Such.Amazing.News.

People, we have some seriously big news. Seriously, seriously big. But first, an apology: I got sucked into the vortex that is the Christmas week--Eve, Day, Day the sequel with family, and then my daughter's birthday and all of us being sick, and another party the day after Abby's birthday...the introvert in me is on tilt! And because of it all, I never did get around to sorting things out on GiveForward.com so I could pull that last Amazon card winner and the ACFW conference registration winner. BUT I've recovered enough to finally get to untangling the GiveForward confusion I was facing after the fundraiser officially ended, and I just figured out how to access the info I needed, and so now, finally, I bring you...

the last winners! (And this is not the big news I was referring to. Keep reading to get to that.)

Of the last $50 Amazon card, donated by Jim Turner, we have...

Amy Bordoni!!! Congratulations, Amy! Have fun shopping in the new year. :)

And the great big ACFW registration fee prize goes to....

 Sarah Forgrave!!! Have fun at the conference, Sarah!

But now, that really big news I mentioned at the beginning. You're gonna want to sit for this, maybe get a tissue if you're anything like me. Because yesterday, I got this message from Sandi:

We got the PET scan results yesterday, and the doc said there was no cancer to be found: not in the scan and not in my blood work. It was NOT TO BE FOUND and therefore I’m in REMISSION!

She said the pain I have in my back is from a fractured rib because of the cancer and then radiation (it broke when I was coughing; I’ll never forget it, ouch!). It will take some time, but it will heal! Thank You, Lord, for my fractured rib! LOL We thought for sure it was cancer!

Both my husband and I were so shocked, we could hardly believe what she was telling us. We’re still having a hard time fathoming the wonderful news. I can’t tell you how GOOD it was to tell our kids this! It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

Thank You, God! Thank You so much!!

The doc is still going to keep a close eye on me, and I’m still pretty weak. At least, one more treatment from Dr. Brown (the Naturopathic doc in AZ) will be good for me. All the fundraisers have made it possible for me to see him again. Thank you to all who helped with that!!!

Again, thank You God!!!

I’m just so happy I can barely type. My hands are trembling and tears are flowing. A part of me is almost afraid to be happy. Ya know? We just kept getting slammed with bad news, over and over again. How can this truly be real?

All I know is, I’ll take what I can get! And I thank God for saying “yes” to all the prayers that have gone up on my behalf! Thank you all for praying. Thank you!!! I just pray that God will allow this remission to last for a good long time. I want to be here for my kids, no matter how old they are. I know how much I love having my own mother in my life, and I want my kids to have the same. Praise God for whatever He decides is best.

Thank You Lord, my Holy precious Savior. Praise You and thank You!

I tried not to use all caps too often so you all wouldn’t feel like I was yelling, but honestly, all those exclamation points are shouts of joy!

I’m on my knees thanking my heavenly Father, kissing His feet. Thank You for giving me and my family this time of joy.

Love,

Sandi xxx

What an absolutely amazing way to launch into a new year!!

Thank you, God, for healing Sandi. Thank you for bringing her family such an astounding gift. We pray that the money we raised, along with the other fundraisers that have been held for her, will bring her family another dose of joy and relief, knowing they can pay off medical bills, continue taking trips to Arizona for treatments from Dr. Brown, and if she doesn't need as many treatments as she'd anticipated, maybe even taking a little vacation to help shrug off the weight and shadows of the last year. We praise your name and your power, Lord, and we thank you for healing our friend. In the name of Jesus, AMEN!!!!

The finish line!

I got caught up in all the present wrapping--sorry for the wait! And unfortunately we'll need to wait until sometime on Christmas to get the final number of ACFW contest entries; as soon as I have a winner for that I'll post!

But for now, we have two Amazon gift card winners! The winner of the $50 card is...

"ACFW"! I'm wondering if this might be an error and that the entrant was indicating they wanted to be entered into the ACFW contest as well--once we've got access to our donor contact info again I'll be able to double check it. :) But hey, whoever you are, congratulations and Merry Christmas!

And the winner of our last Amazon gift card, worth $100, is...

Jill Nelson! Merry Christmas to you!!

