Top 10 Causes on Twitter

"Awareness is the Cure"

The Orignial 8

When I first joined Twitter in May 2009 I started to follow and be followed. After only 1 week I had come across some great charities/causes that I found to be very inspiring and moving, so much so, I decided to create a website for these charitiess/causes to help bring awareness to them and help them raise money for their cause.

I would love to be able to donate money to each and every one of these causes, but my finances do not allow me to do that, so I started the Top 10 Causes and these are THE ORIGINAL 8 that inspired me to create this website and spend my spare time bringing awareness to these amazing causes.

The Original 8 will always have a special place in my heart and I dedicate this page to them:

1. Alberta Food Banks (via @ABfoodbanks) Visit their site

Flex your vocabulary muscles and put a dent in world hunger. http://www.freerice.com

In Alberta, 43% of those served by food banks are children

Next issue of #ABFoodBanks newsmagazine out soon. Want a copy? Direct msg your name and mailing address and we will make it so.

2. The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (via @Jeff0134)

The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation is the primary organization dedicated to finding a cure for and raising awareness of Pulmonary Fibrosis, an often fatal lung disease. Pulmonary Fibrosis involves scarring of the lung. Gradually, the air sacs of the lungs become replaced by fibrotic tissue. When the scar forms, the tissue becomes thicker causing an irreversible loss of the tissue’s ability to transfer oxygen into the blood stream. There are five million people worldwide that are affected by this disease. In the United States there are over 200,000 patients with Pulmonary Fibrosis. As a consequence of misdiagnosis the actual numbers may be significantly higher. Of these more than 40,000 expire annually. This is the same as die from Breast Cancer. My dad died from this in april 2003. Sorry about the long replies, but sometimes 140 words is not enough lol (via @Jeff0134)

3. Hats and Hugs (via @hatsandhugs) Visit their site

Hats for Cancer Patients

The first project the fund will tackle will be providing hats to cancer patients who often experience hair loss while undergoing treatment. Self-confidence and feeling good about their appearance goes along way in keeping spirits up while fighting this terrible disease. The hats will be provided at no cost to the patients through the local American Cancer Society office, hospitals, cancer centers, oncologist offices and at events where cancer patients are expected to be in attendance. In our links section, we will soon be posting useful links to other programs that provide items such as wigs, makeup and other products that cancer patients find to be useful.

Hugs for Those in Need

The "hugs" part of the fund would entail delivering greeting cards or small gifts to those in the hospitals, hospices and nursing homes in need of support. There are many patients who enter these facilities without a support system and we want to be there to show them that they are not alone becasue someone does really care. What might seem like just a greeting card to us could be the only thing a cancer patient has to lift their spirits on another lonely night by themselves. We will also list links on our Web Site to other programs they might find useful such as groups that grants wishes for terminally ill adults, how to get assistance with medication co-payments and other information we wish would have been available in one place when my Mom first became sick.

Please remind your followers that we are donating 5 cents to the American Cancer Society for each new follower.

Please visit http://www.sandrasheart.com/ to sign our guestbook , request our newsletter or to make a donation by Paypal donation button,Thanks

If you don't have Paypal you can send donations to The Sandra Olson Memorial Fund, 3586 Sangani Blvd Ste. L158, Diberville, MS 39540

Everyone who RT's our message about donating 5 cents in my Mom's memory for each new follower by 5/9/09 will be entered into the drawing

4. Spirit Jump (via @spiritjump)

Become a Spirit Jumper today & help people w/cancer We send cards/gifts to people battling cancer to brighten their days. spiritjumper@spiritjump.com (via @spiritjump)

Spirit Jump is a program that directly connects the gift giver with a person battling cancer. It was founded in November, 2008 by two young women who have both battled cancer.

