Cincinnati fundraiser
Cincinnati Volunteers Raising Money For Amber Rooks Family
At 24, sweet, funny, Amber Rooks, died after a car struck her and four other utility works of the new Liberty Center retail development last month. Friends want to community to join them at a party, May 23, that Amber would have loved – to help raise money for her beloved son who lost his mother way too soon.
The Memorial Day Mixer will be 1 to 9 pm at Sharon Woods Trail, Saturday May 23. Activities will include volleyball, corn hole tournaments, balloon toss, potato sack races and more. Food will be sold and organizers ask attendees to bring their own drinks. For more details, please visit the event’s online page.
“Besides challenging the community to come together in this time of loss we want to challenge everyone to help make us all safer by creating what we hope will come to be known as Amber’s List,” said organizer Whitney Lawson. Amber’s List is platform that no one should drive under the influence and that as a family, group of friends, or an organization; we can help each other.
“We challenge such groups of people to create a list of names, phone numbers, and areas close to where they live so that if someone knows that they should not drive there is a willing community to embrace them and make sure that individual and the rest of us are safe,” said Lawson.
theChive Cincinnati is a local organization that focuses on the idea of community with the goal to make the world 10% better. theChive has pinpointed a charity model, just like that of a flash mob. A common ideology of Chivers around is. “We stand tall as individuals and as tall as Everest when someone needs us. We are small percentage wishing to change the world into the best it can be and will not back down for our values.” We invite everyone from all communities to join us for this memorial day mixer for a great cause. If you cannot attend this event there is a gofundme page set up for Dylan at http://www.gofundme.com/DylansChiveFriends.
Indian Hill High School Students Organized Layup For Lauren
written by Good Things Going Around intern, Andrea Francisco, a senior at Indian Hill High School in Cincinnati
On the night of Monday the 17th, the Indian Hill Cheerleaders organized a “Layup for Lauren” event, in which each participant attempted a layup and donated to The Cure Starts Now Foundation. Layup for Lauren was started by Lauren Hill, who was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer last November. Even through her battle against brain cancer, Lauren continues her passion of playing basketball. She currently attends Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio and is a member of the basketball team. Lauren is a true hero for all Americans and everyone battling cancer as a spokesperson and advocate for The Cure Starts Now Foundation. Only year later from realizing that she has brain cancer, Lauren was playing a game at the Xavier Cintas Center in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,250. Her 
bravery and determination is incredible; she inspires everyone around her to keep going no matter what life gives you.
In basketball, a layup is basically a shot, where a player tries to shoot the ball into the hoop. In Layup for Lauren, there is an extra challenge, however: you must shoot with your non-dominant hand, one eye closed, and spin in circles five times. This is how Lauren feels from battling brain cancer; her medications cause negative side-effects in addition to the cancer that have weakened her right side. If you don’t make the layup, you must donate $10. I missed — my basketball skills are not exactly stellar. That’s okay though, because I ended up donating for a life-changing foundation that supports brain cancer research. All of the proceeds from this event go toward The Cure Starts Now Foundation, which focuses on cancer research to find a cure.
To donate and see how you can take the #LayupforLauren Challenge, please visit this website: http://layup4lauren.org/
Rotary Club Of Cincinnati Raises Money For Nonprofits
The Rotary Club of Cincinnati annual Believe 2 Achieve event once again sold out with 400 members and guests raising money for three local nonprofit organizations. The event was emceed by Dave Lapham, former Cincinnati Bengals player and radio analyst with Cincinnati Reds bat boy Teddy Kremer serving as assistant. The $101,000 raised was distributed to Stepping Stones for Camp Allyn, The Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati, and The Autism Society of Greater Cincinnati.
To learn more about the Rotary Club of Cincinnati, please visit their website, www.cincinnatirotary.org.
Chris Pike Raises Money For Canine Cancer Research
Chris Pike remembers that moment like it was yesterday. He and his wife were in town to celebrate Chris’ birthday with his family. Their longing to share a home with double the joyous, childlike antics of a golden retriever took them to a farm that was ironically in the neighborhood of our region’s hub for adventure – Kings Island.
And there he was. A 10 week old, cream colored teddy bear who bounced as he ran straight into the arms of the couple 
whose home and hearts were to be one with his for the rest of his life. Skyler had a way with women. Truth be told, he had a way with everyone. It was his beautiful, magical gift that he was brought into this world to share.
Kiara too filled her world with love. Every day was an adventure, a new opportunity to explore and new people to meet.
Sadly those gift was brought to an end by a disease that takes the lives of one out of three dogs. Canine cancer, Chris learned, was actually fairly common especially in golden retrievers. In fact, cancer took the life of not just one but two bundles of sheer happiness from the Pike’s household.
Today, the legacy of Skyler and Kiara is in the hard fought battle of Chris to wage a war against that deadly enemy.
Chris is the vice president of marketing and promotions for the National Canine Cancer Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that provides grants to researchers working to save lives, find cures, improve treatments, and develop more accurate and cost effective diagnostic methods in dealing with canine cancer.
The Foundation continues to grow. In fact, over the past four years, it has surpassed each year prior in terms of funds raised and they just reached over $200,000 that will be ready to fund 2014 grants.
You can help them on their quest to eradicate cancer.
Please click here to read about this weekend’s Pup Crawl in Oakley Square to raise funds for the National Canine Cancer Foundation. It’s going to be a ton of fun for a great cause!
Cincy Sundaes Raises Helps Greater Cincinnati Ideas Grow
I love clever ideas to bring people together, and especially when it comes to supporting innovative causes.
I just learned about Cincy Sundaes and think it is fantastic! According to the website, Cincy Sundaes is an ice cream social funding micro-grants for innovative ideas in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Cincy Sundaes gives the community the opportunity to directly fund ideas ranging from neighborhood music festivals to urban agriculture.
For $5, guests get to make a scrumptious sundae with Dojo Gelato and also get one vote.
At each event, four presenters will have four minutes each to share their idea and the audience will have an opportunity to ask questions. After the presentations, attendees will vote for their favorite idea and 100% of the money collected at the door will go directly to the idea that receives the most votes.
The first Cincy Sundae will be April 13 from 3 to 5 pm at Rhinegeist Brewery.
The rest of the season will include:
April 13: Rhinegeist
May 11: Covington Arts
July 27: Five Points
August 24: TBA
October 19: Mayday Northside
November 16: The Sanctuary
If you are interested in presenting your idea, you can learn how to apply on their website.