More later, folks--I have to get to bed because you know the girls are going to be up at the crack of dawn!

The Next Amazon Winner!

So how sweet is this?! The winner of the gift card we awarded on Wednesday asked if she could return it to the fundraiser to be raffled again, in the hopes of helping raise more money. I love it. Thank you, thank you, Rose!!! That means that the *second* winner of this $50 Amazon card is...

Debbie Costello! Thanks so much for donating, Debbie, and congratulations!

Well folks, we're down to the wire now. In 24 hours the fundraiser will close and we'll have our final donation count. But that means we have 24 more hours to shower this family with love and support. Tweet, Facebook, email, blog, whatever you're willing to do, please point folks in this direction and helps us help the Rogs. Tomorrow we'll pull three winners--for a $50 Amazon card, a $100 Amazon card, and paid-in-full registration for ACFW's conference in September. Let everyone know!

Another Amazon card winner!

WE ARE SO CLOSE to hitting our $1000 challenge! We have less than 12 hours to raise another $226--will you help us reach that goal?

A bunch of new donors helped carry us this far--THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you!! Our latest winner is one of these new donors, in fact--congratulations to....

...Rose C.! Thank you for your generosity, Rose! Happy shopping!

Don't forget--we're not done! Another $50 card goes out on Friday night. Until then, please donate and help us reach our $1000 matching challenge! THANK YOU!!!

The first Amazon.com $100 gift card!

I'm so excited to award these cards! The first $100 Amazon gift card winner goes to...

Janna R.! Congrats, Janna--have fun shopping!

Three more Amazon cards coming this week--don't forget to donate!

Those Amazon.com gift cards...

Thought y'all might like to know when those cards will be raffled off! Tonight we'll start with one of the $100 cards. Wednesday and Friday nights we'll do a $50 card, and Saturday--Christmas Eve, the last night of our fundraiser!--we'll finish up with the last $100 card.

And those of you who long to publish fiction need to remember to leave a note with your donation that says "ACFW" in it so you're entered into the drawing your registration fee for the 2012 ACFW conference in September. We'll pull that winner on Christmas Eve as well!

Spread the word and show the Rogs some love!

We have a donor matching gifts up to $1000!

Amazing! We have a donor willing to match all gifts given over the next 72 hours up to a total of $1000! How sweet would it be to know the Rogs were $2000 closer to paying off Sandi's treatments in just three days? We raised a thousand in just 24 hours last week--we can certainly do it again by Thursday!

Please post the link to the blog:

fundraiserforsandirog.blogspot.com

or this link, which will take folks to the post that explains the $2 donation:

http://fundraiserforsandirog.blogspot.com/2011/12/phase-2-commence.html

or this link, which will explain the ACFW raffle:

http://fundraiserforsandirog.blogspot.com/2011/12/want-to-go-to-acfws-premier-writing.html



And remember, tonight we're drawing for a $100 Amazon gift card. What a perfect time to encourage your friends and family to donate!

Guess who won an e-reader?!

Sorry I came in a bit late on this; I've been crafting my butt off for the holidays and I lost track of the time. :) But now, here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for: the winner of his or her choice of a Kindle Fire or a Nook Color is....

Bekah Ashman!!!

Congratulations to Bekah, and thank you SO MUCH to everyone who participated!!

Now, don't be bummed if you haven't won anything, because we're not done here! Next week we'll be raffling off FOUR Amazon.com gift cards totaling $300, as well as the registration fee for one person to attend the ACFW conference this coming September!

One last thing about the ACFW drawing...

DO NOT mark your entry or your donation amount as anonymous or hidden! We need to know who you are if you win, and we need to know how much you donated to know how many entries you receive in the raffle!

Want to go to ACFW's premier writing conference for free in 2012?

If you're serious about being a fiction writer, you need to go to conferences and learn from the folks who are making it in the industry. But those conferences can be expensive! The American Christian Fiction Writer's conference is considered one of the best in the country, but at nearly $500 it can be hard for some folks to swing it.

