Tonight's picture was taken in January of 2006. Mattie was three and a half years old and by that time LOVED baths. Which was ironic, because for the first year and half of his life, Mattie did not like water and it was a trial just getting him clean. But at some point, he switched and grew to love bath time. He literally could stay in the water for hours if I let him. It wasn't so much about the bath as it was about playing in the tub. Mattie would drop in toy cars and just about everything in the tub and make up all sorts of play schemes with his toys.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 26,533,999
- Number of people who died from the virus: 450,088
Peter and I are working on creating many new documents for the Foundation this year. One of which is a strategic plan. Mattie Miracle is 11 years old and we are now in the position to consultant with a fundraising professional. She has been helpful so far as she has encouraged us to get a financial audit done and develop a strategic plan. Both documents are needed when attracting larger donors.
Interestingly I feel like Peter and I have had our own internal compass for the Mattie Miracle, which is why we never created a strategic plan. Certainly during the inception of the Foundation we couldn't have generated such a comprehensive plan, as we were really just figuring out how to stand up on our own two feet both as parents dealing with child loss and as a new foundation.
I will always remember early on when we were just created that another non-profit told me Mattie Miracle would NEVER make it. She gave us 3 years before we'd fold. Now 11 years later, we are still up and operational, have a strong support base, and have accomplished more than most larger organizations! Which reminds me that it isn't money that makes things happen, it is people.
Mattie Miracle has given me the opportunity to connect with the best and brightest psychosocial thinkers in our Country and Canada. Together we all share a vision and appreciate one another and through this collaboration, evidence based Psychosocial Standards of Care were created and published in a top tier medical journal. But we did not stop there! In 2020, a companion toolkit was created to help implement these Standards at treatment sites around the Country. As Mattie Miracle believes that childhood cancer is NOT JUST ABOUT THE MEDICINE and receiving optimal psychosocial care positively impacts health outcomes and quality of life.
It is one thing to understand what we do and to run the Foundation, and another thing to capture what we do on paper and draft a strategic plan. Fortunately for me, Peter has created many strategic plans in the life of his career! But now he has to teach me to think this way! So I am learning, which is something I would say the Foundation has forced me to do right from day one! After all if I want....
- a website designed, I have to do,
- a mass mailing to go out, I have to do,
- a newsletter written, I have to do
You get the picture! Necessity is the mother of invention, and when you find something you are passionate about, you then find the energy, time, and determination to get it done!
1 comment:
Obviously, that person who told you Mattie Miracle would not be around in 3 years, did not know who she was dealing with!! Mattie was an incredible little boy and his parents are equally as incredible!
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