Golf Tournament Information is UP!

If you look at the top of this page, you will see a golf info link… click on it, it will take you to the golf information page.  Or you can go to our links section and click on The Frame Packaging Solutions Allison Jacobs Golf Tournament.

A little background info on the tournament.  The tournament is named in memory of Allison Jacobs, daughter of Matt and Alexis Jacobs.  Allison earned her angel wings on August 13, 2002 following open heart surgery.  Allison had several congenital heart defects and was a very special baby girl.  She has one older sister, Emily.  She has an older brother, Chris.  And she shares her middle name with her sweet baby sister who was born in June of 2003, Samantha Grace.  I learned of congenital heart defects through Allison and her precious mother.  Allison will always live on in our hearts and now will always live on through this golf tournament.

Frame Packaging Solutions is a local, family owned printing company.  They can print just about anything you can dream up.  Take notice of the “Solutions” part of their name.  Frame Packaging Solutions sees solutions rather than problems.  They work on what can be done and how to keep it in your budget.  With 30 years of print experience behind the owner, you know you are getting quality work at a fair price.  We are proud to welcome them aboard as the title sponsor of our event.

For more information on the tournament, please see the tournament page.  For information on sponsorship opportunities please contact Lisa McGhan, event chair at chfva@childrensheartfoundation.org A sponsorship page will be added soon!  Monetary donations will be accepted and checks should be made out to The Children’s Heart Foundation and mailed to the address on the golf information page.

Are you kidding me?

WOW, God has been moving this week. I see His work in all that is happening. Thank You, God, for blessing this endeavor.

This week we have added a new sponsor to our Golf Outing. That would be: The Richmond International Raceway. How very cool to have them aboard!

Off to a meeting this afternoon, and hopefully MORE exciting news to share very soon! Keep checking in!

Big things are happening!

Well, the Board of Directors for the Children’s Heart Foundation — Virginia Chapter, has been established. We have had our first meeting. We have set up a table at a local festival to get our name out there. We are preparing for the Congenital Heart Walk in DC on September 12. Team AlliCait has 3 members thus far, and we’ve raised over $300 to date. We are also working feverishly on our Allison Jacobs Golf Tourney for the Heart.

Speaking of our Golf Tourney, sponsorships are slowly beginning to roll in. Pence Auto is sponsoring a hole. Lynn and Gene McGhan are sponsoring hole #7 in honor of Caitlynn Marie (their 4 month old granddaughter diagnosed with 2 CHDs). I (Lisa) have been pounding the pavement, visiting businesses, introducing myself and the Children’s Heart Foundation and handing out sponsorship packets. I must take a moment to thank Canaan Printing for coming to my rescue last week and printing 2000 copies (total) for me and keeping it affordable! So far, this is all coming out of my pocket! We must keep marching on, and get the word out … hopefully the sponsorships will begin to pick up soon, and we’ll be able to post many more!

Our other exciting news is that we have begun to fill our Medical Advisory Board. Dr. Doug Allen out of Virginia Commonwealth University Health Systems, a pediatric cardiologist, has agreed to sit on the board as the Chair! We are thrilled to have him on our team and look forward to partnering with him.

Check back often to see our progress on both the chapter establishment and the golf tourney!

Be sure to check out the links in the side bar!

Calling All … ANYONE???

I am so excited about this endeavor, but I absolutely need people on my side!  I can’t get this off the ground without some other willing participants.  I am looking forward to working with my cousins, Lindsey Leavitt (a CHD survivor) and Casey Robertson and their mom, Gail Robertson;  my fantastic (recently graduated) babysitter, Megan Holland; my dear friends Melissa DeCapri and Jaime Taylor and my precious mother Debby Robertson (grandmother to a CHD Baby… Caitlynn McGhan).  So far, this is my group.  We will be holding our first meeting on Thursday, June 17.  My mother is opening her home to the group for our first meeting.

