Friday, May 14, 2010

eb auction thanks

Katie posted this on Jonah's EB Auction Fan Page, and I just wanted to post it here as well. We really are so, so thankful to everyone who donated, placed bids, and prayed!

I just wanted to let everyone know that in lieu of mailing out Thank You notes, we decided that the $50 it would have cost for stamps, envelopes, and paper would be better spent as a donation to DebRA. I hope that everyone who donated items (and participated) knows how incredibly thankful we are for your generosity. It's because of you all that approximately $11,000 was donated to DebRA in Jonah's honor. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and hopefully we'll see you in 9.5 months for the 2011 auction. :)

17 comments:

Sara Denslaw said...

AWESOME!!!!

Wanda Wilkinson said...

Sara took the words out of my mouth...AWESOME!!!!!! I agree give the $50.00 to DEBra--you have already told us Thank you by allowing us to be part of Jonah's life.

Love & kisses

RLR said...

WOW!!!! Fantastic!

Jennifer said...

He is one handsome young man and you are one blessed mommy! Just loved the pictures from the previous post! Thanks for educating us and sharing with us about EB and your journey. I am much smarter now! I do not have a cell phone but I like following you on twitter through your side bar. I am SO GLAD and THANKFUL that you read about the blended diet. She seems to be onto something. I think also "venting' his stomach, doing more in the morning, etc. is a great thing. Stick to it! By the way, doctors seem to push calories, calories, calories but remember, you are the mom and Jonah will need different amounts at different times. ALL children are like this. I wonder sometimes how mine survive on eating so little and the next day I wonder where they put it all and how I will afford groceries. It is just kids! I love you and pray for you! Jennifer in Southeast, NC

Unknown said...

Im sorry but donating money should not be in lieu of taking the time to personally thank those who donated,but a supplement to that. You can and should donate money to DeBRA. But that doesn't mean you should not send out personal acknowledgements to those people who took the time from their busy lives to care enough for your child to donate.

Patrice said...

Elizabeth, I would be glad to address your concerns and discuss this with you, but you did not use an email or a website to leave this comment, so it might as well have been anonymous. Please feel free to email me (it's on my right sidebar, as always) if you would like to have a discussion. I would love to send you a personal thank you note to you if that is so important to you and if you were, in fact, someone who donated an item. I'm sorry for having to post this publicly. I would much rather have "spoken" to you through email.

Katie said...

I'm sorry if you were a donator that felt over looked or un-thanked. I spent a lot of time sending emails and corresponding individually with those that donated. I thought that through that contact the individuals who donated were made aware of how incredibly thankful I was for their kindness. If I left someone out somehow, I am incredibly sorry and that was never my intention.

This was my first time organizing something like this and while I may not have done it perfectly, I did the best I could. Since I did personally express my thanks to those donators that I "spoke" with, I felt that the money would be better spent as a donation. This WAS NOT Patrice's decision, it was mine. I appreciate her being willing to address concerns, but I tried to plan this auction in honor of Jonah without being an added stress in her life. Therefore, please feel free to email me at jonahsebauction@gmail.com if you felt unappreciated or if you have any other questions.

I truly hope that no one feels left out or unappreciated. And I hope that this doesn't deter anyone from participating in the auction in 2011. Please, please if you have any issues, let me know. I never meant to overlook anyone if that happened.

-Katie(organizer of 2010 EB Auction)

Jessica said...

As a person who contributed to the EB auction, I am personally very glad the money for "my personal thank you" was sent to Debra. No need for a personal, paper thank you here :). I am so happy to have even been apart of such a wonderful event. I'm excited to be able to follow Jonah's ups and downs and see him overcome such huge obstacles for his age. He has a special place in my heart! Love and Blessings!

-Jessica

Wanda Wilkinson said...

I did receive a thank you from Katie by email & by phone when we discussed the auction & what I donated for the auction.

I received a letter from DEBra when they received my money that I sent in for what I bought during the auction.

I received a thank you from Patrice & Katie on their blog when they have posted details about the auction.

I receive a thank you every night when I lay my head down to go to sleep..God has blessed me & my family each time I have donated to DEBra & I am blessed every time I see Jonah's face.

I have never given anything that I did not want to & I have never expected/wanted a Thank you.I have never wanted acknowledgement for what I do. I give what I can & only wish that I had more.

.What I want & desire & pray for is that a cure is found for this HORRIBLE disease that affects innocent babies;therefore I agree with Katie, every penny that can be sent to DEBra goes towards finding a cure.

I do not mean to upset anyone, but when I hold a cause in my heart I give it my all...

Patrice, if you think my comments will upset you or anyone else...let me know & I will delete them..but I get VERY, Very upset when you are attacked.

Give Jonah some kisses for me (my word verification is "undignified" how appropriate (ha)

Meghann said...

"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men".

Wanda, Amen sister.
Elizabeth, shame on you.

biblemm said...

That is so wonderful!!!

Love the look of your new blog!

Know that we continue to pray for all of you from Annville, Pa!!

jenlar3 said...

I appreciate the "greenness" of the decision. I am happy that I am not receiving ONE MORE piece of paper that I read, appreciate for 30 seconds and throw away, or toss on to the ever increasing mountain of paper stuff that I feel guilty for throwing away, so I don't, but then I have a mountain of stuff that gets in my way. So, thank you for thanking me electronically. I pray a cure will be found soon.

The Fishers said...

What a wonderful idea!!! God bless all who donated and participated in the auction. I pray a cure will be found soon.

Laura said...

I donated because I love. period, and I do mean PERIOD. I love because He first loved me. period, and I do mean PERIOD.

Katie, you did an awesome job! You answered my questions, helped me decide what was the 'best' donation for me to give, organized an amazing and clearly God-honoring fund-raiser and I know you personally thanked me for my donated items. I appreciate that!

Patrice, you've got an amazingly cool friend (I bet you didn't need me to tell you that)! I agree that donating directly to DEBra makes more 'cents' (pun intended) than sending individual thank you notes. I appreciate your post 'thanking' those of us who donated items or money to raise money in honor of Jonah and Gabe.

I'd also like to thank Leah's mom for her selfless donation of her Avon proceeds to DEBra during the auction. I NEVER buy Avon (I don't really wear make-up, and am 'cheap'), but I intentionally spent money knowing that I might receive a little bit of fun and DEBra was going to be getting MORE money!

I look forward to participating next year and hope to have more jewelry available to auction.

Patrice, (sorry I could email) I made a gift for you in honor of your family and I (purposely) didn't leave much information regarding who I was in giving that gift. I hope you got it - Katie gave it to you on Jonah's birthday. More than anything else I could do to contribute, I wanted to put my heart into the entirety of your family ... to include Gabe, to honor Jonah, to recognize you and Matt in your commitment to your children. I hope and pray it's a blessing to you because your willingness to share your story ... the good, bad, and 'ugly' is a blessing to me!

God's grace goes with you!

Anonymous said...

That is amazing!

mom21xy said...

I made a very small donation to the auction and felt that Katie did a fabulous job with her contact with me and the organization of the auction. It was my first time getting involved with something like this and was very impressed with it all and never felt unappreciated. Never even considered that I should get a personal acknowledgment.

Toni :O) said...

I missed this post cause I was on vacation but I couldn't be more thrilled with what I won at the auction. It was SO fun and I'm so proud to have been a part of it. Can't wait till next year and I LOVE your sweet Jonut...so much! Have a blessed day!