What’s Bald, has a beautiful smile and raised over $4000 for BC Children’s Hospital? My Sister Leila of course!
Leila, motivated by the passing of our then 13 year old cousin from Cancer over 4 years ago, decided to shave her head for the BC Children’s Hospital Balding for Dollars program. Money raised goes to support families fighting Caner and Blood Disorders.
The Social Media Effect
Leila brought up the idea with me and we decided to try to leverage Social Media to build awareness around her plan. Over the course of a week, with the help of Giant Ant Media’s Jay Grandin and Leah Nelson, we filmed a few videos with Leila and BC Children’s Hospital Parent/Patient Advocate Dan Mornar. I built a quick blog ( www.LeilaSloss.com ), set her up on Twitter ( @leila_s ) and taught her the basics of blogging, tweeting and sharing online. She’s a natural.
Bringing in the Money
As I write this, her videos have nearly 8,000 views, her blog has been visited by nearly 2000 people and Leila, with the support of friends, family and strangers, has raised over $4000 (well exceeding her goal of $1000 when she started)
Her impact is was felt beyond raising money. Comments from other women who have lost their hair, both from similar fundraisers and Chemotherapy, were overwhelmingly positive. Friends tweeted, shared, linked and spread awareness of Balding for Dollars and the great work that Children’s Hospital does for those in need.
Thank You
I want to thank Leila for her brave decision to make a difference, and for allowing me to help in some small way. Thank you to Jay and Leah at Giant Ant Media for their creative video making skills that got Leila a bunch of attention on YouTube. Thanks to Derek from Ottawa for supporting the cause with a fun countdown widget created out of the blue, without us even asking. Finally, thanks to all of you who sent kind words, a donation or shared the link with a friend.
We’re in an era where all of us have unprecedented access to media and the public, Leila’s fund raising drive shows the impact that one person with a goal, the support of a small network of friends and the desire to make a difference can have.
Thank you!
Check out her Videos or Bald Photos
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