2012 CHERUBS Masquerading Angels Ball - Save the Date!

2012 CHERUBS Masquerading Angels Ball



October 20, 2012
6:00 pm - Midnight
Hampton Inn & Suites in Brier Creek
Raleigh, NC

We have just begun planning our 2012 event.  Stay tuned for more information!!!!

Click here to download a 2012 Sponsorship Form.

Formal Charity Masquerade Ball

Come join us or a magical night for a good cause.  Celebrity guests, enchanting decor, amazing music, a casino, silent auction and beautiful attire will make this a night to remember.

Money raised from this event will go to CHERUBS to fund services to further help families of babues born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia.  CHERUBS is a 501(c)III international children's charity.

Attire:  Our FORMAL  masquerade ball encourages men to wear tuxedos and women to wear floor-length gowns.  FORMAL period costumes are welcome.  Formal evening gowns are welcome.  Formal masquerade masks are highly encouraged.   Not acceptible; typical Halloween costumes, short dresses, street clothes and scary masks.   This event is no longer black & white and all colors of attire are welcome.

Age Requirement:  You must be 21 years old or older to attend.   CHERUBS reserves the right to refuse ticket sales when necessary.

Formal Charity Masquerade Ball

2012 Sponsorships now available!

Our Organization:

CHERUBS is a 501(c)III organization located in North Carolina.   CHERUBS serves families of children and adults born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH).   As of April 2008, we have over 2250 members in all 50 states and 33 countries.  Our Board Members include the founding father of in-utero surgery, genetic counselors, epidemiologists, pediatric surgeons and parents of children born with CDH.  We are a volunteer-run organization and a United States Internal Revenue Service recognized 501(c)III Non-Profit Organization.

www.cdhsupport.org

What is CDH?

Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) occurs in approximately 1 in every 2,500 births (1,600 cases in the U.S. each year).  The cause of CDH is not yet known.  The diaphragm is formed in the first trimester of pregnancy and controls the lungs' ability to inhale and exhale.  CDH occurs when the diaphragm fails to form or to close totally and an opening allows abdominal organs into the chest cavity.  This inhibits lung growth.     The cause is not yet known.

Roughly 50% of babies born with CDH do not survive.   Of the 50% that do survive, most will endure long hospital stays, feeding issues, asthma and other problems.  A few of the survivors suffer from severe long-term medical issues.

CDH occurs as frequently as Spina Bifida and Cystic Fibrosis, yet there is very little research being done and virtually no media coverage.

2011 CHERUBS Masquerading Angels Ball Sponsor - Estatibles Furniture & Antiques

We would like to thank Sports and More Company for being a sponsor at the 2011 CHERUBS Masquerading Angels Ball on October 22 in Raleigh, NC and for donating our 2011 CDH Raffle prize, a Cruise for 2 aboard Carnival Cruiselines!!!

2011 CHERUBS Masquerading Angels Ball Sponsor - Estatibles Furniture & Antiques

We would like to thank Estatibles Furniture & Antiques for being a sponsor at the 2011 CHERUBS Masquerading Angels Ball on October 22 in Raleigh, NC and for being a sponsor at the 2011 CHERUBS Holiday Vendor Show on November 13 in Wake Forest, NC!

Charity nabs $30K prize

CHERUBS in the Raleigh News & Observer Newspaper again!

 

Charity nabs $30K prize

Grant doubles budget

BY CHELSEA KELLNER - Staff Writer

They're pink-haired and sleep-deprived, but they pulled it off.

CHERUBS, a nonprofit organization run out of a Wake Forest mom's spare bedroom, nabbed a $30,000 grant from APX Alarm Co. on Monday, thanks to 35,000 online votes they campaigned hard - and creatively - to get.

The grant will double the operating budget for the all-volunteer organization, which aids families of children born with an often fatal birth defect called congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

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  CHERUBS, a local nonprofit that helps families of children born with an often fatal birth defect called congenital diaphragmatic hernia, is in the running for two $25,000 grants in the Pepsi Refresh contest. Vote online at refresheverything.com , or at voteforcdh.org .

Since voting opened online in June, the group worked to drum up awareness and votes. That's where the pink hair comes in.

Volunteer and CDH mom Julie Younce of Wilkes County promised to dye her hair pink if 50 people would commit to vote every day for a week.

Her son, her best friend and her daughter soon joined her.

"When you have six kids, people don't typically expect you to have pink hair, so I've gotten a lot of questions about it," Younce said. "Which helps raise awareness, so it works really well!"

