The Bubel Aiken Fundraisers - 3 A Day To Remember - Part 2

CDD starting a series a couple of days ago where we will remind you of the approved fundraisers that are raising money for The Bubel Aiken Foundation so they can reach their goal of 100 camps in 2008. In our last article, we mentioned our first three fundraisers: Goodsearch, Goodshop, and Empties4Cash - Printer Cartridge Fundraiser.

Today we want to reacquaint you with three more fundraisers.

Bubel/Aiken Foundation Window Cling Fundraiser
Illinois Voices for Inclusion, Illinois' Beta Alpha group has available for sale the Bubel/Aiken Foundation Window Cling. Each cling is 5x5 and features the Foundation's star logo along with the tag lines CREATING AWARENESS and SUPPORTING INCLUSION.

You can purchase a cling and "create the awareness" at the cost of $5 each. All profits will be sent to TBAF. Checks are preferred but will accept Paypal as well, but it can not be tied to a Debit or Credit card. Please send email to illinoisvoices4inclusion@yahoo.com with your order, including # ordering, name and address, and choice of payment type and we will send you payment instructions.

Charming For Inclusion
This fundraiser offers a variety of Italian charm items including the TBAF logo, "I Love TBAF," "Let's ALL Play," and our Let's ALL Play Kids (designed by Jen - jlk1982).
Each item is a great conversation starter and a wonderful way to tell people about TBAF, inclusion, and the Let's ALL Play Camps!

All profits from the sales in our store are donated to TBAF. This fundraiser will be ongoing with other items added frequently so bookmark this site. Purchases can be made at the secure Yahoo store which you can visit at: www.charming4inclusion.com

TBAF Dawg Tag and Water Bottle Wet Suit
This is the Inclusion Revolution Brigade Beta Alpha Group's fundraiser for BAF. You can go directly to the Inclusion Revolution Brigade website for easy ordering. The water bottle wet suit is $12.00 and the dawg tag is $5.00.

Buying the Water Bottle Wet Suit and Dawg Tag is a wonderful way to show the world your support for the BAF and their projects. But more important, it is a show stopper item that will offer you countless opportunities to raise your voice to tell others about INCLUSION and how going to The Bubel Aiken Foundation they will find all the information they need to become part of the solution.

Remember, all of these fundraisers can be found at The Bubel Aiken Market Place site.

So far we have shared six BAF fundraisers with all of you. The first three costs you nothing more than a minute of your time. The cost for these last three fundraisers is minimal. Try to do whatever you can to support as many of these as possible. The "100 For 1 Million Challenge" needs out help and support!

The Bubel Aiken Foundation Fundraisers - 3 A Day To Remember - Part I

I know we all get caught up in the excitement of upcoming tours, AI2 Rewind (with Clay narrating!!), Clay's upcoming appearance on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, and all those gorgeous pictures of Clay at various Clay sites.

But let's not lose sight of one of the most important things we can do for Clay and his foundation, The Bubel Aiken Foundation...and that is donate whatever we can to the various fundraisers that are going on regularly in Claynation. In so doing, we are ultimately helping the children with special needs as BAF works to get them included in summer camps and various other activities with their typical peers. This is something that is very close to Clay's heart. He has even said before that he prefers that instead of giving him a gift, we donate to BAF. We've done so on his birthday, for Christmas, and on many other special occasions. But the day-in day-out ever going on fundraisers kind of get lost in the mix.

For the next few days, CDD will list these fundraisers, three per day, that you can take part in, some so easy that it literally takes a matter of seconds to take part in. Here are the first three:

Goodsearch - Each search means a penny for TBAF and those pennies add up quickly. Its free to search and takes just a few seconds. Just follow instructions carefully.

Goodsearch URL: http://www.goodsearch.com/
Copy URL and paste in your Browser.

Underneath the gray "Who Do You GoodSearch For", write "The Bubel Aiken Foundation", (NEVER PUT JUST BAF)Click "Verify". Before you search, always look at the "My Charity" box at the top of your screen to see that it says Bubel Aiken Foundation. Then put your search subject in Goodsearch Search Box.