Meaghan is a cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with end stage cancer with a 20% chance of survival in February of 2007. Like many cancer patients she experienced the horrors of chemotherapy, radiation and numerous surgeries. Today Meaghan is CANCER FREE and is thankful for all of the support of her family and friends who stood by her side through her cancer fight.
Stacy is currently fighting Stage IV Melanoma. Diagnosed, October, 2007, Stacy is still undergoing treatment and fighting this horrible battle.

Click on either of their names to be re-directed to their personal websites.

The Mission of Spirit Jump

If you have a shop, artistic abilities or even an extra card in your drawer and you want to give it to a person in need, send us an email that you want to be a Spirit Jumper at spiritjumper@spiritjump.com We will then connect you directly with a person in need, or we can give you a list of names, a brief description of what their particular cancer battle is and you can choose. When the match is made, We’ll give you that persons mailing address and then it’s up to you to send the gift. It’s a simple.

If you decide to be a Spirit Jumper you will be overwhelmed with the joy and warmth you feel when giving a gift. Additionally, every Spirit Jumper is welcome to write a post on our website and tell our many readers about your shop, blog or website. You may include links, photos and any information you want to be featured on the site. We encourage you to also include why you decided to donate, who you donated to and maybe even a photo of what you donated. This will be wonderful exposure for your shop, blog, website and you will be lifting someone’s spirit, WIN, WIN

5. Blue Ribbon Campaign for ME/CFS Visit their site

The Blue Ribbon Campaign was started in April 2009 by an M.E./CFS patient in Canada. The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness of a devastating disease known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)

Our mission is to raise awareness about ME/CFS and get you involved in raising awareness for the cause and we hope one day to start a research fund to support biomedical research for ME/CFS

6. Smile Train (via @SmileTrain) Visit their site

Smile Train is the world's largest and most effective cleft charity - we help more children than all similar charities combined.

The cleft surgery your donation provides is a true, modern-day medical miracle: it costs as little as $250 to give a desperate child not just a new smile, but a new life.

WHAT MAKES SMILE TRAIN DIFFERENT:

Unlike many charities, Smile Train decided to focus on solving a single problem: cleft lip and palate. And we're able to offer the lowest cost per surgery of any cleft charity because we empower local doctors to perform this important work.

Children in 75 countries are reached by Smile Train's work, which has the highest safety and quality record amongst all cleft charities.

7. PA Breast Cancer Coalition (via @PBCC) Visit their site

Mission

The PA Breast Cancer Coalition represents, supports and serves breast cancer survivors and their families in Pennsylvania through educational programming, legislative advocacy and breast cancer research grants. The PBCC is a statewide non-profit organization that creates the hope of a brighter tomorrow by providing action and information to women with breast cancer today.

History

The PA Breast Cancer Coalition was formed in 1993 by a dedicated, active and effective group of breast cancer survivors who had one common mission, and that was to find a cure for breast cancer. Every program, event and campaign is still carried out with that goal in mind. Today, we are the source of action and information for Pennsylvania women with breast cancer, and their families.

The PBCC is a statewide organization based in Ephrata, Lancaster County, with a board of directors, a staff of seven, and a network of volunteers across the state. The PBCC exists to help the 9,500 women in this state who will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, to support the families of the 2,200 women who will die from it, and to serve as a resource for the hundreds of thousands of more women currently living with the disease.

We accomplish this through statewide educational programming, legislative advocacy and breast cancer research grants. You can learn much more about the PBCC, and how YOU can get involved, throughout this website.

8. RBaware (via @rbaware) Visit their site

Retinoblastoma (Rb) is a rapidly developing eye cancer which affects children under the age of 5. It is an extremely rare condition (on average 1 new case per week is diagnosed in the UK). If diagnosed early, it is curable and the risk of loss of sight can be minimized.

The boy in this photo (click here to see photo) is Fintan, he has retinoblastoma. Doctors have been fighting to save his eyes and sight since he was diagnosed at the age of just 4 months. Follow us on twitter to keep up with his progress and our mission to inform parents of the signs and symptons of eye cancer.