Thanks to an anonymous donor, one lucky winner will be going to the ACFW September 2012 conference in Dallas FOR FREE! (Well--registration will be paid--gotta get yourself there and home again and pay your hotel. BUT STILL!!) If you want to be entered to win this incredible prize, here's what you've gotta do:

1. Donate to the fundraiser through the Give Forward.com widget in the sidebar. Every $2 you donate gets you an entry into the drawing. DO NOT MARK YOUR NAME OR DONATION AS ANONYMOUS. We need to know who you are in case you win, and we need to know how much you donated so we know how many entries you get!

2. When making your donation, there will be a place for you to leave a note. In this space, just enter ACFW. (You can leave a note to Sandi there, too, if you wish; just make sure ACFW appears at the top of the note.)

3. At 10pm on Christmas Eve--the last day of the fundraiser!--we'll pull a winner from the donors who noted ACFW in their donation.

Easy, right? If you have any questions, just write Alison at helptherogs at gmail dot com. And please help us reach our goal of raising $21,400 by spreading the word--we need to find more people who haven't heard about the fundraiser yet! Thank you!!!

California Pizza Kitchen winners!

It's fun drawing TWO winners! These "dinner for two" cards will be going out, care of the CPK in Broomfield, Colorado, to...

"TLD" and Jeremy Moore! Congrats!!

Now, we're done with gift cards for THIS week...but we have some serious Amazon gift cardage coming next week, PLUS the e-book reader tomorrow, so if you haven't donated yet, don't wait!!

Gift Card Winner #3!

LOVE how y'all are stepping up for the Rogs. We're less than $200 away from NINE THOUSAND DOLLARS. Fantastic. Thank you all!!

And how do we like to thank you? With gift cards!! Today's Applebee's $50 winner is...

Kathleen Maher!! Congrats!

Want in on the action? Just donate through the GiveForward.com widget--every $2 you donate will get you one entry. Tomorrow we're pulling TWO winners who will each receive a "dinner for two" card for California Pizza Kitchen, courtesy of the Broomfield, CO CPK! And then Saturday...how cool is this?!...we're awarding a Kindle Fire or Nook Color to a lucky donor! Don't miss out!

Gift Card Winner #2!

Big congrats to our latest gift card winner...

Steve & Debbie Cordle! They'll be shopping at Amazon.com courtesy of Chip MacGregor and the MacGregor Literary Agency.

Stay tuned--and donate!--for our next gift card drawing tomorrow night!

Gift Card Winner #1!

Woohoo, time to draw the first winner of a $50 Applebee's gift card! Three hundred seventy-one tickets were purchased (WOW!) and our friends at Random.org tell us the winner is...

Jane Steen! Thank you so much for your donation, Jane!

Now, if you didn't win, don't panic. ALL entries since yesterday morning will be entered into ALL the gift card and e-reader drawings. (But if you want to donate some more, we won't stop you!) Stay tuned for tomorrow's drawing for a $50 gift card, donated by Chip MacGregor and the MacGregor Literary Agency!

Dinner for two, anyone?

Paul at California Pizza Kitchen in Broomfield, CO just made my day--he donated two "dinner for two" gift cards good for any CPK in the country! The card is good for one entree and non-alcoholic beverage. We'll be raffling those off Friday and Saturday nights at 10pm. If you live near that store, please go say thank you by giving them your business this holiday season!

Good news for the Canadians!!

I did some research to see if Canadians would be able to participate in the drawing for the e-reader, and they can!! Here's the scoop as it was given to me by Amazon.com's online chat support and Barnes & Noble's customer service rep:

~ The Kindle Fire will be able to download BOOKS ONLY if there's a Canadian credit card on file. You can transfer music and video from a PC to the Fire, however; it just can't be downloaded. And unfortunately you can't access the apps. (Now, if you have a US credit card on file with a US billing address, you can access *everything*. So if you have family or friends down here who would be willing to do that for you and you could just reimburse them, then you'd get access to it all.)

~ The Nook Color can apparently access *everything* with a Canadian credit card on file.

NOW--before you get all excited, PLEASE double-check with their Canadian customer service to verify this information. Let them know you'd be receiving the e-reader from someone in the US who purchased it on the US website for their store.

