Lend a Helping Hand

I'm going to take a minute out of my usual shenanigans here to ask for some help. As those of you who have been reading this blog for a long time know, I used to be an emergency room advocate for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, two issues (well, the same issue, really, at the core) that are very important to me for reasons too numerous to mention. So I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and urge y'all to help JC, who I was lucky enough to meet through Curly awhile back, in her undertaking. Here's the info (reposted from Curly's site):

Friends,
As many of you have already heard, this year I am planning on running in the Boston Marathon. I am running as a member of team Casa Myrna Vasquez, a Boston-based organization devoted to ending domestic violence.

If you have known me as long as most of you have, you will recall my years of working at one of CMV's sister shelters outside Boston. My years at that shelter gave me more than I could ever convey and when I found this was their final year as a Boston Marathon charity, well... let's just say I knew it was my calling. I have spent the last year battling my way back from injury in my running and would have never imagined my first foray back onto the roads would be a marathon, but sometimes something comes along and reminds you it's where you need to be.

Friends, I am asking you all to help me raise some money... ok, heck, a lot of money, for this cause. I am asking you to help me raise a lot because it means a lot to me. I am not raising money for a charity and a cause that is peripheral to me. I am raising money for the one cause I believe in most dearly. Domestic violence touches so many lives. These days the figure stands at 1 in 3. 1 in 3 women across the US and across the world are victims or survivors of abuse. The figure is nothing but astounding.

I sat down a few weeks ago and did some math. My shelter housed 4 women, and their children, at a time. Each guest stayed with us, at most, for 3 months. I worked there overnights for 5 years. Some quick math will tell you I had contact with, at the very least, 720 women. This number doesn't even begin to address the numerous hotline calls, the women who stayed a lot less than 3 months, and the countless children they had in tow. It scratches the surface at best, but it gives me something tangible to start with.

Friends, I am asking you to help me raise $50 in the name of each of those survivors. It's a massive goal. $36,000. And it scratches the surface of the issue. But it's where we start. Please help me raise as much towards this goal as possible.

As you are looking for your 2008 resolutions, resolve to help me get some very needed donations to a cause that is so near and dear to my heart, and based on today's statistics, more than likely near and dear to you too.

To make a donation, please visit JC's fundraising page and check out her blog to keep tabs on her training for the Boston Marathon.