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Leukodystrophy Fundraisers

Night Of Enchantment Dance
Miami University Middletown
November 1, 2015
Let's Get Leukodystrophy CANNED
Spring Semester, Miami University
January - May 2016
LEGS For Leukodystrophy
Spring Semester, Miami University
January - May 2016
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     As part of Shannon's senior project for school, she wanted to raise awareness about and funds for Leukodystrophy. To do this, she hosted a dance in honor of her nephew, Noland, who was diagnosed with this rare disease. Noland's favorite toy is a stuffed fox. When Shannon began to put the dance together, she and her mom came up with the theme of "Night of Enchantment." Shannon wanted to incorporate the stuffed fox somehow and came up with the idea to do a photo 'booth' where the guests would be able to use animal masks, which Shannon made herself. The animals included foxes, bears, rabbits, owls, and hedgehogs. Though the turn out was small, Shannon was able to raise over $300 through the ticket sales and raffle tickets sold at the the event. All of these funds went to the United Leukodystrophy Foundation for research in the hopes of finding a cure.

     The next part of Shannon's project to raise awareness about and money for Leukodystrophy was to collect cans for cash. Shannon, with the help of her sister-in-law, Rebekah Haeger, and Rebekah's kids, Charity and Lealand, began by going around their neighborhood and asking if their neighbors would be willing to participate. If they were, they got their names and addresses. Once this was completed, every Saturday in the month of February, Shannon and her husband went around to every house that had signed up to donate and collected cans. The cans were then taken back to Shannon's house, where everyone in the house helped to crush the cans. By the end of February, almost 80 pounds of cans had been collected, with just under $40 made.

     Shannon's project finished with hosting a "Best Legs" contest at the Miami University Regional campuses. After finding this idea online, Shannon bought the right to use the flamingo and monkey pictures from an online source, then had the pictures made into laminated posters. She then attached the posters to pieces of wood with handles on the back of the wood for contestants to hold onto. This contest was held for two weeks. The first week consisted of contestants having their pictures taken with their choice of animal. After the first week concluded, Shannon had the pictures printed off. The second week anyone who wanted to, voted for their favorite by donating any amount of cash to their favorite picture. The winners received gift cards to local restaurants. This project yielded almost $60 in donations.

     Shannon was also able to work with local businesses who were willing to have a donation box set up in their locations. With everything combined, Shannon was able to raise just over $1,000, which was donated to the United Leukodystrophy Foundation.

     In addition, Shannon had a GoFundMe account set up, which raised a little over $200.00 before it was closed. However if you would like to still donate to the cause, you can visit the United Leukodystrophy Foundation's page and donate directly to them.

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