The money will be officially awarded to CHERUBS in September, but founder Dawn Williamson already has every penny accounted for. A large portion will go toward research, including work on a database of CDH medical histories that the group has been compiling for 10 years. The rest will go toward supplies for families dealing with their child's long-term hospital stay.

CHERUBS was in the running for the national grant of $100,000, but lost by fewer than 3,000 votes to the Utah Prader-Willi Syndrome Association. It's not the top prize they were aiming for, but in this case, second best is more than good enough, Williamson said.

Their final vote tally was 35,243 votes, according to APX Alarm spokesman Stuart Dean. Williamson chalks much of that up to their hard work and creative campaigning.

CHERUBS even got help from celebrities such as actress Patsy Pease from daytime drama "Days of Our Lives" pitching in on Facebook and Twitter to encourage folks nationwide to vote for CHERUBS.

The organization is still vying for two $25,000 grants from the August Pepsi Refresh contest at refresh everything.com .

Williamson passed on the hair dye, but says she'll get a winged CHERUBS tattoo on her diaphragm if they win one of the Pepsi grants.

CHERUBS in the Raleigh News & Observer!

http://www.northraleighnews.com/2010/08/15/3721/charity-eyes-online-grants.html

Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010

Charity eyes online grants

Public can help by voting

BY CHELSEA KELLNER - Staff Writer

Dawn Williamson's spare bedroom is getting crowded.

Fifteen years running a children's nonprofit organization from that bedroom means bookcases wedged in the corners and boxes stacked from floor to ceiling along one wall, plus a desk and a table and medical journals and tote bags and fluffy costume angel wings.

Oh, and there's a bed in there too.

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  If you'd like to help local nonprofit CHERUBS win three grants to help in their work with families of children born with an often fatal birth defect, go to voteforcdh.org for links to CHERUBS' entry in all three contests. Or you can vote in each contest separately at apxgivesback.com and refresheverything.com.

"We're a group of moms and dads and grandparents," Williamson said. "Our budget is practically nothing."

CHERUBS, Williamson's all-volunteer organization that benefits children born with an often fatal birth defect called congenital diaphragmatic hernia, is competing for three grants that require them to rack up online votes to win. The extra cash would allow them to put more money toward research awareness and parental support - and free up enough of their existing budget to rent some shared office space.
"It would triple our annual budget," Williamson said. "That would be huge."

CHERUBS is facing off against competitors from across the country. Anyone can vote, and Williamson hopes more people will - CHERUBS is currently low in the rankings for two $25,000 grants from the Pepsi Refresh contest, but battling it out with a Utah charity for the top prize of a $100,000 grant from APX Alarm Co. Williamson has set up a website, voteforcdh.org, that links to all three contests. Her highest hopes are for the APX contest, though the organization is an underdog.

Williamson founded CHERUBS in 1995, after her own son was born with congenital diaphragmatic hernia. The condition means the baby is born without a fully formed diaphragm, leaving a hole inside the child's chest. The internal organs get pushed through that hole, crowding the heart and inhibiting lung development. About 50 percent of babies with the condition die, Williamson said. Her own son spent months at Duke Hospital after he was born, and eventually died at age 6.

Williamson's experience has helped shape the organization's work. They send about 200 tote bags a year across the country to parents of children born with congenital diaphragmatic hernia. In those bags are all of the things Williamson wishes she'd had when her own son was in the hospital, from informational pamphlets to hand sanitizer.

With the grant money, the organization would be able to provide assistance with travel expenses to parents having to commute to the hospital or stay at hotels to be near their child. They also would use the money to put together information kits to send to hospitals for parents whose child has been diagnosed with the condition, because there is often little or no information available.

Williamson is working to get legislation reviewed that would up the amount of funding awarded to the National Institute of Health to research CDH causes and cures.

Troy Miller found the organization in 2001, when his daughter Dallas was born with the condition. CHERUBS provided information and a much-needed connection to a community of families who had gone through a similar situation.

"It's good to know that you're not alone," Miller said.

After 27 days in intensive care, Dallas passed away on Nov. 7, 2001. Miller is now a volunteer with the organization, on call for parents who need someone to talk to.

"It's not heavily publicized, and the grants would mean that there could be further publication of what it is, to get the name out there, and provide more money for research," Miller said.

The deadline for voting in the APX Gives Back contest is Aug. 21. In the meantime, Williamson is crossing her fingers and continuing to work out of her Wake Forest home, where it's not just the guest bedroom that's crowded anymore - lately, the attic has been drafted for storage, too.