You can put a Goodsearch toolbar at the top of your screen for convenience, or you can make Goodsearch your Home Page.

Goodshop - This one is so easy. Go to the Goodshop page. Make certain the "Who Do You Goodsearch For" section at the top says "The Bubel Aiken Foundation" (write it in if it doesn't). Then click on whichever company you wish to shop with. The most popular companies are on this home page, but you can click on the drop down box above those company names and there are a multitude of store categories to choose from. Now you do what you love to do...SHOP!!! A percentage of your total will go to BAF.

Empties4Cash - Printer Cartridge Fundraiser - Turn your trash into cash. When you have an empty printer cartridge, don't throw it away. Instead email empties4cash@hotmail.com and request a free prepaid carton or mailer. They sent me about 25 envelopes, so I now have enough to last me for several mailings. All money raised, up to $4 per cartridge, will be sent monthly to BAF. Cartridges with a print head that qualify are Hewlett Packard, Lexmark, Compaq, Canon, Dell, Brother, and Apple. Epson cartridges do not qualify. Ask your friends, family, and co-workers for cartridges. If you throw them away, you're throwing away money!

All of these fundraisers can be found at The Bubel Aiken Market Place site . Try to support as many of these as you can. These first three in this article cost you nothing more than your time. And the more people who participate, the more those pennies, those percentages, those cartridges, add up! Now see how easy it is to help out BAF by participating in fundraisers to raise money for their camps!! The "100 For 1 Million Challenge" needs out help and support!

"eBay Auction Remembering Inclusion" - Approved BAF Fundraiser Raising Funds For BAF's 100 Camps

There are so many great fundraisers that have been going on for a while now. A lot of the Beta Alpha groups are raising funds for The Bubel Aiken Foundation's "Let All Play" program by selling watches, necklaces, keychains, and much more so that 100 camps can become a reality in 2008.

The Beta Alpha Group, "Aiken Breakin Broads Remembering Inclusion" began an approved BAF fundraiser just for that purpose about a week ago. The fundraiser, "Ebay Auction Remembering Inclusion" is raising money by auctioning items on EBay that belong to the group's members. A store which has been named "Aiken Breakin Remembering Inclusion" has been set up at Ebay so that all items being auctioned are in one location. The auction is set up exactly like any auction on Ebay is. Already, the group has raised close to $500 in a week by selling items such as those in the picture above, including jewelry, games, toys, books, DVD's, Christmas decorations, and household items. More items are being added to the store at an almost daily basis, so you should "come over and come often" to the store and check out what is still open for auction and what new items have been added since you last looked. The prices are great, and the final price is determined by your bidding. 100% of the proceeds, less Ebay and Paypal fees, will go to The Bubel Aiken Foundation.

The link below will take you to the "Aiken Breakin Remembering Inclusion" Store. Save it to your favorite places so you can "Come Browse, Bid, and Buy for BAF"!

http://stores.ebay.com/Aiken-Breakin-Remembering-Inclusion

Here is all the information that you should need to know about this fundraiser.

If you find you need more information, send an email to abbinclusion@yahoo.com. Come help us raise money for a wonderful cause. We would love to double our $500 to at least $1000 before the store closes come mid-October. The Store will be open until October 13 with lots of great deals for you to buy!

This and all other approved Bubel Aiken Foundation fundraisers can be found at the BAF Approved Fundraiser page.

COME BROWSE, BID, AND BUY FOR BAF!!

Article Discusses Expansion of Bubel Aiken Foundation Camps

Earthtimes.org (via the United Press International wire) has a great article entitled "Caregiving: Clay Aiken To Expand Camps".

Beginning with Clay's vision of the inclusion of children with disabilities in activities with children without disabilities, Earthtimes tells how this dream became a reality. They inform us that "the pop star announced earlier this month that his dream is becoming a reality with the goal of raising $1 million to expand the Bubel/Aiken Foundation's "Let ALL Play" initiative so that 100 camps in 2008 would become inclusive to children with special needs."


