Pink Balloon Charity Auction Fundraising

For the past 3 years I've volunteered at the Lauren Elise Memorial Foundation's big fundraiser, a Pink Balloon Charity Auction and Dinner. This year I was able to become a little bit more involved as a member of the fundraising team. The fundraising team goes to local and chain businesses asking for donations of gift cards or goods for the silent auction at the event. Some of the members get huge donations like a signed helmet from Drew Brees while others, like me, go mostly for gift cards. During my months of toting the kids to different stores and restaurants in hopes of acquiring donations, I was many times shocked by the immediate and caring response I received when sharing Lauren's story and the foundation's mission. Other times I was disappointed how quickly I was told no, sometimes before I had even finished talking. In honor of what would have been Lauren's 8th birthday today and the 5th annual Pink Balloon Charity Auction and Dinner tonight, I'd like to share with you some of the chain businesses that I was impressed with. I'd like others to know what great and giving businesses they are and hopefully give them more business in the future!

Lauren Elise at her 3rd birthday party.

By far the most positive experience I had was with Raising Cane's. When I went into the store and talked to the cashier, he was so friendly and helpful and gave me a business card with information on how to go online to request a donation. I entered all the information on a Friday night and figured I wouldn't hear anything back because I didn't hear back from any of the other businesses with systems like that in place. To my surprise, I got a call from the General Manager that following Tuesday. She was so sweet and told me how thankful she was that people are out there doing what our foundation is doing and she was so happy to get to help us out. They donated 4 gift cards and a gift basket. I was so impressed. I have always enjoyed this restaurant (we got trays of chicken from them for Elise's first birthday party) and after this experience and seeing how heavily involved they are in the communities that support them, I'd have to say it's probably my favorite fast food restaurant now. I've always felt their chicken trumps all other chicken places hands down and now have an even bigger reason to support them. Not to mention their dipping sauce which is so delicious!

I'm a big fan of Rib Crib. Their delicious BBQ ranch dressing, amazing ribs and sandwiches, and savory sauces. I was shocked to actually walk out of Rib Crib with a certificate for two free meals and drinks. It was the only place where I was able to actually walk out with the donation. Most places I had to leave information for someone higher up to approve the donation before I was given the gift cards. I was impressed with the manager's ability to make that call and send me through the door with a very nice donation for the foundation.

A restaurant I was surprised by was The Cheesecake Factory. I figured they'd be another chain restaurant/store I never heard back from. So many of the chain places had to get approval from corporate before granting any donations which not only slowed the process down, but took the heart out of it. There were so many times I would talk to people face-to-face, telling them Lauren's story and the foundation's mission and I could tell they really wanted to help, but once it went through the chain to corporate and those people hadn't talked to someone face-to-face it was easier to say no. I talked to a manager at The Cheesecake Factory and he had me leave information for him to pass on. I called to follow-up less than a week later, only to find they had already shipped a $50 gift card to the foundation's P.O. Box!

I'm excited for the auction tonight and to find out in the following weeks how much money was raised to help children with congenital heart defects (CHD) and their families. CHD are the number one birth defect and affect 8 out of every 1,000 babies born each year. Each year in the United States alone over 35,000 babies are born with CHD. I am proud to be a part of an organization that is supporting awareness, research, and diagnosis of CHD. To find out more about the Lauren Elise Memorial Foundation, visit the website here.

A picture from the Pink Balloon Charity Auction and Dinner last year.