And we also can't guarantee delivery by Christmas for Canadians, since it will be shipped USPS.

So hey--that's cool, eh?!

The gift cards!

So far we've been blessed by three awesome groups who have given us a total of $450 in gift cards for you to win!

Applebee's restaurant has donated two $50 gift cards, which will be raffled off TONIGHT (10pm MST) and Thursday night. If you're not sure if there's an Applebee's near you, check out their locations page.

Amazon.com is near everyone, which is why I'm SO excited that Chip MacGregor and the MacGregor Literary Agency have donated a $50 gift card! That one will be raffled off Wednesday night.

And Jim Turner, a friend of mine and fellow writer, has donated $300 in Amazon gift cards--two $50 cards and two $100 cards!

All entrants who have donated since yesterday morning will be entered in ALL of these drawings--no need to come back and tell us how many tickets you want to put in.

Obviously we'd love to get some more gift cards. Please pray that the other businesses we're talking to will step up and provide some. Not being an official 503c is making it difficult for us to find donations.

And of course, we'd love some more donations! We've exceeded $8000, praise God! Think we can reach $9000 by this time tomorrow? OF COURSE WE CAN. Just spread the word and encourage your friends to donate to this wonderful family!

Phase 2 Commence!

Welcome back! We're returning from our little hiatus to bring you Phase 2 of the Fundraiser for Sandi Rog. We're closing in on our Christmas Eve deadline and really hope we'll be able to meet our fundraising goal. Will you help us?

This time we're raffling off gift cards and a brand new e-reader--winner's choice of a Kindle Fire or a Nook Color! The rules this time around are slightly different, though, so read on to find out how it all works.

Step 1: Donate through the GiveForward.com widget in the sidebar. Every $2 (yes, just $2!) you donate gets you a ticket to raffle. DO NOT donate anonymously or hide your donation amount if you want to be entered in the drawing, and MAKE SURE your email address is on your entry so we can contact you through GiveForward.com. In terms of raffle tickets, everyone is starting from zero, meaning you must donate again to be entered into the gift card and e-reader drawings, even if you donated for the raffle baskets.

Step 2. Watch the blog for winners! That's right, this time around you don't have to enter your tickets for the drawing. EVERYONE who donates will be entered. We'll pull a winner Tuesday night and Thursday night for gift cards, and Saturday night for the e-reader.

It's that simple! But, to reach our goal, we really need to get the word out to people who haven't already donated. Would you be willing to send out an email to friends and family to let them know about the fundraiser? Or mention it on your Facebook or Twitter? Please spread the word in whatever ways you're comfortable doing so.

And if you work for a national store or restaurant that would be willing to donate a $50 or $100 gift card for the raffle, please email Alison at helptherogs@gmail.com to let me know. I'd be happy to talk to a manager about the details of the fundraiser and the exposure they'll receive for donating.

Alrighty, folks--let's knock this one out of the park! Ready...set...donate!

We've only just begun..

Folks, I am astounded by the generosity and goodwill you've all expressed through the fundraiser. We're over $7200 as I write this, and I'm just thrilled to know Sandi and her family will be spared this debt as she pursues her treatment. But there's still more to be raised, and we have more prizes to motivate people to give!

We're petitioning stores and restaurants for gift cards which we'll be awarding to donors throughout he rest of the month, until our fundraiser officially closes on Christmas Eve. We're working out the details, and once they're finalized they'll be posted here, so keep checking back to see what's going on so you don't miss anything. And keep spreading the word--you've all done so much, and we're so grateful, and we certainly don't expect the same 150 (!) people to keep donating over and over. :D We need to get more people involved who haven't yet made a donation. So blog it, tweet it, newsletter it, email it, mention it to your friends and family, and help us to make this Christmas the very merriest it can be for the Rogs!

Package #1, 2, 13, and 15 results!

Whew! Lots of results to post! Forgive me for the wait--there were some issues that had to get sorted out with donations. But it's all copacetic now, so here we go with all the rest of the fundraiser raffle winners!

First, the one y'all have waited for the longest...Package #2, your winner is....

