...

The Gourmet Gala for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

FIND THE HERO IN YOU
When you become a St. Jude Hero, you're making a difference to children fighting cancer and other life-threatening illnesses at St. Jude.

To learn more about the St. Jude's Gourmet Gala in Washington, D.C., CLICK HERE

If you are looking for an end-of-year tax deduction, St. Jude's would be grateful for your contribution....

How You Can Express Your Thanks...

Happy Thanksgiving! If you are looking for a way to give thanks for what you have this Thanksgiving, here is a great way to do it. I recently created this Squidoo Lens to assist St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the kids they help every day. The fundraiser is headed up by good friend Pixie Monroe, the daughter of Marie and Edward Petros--original founding board members of St. Jude's (interestingly, Ed Petros is a veteran of Wild Bill Donovan's OSS during WWII!).

Even if you can't make the big event on February 5th at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., this lens provides many other ways for you to contribute--all contributions are appreciated, big or small. In addition to helping sick kids, it's a great end-of-year tax deduction too!

Please feel free to send this lens to your contacts! Here is the link:

http://www.squidoo.com/stjudeheroes

You can be a St. Jude Hero!

Best Wishes for a Great Thanksgiving!

John

Jared Seff - Age 16 - Paints Danny Thomas Portrait

Here is the Danny Thomas portrait by Jared Seff--a 16 year old artist-prodigy. Jared created the painting for the 1st Annual Beacon of Hope, a fundraising auction to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C..

Ensure you have your speakers turned on!

How You Can Help Sick Kids...

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet Pixie Monroe and Kimber Eastwood during a tandem jump camp with the U.S. Army's Golden Knights. As you will read below, Pixie's parents were among the original board members who helped Danny Thomas found St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Now, Pixie and Kimber are traversing the country in a fundraising effort on behalf of the hospital, in honor of Pixie's mother, Maria Petros, who passed away last year. If you have ever looked for a way you can help save children and find cures for the illnesses that afflict them, Pixie's "Beacon of Hope" fundraiser is a wonderful way to do it. It has my full endorsement!

Be a St. Jude Hero!

1st Annual Beacon of Hope
An Evening to Benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Tuesday, February 5, 2008 | National Building Museum | Washington, D.C.

In the spring of 2007, Pixie Monroe approached St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with the idea for an event in Washington, D.C. Her wish was to find a way to honor her mother, Marie Petros, who passed away in August 2006, and her father, Edward S. Petros, for their generous contributions and fundraising efforts on behalf of the hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Petros were among the original board members of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital with Danny Thomas and have faithfully served the hospital through their fundraising efforts for over fifty years ago. On February 5, 2008, we will come together to celebrate their dedication and to shed light on what more can be done.

Sponsorship of the Beacon of Hope provides organizations a cause-related marketing opportunity that allows them to partner with one of the most respected research facilities for children in the world. Sponsorship also provides the chance to entertain clients and reward employees at an event featuring an amazing silent auction, delicious food and one-of-a-kind entertainment. Top sponsors will be rewarded with inclusion in the event’s media campaign.

We invite you to join us for the 1st Annual Beacon of Hope on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. For additional information, please contact Jeanie Torchio at (703) 486-4520.

Why Sponsor the Beacon of Hope?
Happening in the heart of Washington, D.C., the Beacon of Hope is destined to become one of the city’s “must attend” events;
Offering access to corporate and civic leadership, the Beacon of Hope offers unique networking opportunities, attended by hundreds of influential corporate and civic leaders;
Partnering with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital through sponsorship of the Beacon of Hope aligns an organization with one of the world’s most respected leaders in health initiatives focusing on pediatric cancers, Sickle Cell Anemia and the Avian flu;
Extending your support through a corporate sponsorship helps fund the research that provides hope to millions of children afflicted with life-threatening diseases and their families.

Beacon Partnership*
Entertainment Sponsor

• Two (2) VIP tables (20 event invitations);
• Company logo or name on “Save the Date” postcard;
• Company logo or name on event invitation;
• Company signage at event;
• Back cover advertisement in event program book;
• Company logo or name with hyperlink back to sponsor web site featured on the St. Jude web site at www.stjude.org/beaconofhope;
• Promotional messages on Casting Hope podcasts and company logo or name with hyperlink back to sponsor web site on www.castinghope.net;
• Company name featured in all media outreach including press releases;
• Feature article and photo opportunity in ALSAC News, a St. Jude publication with a circulation of over 20,000;
• Listing on partner page of event program book;
• Listing as partner on all event signage;
• Mention in video presentation at event;
• Commemorative plaque

TOTAL INVESTMENT $25,000

*One (1) Beacon Partnership available

Lighthouse Partnership

• One (1) VIP table (10 event invitations);
• Company logo or name on “Save the Date” postcard;
• Company logo or name on event invitation;
• Company signage at event;
• Full page ad with preferred placement in event program book;
• Company logo or name with hyperlink back to sponsor web site featured on the St. Jude web site at www.stjude.org/beaconofhope;
• Company logo or name with hyperlink back to sponsor web site on www.castinghope.net;
• Company name featured in all media outreach including press releases;
• Listing on partner page of event program book;
• Listing as partner on all event signage;
• Mention in video presentation at event;
• Commemorative plaque

TOTAL INVESTMENT $15,000

High Tide Partnership

• Six (6) event invitations
• Full page ad with preferred placement in event program book;
• Company logo or name with hyperlink back to sponsor web site featured on the St. Jude web site at www.stjude.org/beaconofhope;
• Company name featured in all media outreach press releases;
• Listing on partner page of event program book;
• Listing as partner on all event signage;
• Mention in video presentation at event;
• Commemorative plaque

TOTAL INVESTMENT $10,000

Nautical Partnership

• Four (4) event invitations;
• Full page ad with preferred placement in event program book;
• Listing on partner page of event program book;
• Listing as partner on all event signage;
• Mention in video presentation at event;
• Commemorative plaque

TOTAL INVESTMENT $5,000

Seashore Partnership

• Two (2) event invitations;
• Half page ad in event program book;
• Listing on partner page of program book;
• Listing as partner on all event signage;
• Mention in video presentation at event;
• Commemorative plaque

TOTAL INVESTMENT $2,500

If you are not familiar with the tremendous work St. Jude Research Hospital does every day, CLICK HERE for some quick facts.