We have miles to go, to get this chapter off the ground.  I do have to share some fantastic news.  On a whim, I decided I should contact the chair of Pediatric Cardiology at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System.  Dr. Moskowitz was quick to respond to my email.  He suggested that we meet soon to “put faces to our names.”  I am so looking forward to meeting Dr. M and learning how we might work together for the benefit of The Children’s Heart Foundation and those with Congenital Heart Defects.  Dr. M started Mended Little Hearts, Central Virginia five years ago.  I am excited to learn from him.  I will be contacting the UVA Hospital and their Pediatric Cardiology department in the near future as well as Pediatric Cardiologists in Central VA!
This is a learning process, and while I am eager to get things going, I am having to learn patience and how to pace myself.  I am also having to learn to how to ask for help.  I am researching every day.  I’ve joined Mended Little Hearts — Central VA and I’ve joined the Congenital Heart Information Network.  I think what is MOST exciting for me about working with the Children’s Heart Foundation, is that the money we raise goes towards RESEARCH PROJECTS that will hopefully better the life of someone with CHD.  There are many organizations out there to support the families of those with CHD, but research seems to fall by the wayside.  CHF is dedicated to funding research.  I’ll do anything in my power to help support their mission. CHD is the number 1 birth defect in America, affecting nearly 1 out of every 100 children born each year.  That is approximately 40,000 babies!  20,000 of those precious little ones will face invasive open heart surgery in their first year of life and 8,000 of those will not live to see their first birthday.  CHD is not something to take lightly.  And it doesn’t just affect American Babies, this is a global issue.If you’d like to join me in my endeavor to “save children’s lives, one heart at a time,” please contact me and let me know of your interest.  I can use all of the help I can get.

Moving Forward

Well, I’ve just signed up for a walk at George Mason University! Feel free to support me and my team “AlliCait” as we walk and raise money for The Children’s Heart Foundation and the Adult Congenital Heart Association to fund Congenital Heart Defect Research. Donations are accepted here!

Beyond that, I’ve contacted a local golf course, for our first fund raiser for the Virginia Chapter of The Children’s Heart Foundation. I hope to hear from them tomorrow. This is so very exciting. If this Golf Course accepts us, they will actually DONATE the entire course for the event!!! Do you realize how AWESOME that is? How HUGE that is? HOW FANTASTIC that is??? I have never seen doors open the way I have, since I started on this journey. God is GOOD all the time! Let Him receive all the glory for this, because the glory IS HIS!

A Journal of the Heart

I’ve begun this blog, to basically journal my new endeavor. I have decided to start a chapter of The Children’s Heart Foundation in Virginia.

The Children’s Heart Foundation raises money to fund research for Congential Heart Defects (CHD)… the number one birth defect. My daughter, Caitlynn Marie, turned 2 months old on Mother’s Day. The day after, she landed in the ER with the croup. On our follow up visit with her pediatrician, he noticed a “swoosh” sound in between her heart beats. I listened and heard this “swoosh” as well. He suspected she had a VSD –Ventricular Septal Defect. He recommended we see a pediatric cardiologist. She had her 2 month well visit coming up, so I decided to seek a second opinion. Sure enough, he also recommended she see the cardiologist.

We saw Dr. McQuilken out of Pediatric Cardiologists. He personally did her ultrasounds of her heart and neck. He found both the VSD and another CHD called PDA- Patent Ductus Arteriosus. Thankfully, our sweet Cait has very mild cases of both. Her VSD is so tiny that it doesn’t need to be medicated, and the doctor indicated she could live her whole life normally with that small hole in her heart and it should not have any affect on her quality of life. The PDA is a little more cause for concern, but not much. The vessel is open, but just barely, so the blood flow through it is minimal. For now we do not need to treat it with medicine. Dr. McQuilken thinks both issues will most likely resolve on their own. Cait will go to see him again when she is 6 months old.

Research for CHD has been on my heart and mind for a very long time. I have a dear friend, Alexis Jacobs, who had a precious little baby girl in April of 2002. Allison was born with several CHD’s. On August 13, 2002, sweet Allison went home to be with Jesus following open heart surgery. I vowed then to raise money for research… only life seemed to get in the way. 4 children later, and my own child with 2 CHDs… I am back on my mission to raise money for this awesome and pertinent cause!

I am currently scouting out people who would be interested in helping me get our chapter started. I’m also looking for a “pro bono” attorney, CPA and printer. Eventually, I’ll be looking for people to serve on the board and corporate sponsorship.

I’m also currently organizing a Golf Tournament as our first Virginia Chapter of CHF fundraiser. We are hoping for a date in October. I would love for people to help me put this together.

So, this begins my journey. I hope to blog here often as possible with updates on the progress of beginning this Chapter of The Children’s Heart Foundation. I will also post information here on fundraisers and events as they are planned.

Please feel free to contact me if you’d like to be involved in any capacity.