Gwendolyn Strong Foundation Comes In 6th and Wins $100,000

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that has." -- Margaret
Mead

We did it! We really, truly did! Together, we accomplished the
monumental. Together, we raised a TON of awareness of SMA. Together,
we are having a material impact on curing it. Together, we are
changing this cruel disease -- FOREVER! Out of more than 500,000
charities, the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation, striving to END SMA,
received nearly 52,000 votes in 8 days and placed 6th -- sixth place!
For that honor, we'll receive a $100,000 grant from Chase which will
be used to accelerate awareness and research toward a cure.

Never before have we been part of something like this -- a true
grassroots movement. Something so much bigger than ourselves. Baring
witness to a change occurring -- a shift in what has been before. We
are humbled, moved, and motivated by the extraordinary that has
happened this week.

We are so proud of the amazing SMA community. The families who
virtually stopped all else in their lives. The parents who ferociously
fought and bore their souls to expose the agonizing reality of this
disease. And did so with painfully beautiful poignancy.

We are humbled by the extraordinary acts of kindness, the grassroots
activism, the tireless persevering, the enormous favors called in from
those both impacted by SMA and not, but who regardless took it up as
their passionate cause -- because the health of all babies is
important to all of us.

The things we witnessed people doing, the energy and creativity behind
each effort, the pure passion to prop the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation
and SMA on our collective shoulders and compete against these much
larger organizations to remain on the leaderboard -- person by person,
family by family, company by company, organization by organization,
ask by ask, email by email, tweet by tweet, vote by vote. Each of us
refused to relent. And we know we are only aware of a fraction of what
occurred in this movement. Take a look at this incredible list (click
here - http://bit.ly/7jioKN) of celebrities, athletes, musicians,
organizations, publications, blogs, etc. that threw their support
behind our cause. Humbling. Simply humbling.

The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation doesn't have a fancy national
headquarters or hundreds of chapters or a big marketing budget or a
team of employees. No, we're just two parents in a house in Santa
Barbara, California with two MacBook laptops caring for our terminally
ill two-year-old daughter and fighting any way we can to save her
life. But, in this Chase campaign the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation was
much, much more than the three of us. It was also two parents in a
house in New York. And three people in a house in Spain. And three
people in a house in Ohio. And 25 people at a company in Mississippi.
And one family in a house in Australia. And one person in a house in
Texas. And five people in a house in Arizona. And two people in a
house in the England. The list goes on and on. And together --
collectively -- UNITED -- relentlessly -- all of our amazing
individual efforts and our enormous unwavering passion amassed into
this wonderful grassroots effort.

We should all be so proud of ourselves. We have done something that
has never been done before. We always knew this Chase Community Giving
campaign was an incredible opportunity for SMA, but it has become so
much more than we could have ever imagined. We are so very honored to
have fought for this with you. Together, we have helped change the
future of this cruel disease.

-Bill Strong