Tami Meier! Congratulations!

Next, our winner for package #1 is...

 Monica Selby! Congrats, Monica!

The winner for Package #13 is...

Nancy Kimball! Cool for you!

And finally, our last package, #15, goes to...

Beverly Bender! Way to go!

Winners, keep an eye on your inbox. And if you are bummed because you didn't win anything, don't fret--it's not over yet! Details for Phase 2 coming soon....

PACKAGE 15 OPEN FOR RAFFLE!

BEFORE YOU ENTER TO WIN: Please make sure you have read this post, which explains how the raffle works. We want everyone on the same page so there's no confusion!

Comments will close at noon on Satuday, December 3.

PACKAGE 15: Writing 3 ($125+249=)--Open to international participants!

Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guide Webinar and 2500 word critique by a guild member (www.ChristianWritersGuild.com) donated by Sandra Orchard 

Fiction Writing Master Course by Janice Thompson. This is a gold mine of information! Ten lessons-- each presented in video, audio, and print format so you can interact with the material in whichever way suits you best--cover every imaginable facet of fiction writing, from plotting, point of view, and characterization to theme, genre, common mistakes, and what to do with that manuscript once you've typed "The End."

Package #11 and 14 results!

Sorry for the wait on some of these packages, folks--we've had some communication snafus to iron out, and I'm currently waiting for one more person to get back to me so I can pull a winner for Package #2. Until then, here are the winners for Packages #11 and #14!

Package #11 is going to our northern neighbor...

Sandra Orchard! Congrats, eh? :)

And for the photo session in SoCal, our winner is...

Seema! Congrats to you, too, Seema!

Paging Tami!

Hey Tami, I sent you an email--if you didn't get it, can you please email me at helptherogs@gmail.com? Thanks!

PACKAGE 13 OPEN FOR RAFFLE!

BEFORE YOU ENTER TO WIN: Please make sure you have read this post, which explains how the raffle works. We want everyone on the same page so there's no confusion!

This package is special--it is only available to those who donate a minimum of $100 dollars. If you want to enter and have already donated less than $100, you may donate the balance to bring your total donation to $100 (or to whatever amount above $100 you want--see below for details). 

Comments will close at noon on Friday, December 2.

PACKAGE 13: Wendy Chorot critique 

Please note, only donors who have donated $100-$500 will be allowed to enter the drawing for this item. The winner will receive an editing package worth double their donation. (So if you donate $200, you'll get $400 in editing. Editing will be calculated at 3 cents per word.) The editing package includes a detailed edit (correction of spelling, punctuation, word choice and grammar), a content edit (correction and/or marking of passive voice, redundancies, weak dialogue, incorrect dialogue structure, incorrect paragraph construction) and more! This particular offer is open to any Christian genre or respectable secular genre. If you have any questions about this prize, you can contact Wendy through her website. 

TO ENTER: You don't need to note how many tickets you'd like to use. Simply comment with your name and email address.

PACKAGE 1 OPEN FOR RAFFLE

BEFORE YOU ENTER TO WIN: Please make sure you have read this post, which explains how the raffle works. We want everyone on the same page so there's no confusion!

Comments will close at noon on Friday, December 2.

PACKAGE 1: Writing 1 ($493)
Critique of proposal and 3 chapters, by author/agent Wendy Lawton
1 chapter critique by Paula Moldenhauer
The First Five Pages, by Noah Lukeman, and How NOT To Write a Novel, by Mittelmark & Newman donated by Nancy Kimball
Earning a Living With Your Writing by Tiffany Colter
2 cookie-making jars by Carole Towriss

Character assessment and 2 PDFs (A Writer’s Guide to Creating Rich Backstory and A Writer’s Guide to Grief) by Jeannie Campbell

Jeannie Campbell is a psychologist who has put her unique skills to work for authors. I lost her donation in the shuffle so it never got posted on the blog--my apologies, Jeannie! This donation includes a character assessment, in which Jeannie will help you unravel your character's psyche so you can write him or her with more depth and believability. It also includes two PDFs Jeannie has written to help writers develop their characters more fully and to accurately depict the grief process.