My father-in-law, Robert Steve Ludlow passed away Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010 of complications due to an ongoing illness.  His wife and six children were with him during his last hours.  Funeral services will be held at the LDS Stake Center in Stevensville, Montana, Tuesday, March 2, at 10 a.m., with visitation beginning at 9 a.m.  In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to Rob’s daughter-in-law, Anne Ludlow, who is currently fighting breast cancer.  They can be made at Farmers State Bank in Stevensville, Montana or online on this site.  Just click on the Fundraiser button to the right to make donations via PayPal.

Many thanks go out to all those who helped with the Mary Kay Fundraiser and for those who donated outright!  Just a reminder that I will continue fundraising efforts through the rest of this month from sales, so for anyone looking for last minute gifts for the holidays, your efforts will help raise money for Anne. 

Please remember too that you can still donate through paypal on this site.  Just click the button to the right.  It will take you to the PayPal site.  If you do not have an account yet, it will take you about 2 minutes to set one up and make your donation.  If you do have an account you will just need to log in and place your donation amount. 

It would be a wonderful thing for us all to be able to contribute.  To reach our $1000 mark we only need 50 people to donate $20 each!

Times are tough for everyone, so of course if you can’t donate your prayers are greatly appreciated too!  But if you know even one person that would be willing to donate $20, or two people who would donate $10, then we are that much closer to the goal.  People love to help a worthy cause.  You just have to ask them.  I told my apartment manager what we were doing and she pulled out a $10 and gave it to me!  I also told my mother who in turn told her sister and she is sending a $10 donation too!  Every dollar counts! 

I will be writing out two checks for the month of December, one with funds raised through the 15th and one with funds raised through the 31.  Each check will have a Christmas card with everyone’s name who helped.  Of course if you do not have access to internet and would like to send a check or money order made out to Anne that is greatly welcome too.  I will include all cards/donations received in the mail along with the above donations.  Please do not send cash in the mail. 

You can mail your donations to: Karalene Ludlow; 4064 South 1300 West #12; Taylorsville, Utah 84123 or call me at 801-207-7569 or 406-880-7467 to find out how you can further help.

Warm and happy wishes go out to all of you this holiday season!

I know some of you have already donated to help Anne and her family or are planning to donate outright and for that we thank you!  As family and close friends, knowing who you are donating to help goes along way.  I have found that when you give people the opportunity to help someone in need that they are more willing if they either A. know the person or B. know someone who knows the person.  It is that feeling of trust.  Sometimes it is a little frightening to ask people to help, but NO will NEVER hurt us … but it CAN help someone!  You can help by simply asking others to help.

Today is the last day of the month, but I have started my personal goal early.  I am an independent beauty consultant so I have set my personal goal to raise $1000 from my sales through the month of December to donate to Anne.  To kick it off I am holding a Holiday Pink Sale on her behalf.  This will be an all day online event.  If you have already donated to Anne, great!  I know her and her family appreciate it so much!  If you would be willing to help in your own cause to help raise money but don’t know where to start I can give you ideas or you can help by spreading the word about The Holiday Fundraiser.  It allows people to help themselves by doing their holiday shopping without having to fight the crowds AND they are helping someone else at the same time.  Normally during a sale like this I would give each person who orders a discount.  Instead I will be donating that amount to the fundraiser for Anne.  Here is how it works.

1. Go online December 4th to: www.marykay.com/karaleneludlow
2. Phone in your order to me: 801-207-7569 or 406-880-7467 OR 
3. Email me at: karalene@karalene.com

Donations may be made via cash, check, Mastercard, Visa or Discover Card.  All items purchased as holiday gifts will be giftwrapped at no charge.

Call or email your order in between the following hours and I will donate the following funds to her from each sale.

7:00 am-8:59 am ……..30% of your order will be donated to benefit Anne
9:00 am-10:59 am ……25% of your order will be donated to benefit Anne
11:00 am-12:59 pm …..20% of your order will be donated to benefit Anne
1:00 pm-6:00 pm ……..15% of your order will be donated to benefit Anne

The earlier you place your order the more funds we can raise. Please tell your friends and family about the event so that we can raise as much as possible for her. If you have questions or would like to find out more about how you can help, please call me at: 801-207-7569 or 406-880-7467. There will also be free prizes and drawings for participants. I can ship anywhere in the States.  A small S&H fee will be charged.

If you would like to follow along with Anne’s progress feel free to visit her personal blog at: http://www.breastcancerat30.blogspot.com

Thank you for your help! Together we can overcome!

I am always amazed by Anne’s smile.  Seems no matter what is going on, she keeps on smiling.  I found a poem that I think Anne exemplifies in her life.  It is simply called The Attitude Poem. 

“Attitude is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.  It will make or break a company, a home, a relationship.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice, every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for the day.  We cannot change our past.  We cannot change the fact that other people will act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.  I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.” ~ Charles Swindoll

If you are reading this site, you probably know Anne or know someone who knows her and felt it was important to show your support to the dear girl.  As of 2008, there are about 2.5 million women in the U.S. who have survived breast cancer.  I have known many women who are survivors of breast cancer.  I am thankful to finally feel like there is something I can do to reach out and offer my help. 

I have always been more of a creative soul … a writer so to say, and less science minded.  I do feel it best to hear someone’s story in their own words though, so I will provide the link where you can read Anne’s own words as to her medical condition so that you understand better where she is at with the process.  Here is a link to her direct site so you can follow up with her progress: http://www.breastcancerat30.blogspot.com/ . 

I was talking with Julie (mom-in-law), and she thought it would be a good idea to put together a raffle of sorts to help raise money to donate to Anne and family for medical expenses.  Anyone who has ever been to the doctor knows how expensive it can be.  Add surgeries and chemo to that … well you get the picture. 

So Julie and I talked and decided that we would revisit the idea at the end of the week after we had a chance to see what kind of donations we could put together from family and friends who were willing to help.  I got busy putting together a game plan.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am a “get in there and get it done” kind of girl … I don’t like to sit by and wait.  So I set about talking to everyone I know who might be help.  The game plan progressed from there and became what follows:

A.  I (with my fabulous husband’s much needed help) put together this website with the hopes that we can all do our part to help Anne and her family.  It will allow you to view items to be raffled, make donations, track our fundraising efforts and follow Anne’s recovery to full health. 

B.  I found that we could obtain the best results if we offered a few different options.  I know with the current economic situation that money is tight for all.  By allowing people to have several options to choose from, it allows us all to donate our time, money or service to help out.  Every dollar counts.  Some can donate $5.  Some can do much more.  Some are given creative talents and can donate beautiful items they have time to make.  Some are blessed with the ability to talk to others.  No matter where your talents and abilities are, we welcome all donations of time, talents and money in the effort to help.

C.  This website will allow everyone to do the following: 

               1.   Make monetary donations by check or credit card (PayPal) by clicking on the link.  You can also track our fundraising efforts.

                2.  Purchase Raffle tickets for beautiful donated items. (This will start after the 1st of the year.  Stop back to this blog to see updates.)

                3.  Leave uplifting comments for Anne and family to read.  I believe that positive thoughts and energy go a long way to helping your body heal.

We are all given unique talents.  If you or someone you know would be willing to donate items to be raffled off or have additional ideas for raising funds to help meet our goal, please notify me as soon as you can.  You can send me an email: karalene@karalene.com or call me at 801-207-7569 OR 406-880-7467.  This holidays are an especially wonderful time of year to express your feelings of gratitude by reaching out to others.  Our goal date for raising the funds is February 14.  It is our hope that all will take part and that we as family, friends and community can reach out to those in need.  Best Wishes this Holiday Season!