The Boun Lod Fund

We’ve had a tremendous response to our fundraising efforts. Many thanks to all those who have already made donations:

Crystal, Shane, and Grady Mackintosh; Saya and Chris Fryer; James Tweedie; Judy Huntley; Janine McClelland; Bob and Janet Costa; Curtis and Diane Eaton; Peggy and Randy Fryer; Frank and Donna Fairhurst; Ardell and Ray Harris; Howie and Pat Rowland, Howard G. Rowland Professional Corporation; Mary Scrimshaw; Paul Long, Kathy Mutch, Eric Long; Sybille Manneschmidt; Canyon School Staff; Kathy and Richard Brown; Sue and Roland Milligan; Alison J Rowland-Klimec and Samuel A F Klimec; Jean Sheppard; David Cavilla; Cathy Horsman; Dr. Stephan Schwarz; Dr. Christoph Eich; Mary-Jo and Peter Woolgar; Shannon Palmer; Stuart Mutch; Brent and Sally Woodard; Ron Mensaghi; Anne and Cliff Elle; M. R. Howe; A. Van Der Heijden; Dr. M. Greg Steed and Cheralyn Steed; John B. Lamb and Susan Petersen-Lamb; Scott Lamb; Garret Lamb; Cash collection Rotary Club Luncheon Meeting; Margaret Whittles; Rod and Evelyn Macaulay; Dr. Conleth & Mrs. Maris O’Maonaigh; Murray Taylor; Roy & Barbara Boese; Rocky View Mennonite Church; Harold and Nancy Brown; Doug and Sharon Ross; Brent and Trish McRae; Damburger Trucking; McRae Holdings; Nancy Tripp; Noreen Fischbuch; Cathy Scrimshaw & Gordon Petersen; Air Canada; Marion Petersen; Erna Kelly; Debora Crowshoe; Susan Weatherill; Ted and Heather Smith; S. De Wet Professional Corporation; Ronald or Mavis Hann; Students of the Pincher Creek Colony

There are also a number of upcoming fundraisers:

Bosch-Family-sponsored Bike Rally (burgers donated by McClelland Meats), Sept 20
Lao Fundraiser, Sept 20
Wine and Cheese, Dave McNeill, Linde Farley, Sept 27
Rotary Club Oktoberfest, Oct 3

We’re also working on other fundraising ideas and initiatives, and we’ll let you know more about them as they develop.

In the meantime, thanks to everyone who has helped so far, and thanks to all those who are working on upcoming fundraising events. Together, we’ll make it possible for Boun Lod to get the treatment she needs.

It’s been several weeks since our last update, but things have been moving along well, and we’ve made some real progress.

One of the most exciting developments is that Air Canada has donated enough frequent-flyer points for Boun Lod and her parents to fly from Vientiane to Cincinnati return, and to make three round-trip flights from Cincinnati to Philadelphia. (Boun Lod, Via, and Noy will stay with relatives in Philadelphia between surgeries.) This is a tremendous help, and we’re grateful for Air Canada’s very generous assistance.

We’re also continuing to receive many generous donations and pledges, including an extraordinary pledge of $10,000 from an individual who prefers to remain anonymous.

The total of all the cash pledges and donations we’ve received to date is around $15,000, putting us about halfway to our goal.

On August 21, Cathy, Nin, and I spoke about Lao and Boun Lod at the Pincher Creek Rotary Club’s luncheon meeting. Individuals at the meeting donated several hundred dollars on the spot, and the club has agreed to donate the proceeds of its Oktoberfest celebration to the Boun Lod fund. Let us know if you’d like tickets for the October 3 dinner and dance.

The September 5, 2008 issue of the Pincher Creek Echo has a story about Boun Lod and our fundraising efforts. You can see the story on-line at http://pinchercreekecho.com/Community/417231.html. (I’m not sure how long the link will remain active.)

We also understand that the Lao fundraising events, including a walkathon and a raffle, are getting underway.

One piece of not-so-good news is that our application to the Alberta Liquor and Gaming Commission for a raffle license was turned down. The folks at the commission said they really wanted to grant us a license but there were several difficulties including that raffle funds are not supposed to benefit an individual, and that a group’s executive officers are supposed to be democratically elected. (Cathy and I are the de-facto “executive” of the Boun Lod fund, but nobody elected us!)

This leaves us with a couple of lovely donated raffle prizes, but no way to raffle them off. We’re putting on our collective thinking caps to try and come up with a legal way to make use of these generously donated prizes.

On the medical side, Boun Lod’s first scheduled appointment in Cincinnati is on October 31. She should be admitted on November 9, with her first surgery the next day. We’ll book the flights to Cincinnati in the next day or two, and plan to have them arrive sometime between the 27^th and the 29^th of October.

Last week, Via and Noy had their visa interview with the US Embassy in Vientiane. The Embassy requested more financial information, which we’ve provided, and we’re hopeful the visas will be issued shortly.

Thanks to all of you that have already made donations, or have assisted in other ways. And for those of you who haven’t helped out yet, it’s certainly not too late! We still have another $15,000 to go.