charity

UPDATE: The campaign kicks off at the Mashable party tonight, 10 PM central

Twice I’ve spent a week at Children’s Hospital in Boston, once each with my daughters “S” and “Z.” Both times I had the healthiest kid in the joint, and both times I was truly humbled and inspired by the heroic children and families who spend much too much time there.

I was humbled to see guys my age on the elevator discussing their kids’ blood counts as “normally” as sports scores. How do you normalize life when your kid lives in a hospital? Where do you find strength to battle their serious and chronic illness? How can you give your baby joy and respite from their battle?

So I’m on Team Petty in the in the SXSW Charity Smackdown. Please join me! Please tweet, blog, donate and tell your friends that we’re fighting to give seriously sick kids a chance to go to Victory Junction (modeled on Paul Newman’s Hole-in-the-Wall-gang camps.)

NASCAR fans need no introduction to Kyle Petty, a popular 3rd-generation race car driver. In 2000, Kyle had to bury his son Adam after a tragic accident at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Adam’s dream had been to build a camp for seriously ill children in North Carolina. So just five months after his untimely death his family met with Paul Newman to establish Victory Junction in Adam’s memory. The first camp opened in Randleman, NC in 2004, and a second camp in Wyandotte County, Kansas is coming.

At Victory Junction, children 6-16 battling serious disease get a small break in their fight. They get to go to camp for free and just be a kid for a little while. Kids that would otherwise never be able to have a normal fun summer experience. Kids who bear some pretty heavy burdens.

Join me in battle alongside Kyle and Rutledge Wood of the SPEED Channel. Help us give courageous kids and their families a few moments away from their own fights. Grab a badge, make a donation, tweet, blog, just please, spread the word.

Please tweet:

Charity Smackdown! Kyle Petty and @pistachio are fighting for sick kids and Victory Junction. http://bit.ly/Jthqi Please RT? http://bit.ly/VictJ (or just click here to tweet it)

Social media pals Pete Cashmore, Chris Brogan and many others, I DO love you guys… but THIS is a SmackDown.

Thanks!

Warmly, Pistachio

{ 0 comments }