For the Kids

This television season, we enjoyed watching The Celebrity Apprentice together. The thing that is beautiful about the Celebrity Apprentice is the way all of the people work together to raise money for various charities, showing the giving spirit of those we enjoy watching or listening to on a daily basis.

This season showed an unprecedented amount of giving, with something like 3 million dollars raised for various charities in a time when it seems money everywhere is exceedingly tight.

Last night we finally got to see the season finale and it was awesome.

The two contenders at the very end of the show represented an organization helping give hearing aids to children in third world countries and St Jude's Children's Hospital.

Both are causes that are important to me, and obviously St Jude's is important to Caramon. (For a brief and beautiful amount of time, I served as an interpreter for a deaf family in North Carolina. Words cannot describe what it is like to help a son talk to his mother, to tell her the simple phrase of, "I love you. Thank you for everything you do for me.")

We get asked frequently if Caramon went to St Jude's. The simple answer is no, he did not.

We were quite lucky, his cancer was not only very common, but it was easily treatable. There was no need to travel the extra distance when we had a wonderful Children's Hospital less than half an hour from our home in Ohio. However, it is due to the research at St Jude's that we can thank for the ability to say "easily treatable".

Like St Jude's, our hospital worked to try to make things better for families going through this terrible tragedy that is known as pediatric cancer.

John Rich won, which gave him another quarter of a million dollars for St Jude's.

This is so important given how little money pediatric cancer research truly gets.

We wanted to share this video with you from the finale of The Celebrity Apprentice. It is probably one of the most beautiful moments of television we have ever watched. It is Marlee and John performing his new song, "For the Kids" at the live finale event. The words of the song are matched in beauty by the signing. Watch for the end where instead of typical applause, the entire crowd applauds the deaf way - waving hands "jazz hands" style.

You can purchase a single of the CD and $.50 goes to St Jude's or you can purchase it on iTunes where proceeds also goes to St Jude's. We've purchased our copy and if we can find a way to work it into our giving of pillowcases, we will. Why? Because it really is "For the Kids".

John Rich, thank you for your efforts on The Celebrity Apprentice to help kids like Caramon going through the battle of their lives. Marlee Matlin, thank you for trying to give the gift of hearing to those who live in silence.

Lady Ozma and Caramon, The Million Pillowcase Kid

Another "local" teen's video urges for help:

Caramon, the Million Pillowcase Kid, and I read this news article today about a DC Metro Area teenager that plays guitar, collecting money for a friend with not one but two cancers. This teenager has reached out on youtube to help generate votes for Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation in the Pepsi Refresh Project.

This is something you can do... voting ends on September 30th. But really? It's free. And if Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation wins, Pepsi will give them a grant to help fund research into pediatric cancer.

Why is this important? Pediatric Cancer gets such little national funding and the child mentioned? The treatment for her cancer is so toxic it actually gave her a second cancer. I mean, how awful is that?

I know we're generating a growing audience of people across the nation. It's truly amazing that you are sharing this blog with those you are close to. I know that many of you are just wanting to give Caramon moral support. Many of you have no real way of helping us with this Eagle project. This is something you CAN do to make a difference.

There's plenty of good causes vying for the grant from Pepsi. This is just the one that touches our hearts.

Here's the video:


--Lady Ozma and Caramon, the Million Pillowcase Kid

PS: Currently this charity is number 3 in the polls. The top two will receive $250k.

A short video

Caramon and I wanted to share this video with you because he is an eight year cancer survivor. That's right, he was not quite 5 when we received the devastating phone call that changed our lives.

Did you know that Childhood cancer gets less then 3% of the funding set aside for cancer research? Oprah has covered everything else, but not childhood cancer. There's a huge drive for her to cover this for her last season.

There is just a lot of good information. I will warn you... you might need a tissue when the slideshow of kids comes along. I'm not a crier but it brought tears to my eyes.



Caramon will be coming to you soon with his very own video about his project. For now, grab a tissue and learn something about what he went through.

We are not gearing the pillowcases gathered towards only cancer patients, but it IS where his heart goes.

--Lady O and Caramon, the Million Pillowcase Kid