Loads of support for Maxie

Please, please, please - don't forget to register for Maxie's Forest Benefit on March 15th.  (Click here to register online).  This is such an important night for Ted and I and our families.  I know many of you have already made a gift to Maxie's Forest but I want to stress that this night is more than just a fundraiser to us.  It isn't just a night to make another donation in memory of Maxie.  It is a night to show support for us and our families.  It is basically the first night that Ted and I have even been out in months and we are looking forward to seeing all of you and being able to celebrate Max's life together.  I know that $40 plus two drinks might sound like a lot of money, but you would probably spend that much for a night out anyway (if not more).  Perhaps knowing that this is for such a good cause will help ease your worries about your finances.  There will also be opportunities to score great vacations, dinners, outings and other stuff at the silent auction.  Also remember that your $40 entrance is tax deductible.  I promise you will feel good about coming.

Some words about the 5k on Saturday, March 17th -
My friend Stacy just signed up to participate in the 5k and raise funds for Maxie's Forest!  Yay Stacy!  Thank you!  Stacy has been my friend for years, since she went to graduate school with my friend Joslyn in like 1999 or something.  They are the ones that convinced me that being in graduate school was WAY better than being employed.  Seemed like they were always going rollerblading or something while I was sitting in front of a stupid computer in a boring office.  A couple of years later, I ended up in the same program that they did.  It was more work than I imagined but I still found time for so much fun!  She has been incredibly supportive over these past months (and frankly, over the many years that we have known each other).  She has always been up for doing stupid stuff with me - like going Israeli folk dancing at the 92nd street YMCA in NY and then practicing our moves in her apartment like big nerds.  We also took an alumni trip to Germany with our graduate program a few years ago.  When everyone else went to sleep after our long days of programming, Stacy and I hit the Berlin nightlife with our guide Cornelius (aka - Corny).  I love her loads and lots.

And, honestly, I can't recall if I ever wrote about my old roommate and one of my BFFs - Jess, who is also fundraising for Maxie's Forest by participating in the 5k.  Jess was a roommate in college and afterwards.  She lived with me on Rexford Dr., in the building that my family owns, upstairs from Shawn Pelofsky, my comedian friend who organized the whole line up of laughs for Maxie's Benefit.  Jess and I share some of the craziest memories of my lifetime - like the time she fell of a 50 ft cliff in Mexico in the pitch dark on a camping trip and luckily landed on a little foot path on the side of the cliff like 10 ft down.  She only cut her little pinky (but it was bleeding like a mutha) when her hand, that was holding her beer, hit the side of the cliff.  Or when a lunatic, who will remain unmentioned, tried to break our door down in the middle of the night and we had to take him to court.  Or our trip to Amsterdam with our other college pals Robyn and Eowyn SO many years ago to visit my French/Dutch friend Daphna.  Holy cow, did we eat a lot of french fries and cheese on that trip! Honestly, I could go on and on but you get the picture.  Her son, Everett, was born only a couple of months after my Maxie and was supposed to be Maxie's best friend --- wait!  I HAVE mentioned her here before.  She is a love and I am so grateful to her for doing this on our behalf.

If you can't make it to the benefit and want to make a donation to one of our fundraisers pages, here are the listings.  If you don't know any of them, maybe choose one to whom you might feel a particular affinity or that looks like they could use some help.  I'm thinking my mom and Paul.  Their only contributors so far are Paul himself and Auntie Beth, but I leave the choice to you.  Perhaps you have an affinity towards folk dancing - in which case, donate to Stacy.  If you like Cliff diving, go with Jess.  If hot tubbing is your thing, may I suggest Ann?  If you like supporting the person on top - go to Auntie Beth's page.  She has become a fundraising wizard.  Click on her page to be impressed (and keep in mind - most of the money she raised was for the NY Marathon that she ran in November).

Stacy Katz: Running a 5k for Maxie's Forest
Jessica Clements: Running for Maxie's Forest
Ann Frederick: Maxie's Forest
Susan Chadney and Paul Fleishman (Maxie's Grandma and Uncle): Maxie Leviss
Beth Gardner (Maxie's Auntie Beth): Team Maxie: Running to Remember

The sites are also all compiled on one page: Check it out, if for nothing else than for the cute picture of Maxie.

I know fundraising can be daunting (afterall, I do it for a living).  I promise that even if your friends don't give you a dime, they won't think any less of you for sending them an email that tells them that you are supporting your friends who have been through a terrible tragedy.  Knowing that it is scary, it means SO much to us that these friends and family members are willing to put themselves out there to support us and our baby boy.  "THANK YOU" will never express how much it means to us.  Frankly, it isn't even so much the money that you raise but the message that you send us of support and love that you are willing to put yourself out there on our behalf.  We love you.