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May 28, 2008

Jesse Stay
obfuscated, Uncle_Jesse
Stay N' Alive » OSS
» Lifting Up Serenity - New Website and How You Can Help

I mentioned earlier that we were working on a Fund for Phil Burns’ daughter, Serenity, and would post information about it today. Well, we have a bank account set up, but unfortunately the fund will take a little bit to get going. However, I’m going to set a new goal for the Chipin widget.

I’m proud to announce that the Chipin Widget for Serenity and the Burns’ family is, as of this writing (and in just 2 days!), at $1,506.97. There seems to be some issue with the Widget updating on mine and others’ blogs, but I’ve got a support request to get that fixed. We’re going to raise the goal for the Chipin Widget to $10,000 by the end of this Saturday. If you can donate, just a few dollars, help promote this, and maybe even Digg it up, your efforts are sincerely appreciated. Any little effort is a step towards Serenity’s recovery.

In addition to the ChipIn widget, you may also go to any Wells Fargo branch (I think only in Utah), and make a donation to:

Serenity Burns Donation Account
Wells Fargo Bank

or you may send a Check to:

Serenity Burns Donation Acct.
224 S. Main St. #555
Springville, UT 84663

Of course, you can install the Chipin Widget on your own site by visiting here. Please feel free to set aside a little now, or the coming months ahead to help out this family. I estimate their costs for medical expenses alone will exceed $100,000 and we should do what we can to help them not have to worry about that and focus on getting Serenity better.

I’m also proud to announce, thanks to the Burns’ friend, Becky Wilson, the creation of a site just for Serenity. You can find it at http://liftingupserenity.com. Please leave a Guestbook post for her or the family, leave your wishes, see updates from Phil and Adria’s blogs, Twitter feeds, and the FriendFeed room. You can also donate there. If your business would like to promote this through sharing proceeds with the Burns family, we will be happy to include your promotion on the website as well.

We’re also creating an Amazon “wishlist” that you can purchase items for Serenity and the Burns’ Family. Please look for that soon on the liftingupserenity.com website.

So let’s all “Lift up Serenity” together and do what we can to promote this cause.

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by Jesse Stay at 12:46 AM under changing the world , leukemia , oss , phil801 , serenity , serenity burns (Comments)
May 26, 2008

Jesse Stay
obfuscated, Uncle_Jesse
Stay N' Alive » OSS
» Would you Like to Donate to the Burns Family? Use This Widget.

I’ve created a ChipIn Widget that goes straight to the Burns‘ Paypal account, which you can donate to help them with their miscellaneous expenses over the next few days. I’ll also be adding it to the right-sidebar of this blog. Until the banks open, please feel free to donate what you can - I am sure they are very much in need of help with their miscellaneous day-to-day expenses while they are in the hospital, so they can focus on their daughter, Serenity and getting her better. You may also use this widget to promote donations on your own blog - I highly recommend you share with others! We’ll be getting a tax-deductible (hopefully) fund organized for the Burns’ family as soon as the banks open after the holidays. In the meantime, let’s see if we can raise just $500 in the next few days to help them out. Any donation is very much appreciated!

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by Jesse Stay at 6:40 AM under changing the world , leukemia , leukemia causes , oss , serenity , serenity burns (Comments)
May 25, 2008

Jesse Stay
obfuscated, Uncle_Jesse
Stay N' Alive » OSS
» My Old Partner, Phil Burns’ Daughter has Leukemia

2519922124_4dc53c5171-1.pngFor those unaware, my old partner and good friend, Phil Burns (aka @phil801 on Twitter) just found out today that his daughter, Serenity, has Leukemia. She has been pricked, prodded, and the stories Phil and Adria tell are heart-breaking! Phil says (much of what I have learned has been through Twitter) that Serenity just got a transfusion and is feeling relatively better, if there is such a thing. She will start chemo in the next day or two. I’m still trying to get things organized - we’re working on a website to show support for her and raise money for the family, and I’ve had numerous Web 2.0-related organizations offer to dedicate funds in their name. The support and interest in helping has been amazing so far. For now my suggestion would be to contact Phil directly to donate money in the more immediate term - I will try to set up a fund as soon as we’re able to. There are many expenses that they are unable to avoid now and I’m sure they can use all the help they can get (they are checked into the hospital now, so I’m sure things like just paying for food at the hospital restaurants is much appreciated).

In the meantime, I’ve set up a FriendFeed Room here that even if you’re not on FriendFeed, you should be able to subscribe to via rss and get updates on the situation. I’m trying to share everything I see from Phil there, including his Twitter posts, blog posts, Adria (his wife)’s blog posts, and his Flickr photo uploads. If you are a member of FriendFeed feel free to leave your comments there or on his or his wife’s blogs, where they seem to be documenting the process.

For those unaware, my Grandmother died from Cancer, my Aunt is fighting it, and seems to be surviving it, and my Uncle died from Cancer. My Grandfather is a Cancer survivor. Things like this hit home for me. Phil says Serenity has the type of Leukemia that has an 80% survival rate (the “good” kind, as he puts it) - however we need to make it easy for them to focus on her and give her 100% of that 80% to survive! Please stay tuned and I’ll post more here as we get organized. If you’d like to help out in any way please let me know and we’ll find a way to put you to good use.

In the meantime, please blog, retweet, or share with all you can to send support and encouragement their way!

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by Jesse Stay at 6:25 AM under changing the world , leukemia , leukemia causes , oss , serenity , serenity burns (Comments)