BAF's Executive Director, Jerry Aiken, is also interviewed about the goal to have 100 camps by 2008. He says,

"It's an ambitious goal and it will be a challenge -- 100 camps and $1 million dollars in less than one year -- but we are about 20 percent of the way to that goal," Jerry Aiken, executive director of the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, told UPI's Caregiving. "But we also have a fan base with a tremendous amount of experience and strong passion for this issue -- we have close to 1,000 volunteers -- working with the foundation and we have been listening to them and they have some great ideas."

Some of the activities mentioned in the works to make funds are Clay's appearance on "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" and a golf tournament that is tentatively scheduled for Florida in 2008. Clay's fan base of 1000 volunteers for BAF is also mentioned.

This is a great article. I recommend that you read the whole thing. Then let's all try to see what we can do to help Clay's vision of 1000 camps come true in 2008.

Letter From Jerry Aiken, BAF's Executive Director, Up AT BAF Website

Most of you know that Jerry Aiken, Clay's uncle, was named Executive Director of The Bubel Aiken Foundation recently. You can read CDD's earlier article concerning this and see the great qualifications that Mr. Aiken has for this position.

At The Bubel Aiken Foundation's website, a letter from Jerry Aiken has been posted for us to read. This letter tells us of us goals for and commitment to BAF. One of the amazing things, as you can read below, is that his goal is for BAF to have 100 summer camps in 2008! This is an amazing goal, and he has issued what he calls the "100 for 1 Million Challenge" in this regard.

Read for yourself what Jerry Aiken has in mind for The Bubel Aiken Foundation, and let's begin to think of what we can do to volunteer and help BAF achieve this goal.

The Executive Director Letter

First of all let me say that it is my pleasure to work for The Bubel/Aiken Foundation in support of creating communities where ALL children can learn, live, and play together. In my short tenure it has been extremely rewarding to experience first hand the personal commitment and passion of individuals involved with the foundation. As you already know, it is the cause that we support and the great people behind the cause that will help us achieve our goals. Beyond sponsorships and donations, I must also comment on the volunteer effort that underpins TBAF. To all of you that volunteer your time as well as your money, I hope you truly understand how important your efforts are for the Foundation. To you I give my most sincere thanks. My personal commitment to the Foundation, our sponsors, donors, and volunteers is to serve all stakeholders as best possible and champion initiatives which support the mission of inclusion.

TBAF, with your help has made significant strides during the last few years. As a Foundation we have an effective inclusive summer camp program entitled “Let’s All Play.” Our Friend Mikayla, written and illustrated by the 3rd grade class in Lower Nazareth Elementary, has been well received. The Federal and State Farm grants have generated excellent initial work for a K–12 inclusive curriculum and work with Johns Hopkins University has highlighted interesting potential for helping to bridge the educational gap that exists for many students with special needs and their peers. All in all, great progress, but still much to do. I feel most importantly we have to challenge ourselves as to how we can touch the lives of more kids!

Awareness, awareness, awareness is a major challenge for the Foundation. Through awareness we can connect more minds and hearts with our mission. I talk with many individuals across the country and most all know of Clay Aiken but have not heard of The Bubel/Aiken Foundation—this is our challenge. Increasing awareness of the Foundation will expand our donor support providing additional funds benefiting more kids So with your help, I am challenging us collectively to spread the word about TBAF so that we can increase the number of donors.

We would like to set a goal of supporting 100 “Let’s All Play” camps in 2008. That means we need your help to raise an additional $1 Million this year!!!

This is a sizeable challenge which will require everyone to speak out on behalf of the Foundation, our mission and goals. There is nothing magic about 100 camps: it is a goal for all of us to connect with, and increasing the number of summer camps by any quantity will help to move us closer to our goal of inclusive communities.

I plan to use this medium to continue communications about Foundation initiatives and I will be randomly calling volunteers during the days ahead seeking ideas and guidance. Together we can and will continue to make a difference in the lives of kids of all abilities.

Stay tuned for more regarding our “100 for 1 Million” challenge, and please continue your support and excellent work!

I look forward to working with all. Thanks and God Bless!

Jerry Aiken
Executive Director