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Fundraising Letter
July 6, 2006
Indianapolis, Indiana
Dear M ---,
My son Clay loves to draw. He writes stories, too, and says he’d
like to be an author when he grows up. He is happiest when he’s
playing with his big brother and little sister. One day, my son Clay asked
me, “Mom, how long do you think I’ll live?” I didn’t
know what to say. I know the statistics—that the median age for
people with Cystic Fibrosis is 37 years—but I couldn’t let
that be my answer to my son. “A long, long time, I hope,”
I told him. And it is with this hope in my heart that I write to you today.
My son Clay has Cystic Fibrosis, a life-threatening genetic disease. Currently
30,000 Americans have CF. People with CF produce an abnormally thick,
sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and can result in fatal lung infections.
In fact, just last year Clay had to be hospitalized. He’s nine years
old, and this was the first time we’d had to leave him in the hospital.
But it will almost certainly not be the last.
I’m writing to you today to ask for your support. The advances that
have already been made in understanding and treating this disease have
had a real and positive impact on Clay and on others who live with this
disease. And with your help, even more advances can be made and even more
people can be helped.
My son Peter, Clay’s older brother, told me once, when he was very
young, “I wish I could take the CF out of Clay, split it in half,
put half in me and half in Clay.” Peter wanted so badly to help
his brother, to improve Clay’s life, and to improve his life expectancy.
Now that he’s a little older, Peter says he’d like to become
a medical researcher when he grows up; he’d like to be the one who
finds the cure for CF.
And maybe Peter will be the one to find the cure. The Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation supports research at medical facilities across the country.
It has been praised by the National Institutes of Health as an example
for other charities to follow. It is an extremely lean and forward-thinking
organization: 91¢ out of every dollar given to CFF goes directly
to research.
And so, I’m asking you today if you would please help support this
Foundation and its work. With the help of people like you, someday Peter
will be able to fulfill his dream of becoming a CF researcher—unless
Clay’s dream comes true first and a cure for this disease is found.
To learn more about CF and the Foundation, please visit the website www.cff.org;
you can make a donation through the website as well. Certainly you have
charities you already support; I hope you’ll choose to support the
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as well. We look forward to being able to count
on you, and I thank you in advance for your help and for your care.
Sincerely,
Sally Catlin
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