Help bring the first Alpha1 children's book into the world!
Author
Alpha1 Germany eV.
True, the appeal initially sounds like an urgent need for childbirth – but that's exactly how it was meant.
This friendly request was and is addressed to everyone – but a little over a year ago, it was initially directed specifically to my friends and relatives, true to the motto: "Party for you – book for the Alpha1 kids." My wish for those who wanted to celebrate my personal 50th birthday with me. Instead of frantically trying to redeem a flood of vouchers and other well-intentioned but desperate gestures by my 60th, I asked for (financial) support in the collective birth of a children's book. What a wonderful and, above all, clear request! Even today, over a year later, I still see grateful and happy faces. Perhaps because my wish was so easy to fulfill, or perhaps because friends and family were thus able to experience a kind of "forced happiness."
They didn't just donate money to any "good cause," but to a specific project that they all found exciting, informative, transparent, sustainable, and simply worthwhile. Anyone could/can donate online at www.betterplace.org/p26136 Donate money directly, securely, and free of charge. The entire campaign was/is trackable online at any time. You also receive information about the illness as well as my personal motivations. The almost daily notifications about new donations and the accompanying comments and feedback brought me great joy. A wonderful gift for our Alpha1 children, our association, and of course, for me as well.
As is so often the case in life, things aren't always predictable, and this birthday event led to new contacts and opened up further avenues for donations. A colleague of a friend, a member of Round Table 107 in Celle (www.rt107.net), organized a presentation evening where I had the opportunity to introduce the children's book project, connected to my illness, to the service club. The members spontaneously decided that the proceeds from their annual Advent sale at the Celle Christmas market should benefit the Alpha1 children's book project. So, on the four Saturdays of Advent, we sold waffles, potato pancakes, hot chocolate, and mulled wine in Celle's city center, despite the wildly varying weather conditions, but always with plenty of fun and enjoyment. Ideally, the event was also accompanied by an article in the Celle newspaper, bringing both the fundraising campaign and, above all, our illness to the public's attention.
Besides serving mulled wine and baking waffles, I also had frequent opportunities to hand out flyers and talk to the mostly very interested passersby about AAT deficiency. At this point, I'd like to extend my sincere thanks and highest appreciation to our two chairpersons, Marion Wilkens and Gabi Niethammer. They each traveled from Hamburg on a Saturday to actively support the Round Table team and me. Countless potato pancakes and waffles found countless hungry and generous takers amidst the pre-Christmas hustle and bustle, raising a considerable €3,107 for the children's book project. Another gratifying sum was also raised, for example, by a donation box that a very dear friend had "persistently" placed in her company and vigorously promoted to her colleagues.
Yes, and recently, many Alpha members witnessed at the general meeting that the employees of Steinbrecher, the company where I also work, donated €1,000 for the Alpha1 children's book project. This is explicitly not a typical corporate donation, but rather the so-called "Lucky Cent Campaign." Through this program, employees regularly contribute a small but generous amount each month to a fund, which is then used once a year to support various children's aid projects.
After almost a year, €7,053.00 has been raised for the Alpha1 children's book project through the described activities, and fortunately, the "delivery" has now taken place successfully and without complications.
So why am I reporting here in such detail?
After 11 years of (passive) membership, it was time to make a meaningful contribution. I hope that other Alphas will also get involved within their means and with a little imagination, creativity, but above all, enthusiasm and joy, in accordance with our association's statutes (see the following excerpt): §2 Purpose The purpose of the association is to promote public understanding of the disease Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and its symptoms, in order to positively influence research and treatment methods.
The association carries out all measures it deems appropriate to achieve its purpose, in particular providing informational material to educate those affected by this disease, serving as a contact point for parents of affected children, and organizing training events for them…
Conclusion:
We, the members of the association—dear Alphas and their families—are the ones who make it happen. Who else but us bears a certain responsibility and has the opportunity to provide Alpha1 children and their parents with knowledge and support in dealing with our condition early on and in an understandable way? Anyone who would like to learn more about the fundraising campaign and/or about me is warmly invited to contact us at:
