The Shannon Mosher 
Memorial Foundation, Inc.
Save a Life Tomorrow ~ Live in Great Hope Today

How You Can Help 

Several practical things that you can do to assist The Shannon Mosher Memorial Foundation, Inc. ("Foundation") in its battle against leukemia, and to help improve the odds of survival for those requiring a bone marrow transplant are listed below:

1. Become a registered bone marrow donor and be committed, if called, to give another person (who most likely you will not know) a chance for an extended life. For more information as to how to register, contact your local American Red Cross office, LifeSouth Community Blood Center or other Blood Services Center, the National Marrow Donor Program (1.800.627.7692 or www.marrow.org), or The Caitlin Raymond International Registry (1.800.726.2824 or www.crir.org).

2. Contact the Foundation at stuartmosher@aol.com. with information about who in your company would be the best person to talk with to determine if they would consider hosting and/or sponsoring a bone marrow drive. Also, consider volunteering to help at a bone marrow drive in your area.

3. Assist in developing the Foundation's Advisory Board with community leaders and others from around the country, who will provide both tangible and leadership support to help fulfill its mission.

4. Assist with fundraising and development of an effective grant and endowment program that would provide the means for the Foundation to provide much needed limited financial aid grants to many  leukemia patients each year, to sponsor new bone marrow drives by covering part of the tissue typing costs, and to otherwise fulfill its primary mission.

5. There are several ways that you can help financially to assist the Foundation in its efforts:

a. Make a contribution to the General Fund of the Foundation to help support our Patient Assistance program. 100% of all General Contributions are redirected back to leukemia patients in form of reimbursement checks for expenses that may not be paid by their insurance.

b. Make a contribution to the Bone Marrow Drive Fund of the Foundation, to help add new bone marrow donors to the national registries. These contributions go toward covering lab tissue typing costs, which is presently $52.00 for each donor.

c. Make a contribution to the Operating Fund of the Foundation to help with monthly operational expenses incurred in efforts such as meeting with other leukemia patients and those needing a bone marrow transplant and in promoting the need for more bone marrow donors on the national registries.

NOTE: Tax-deductible contributions to the Foundation for any one of the above three Funds (if no notation is made, the contribution will go to the General Fund) may be made by sending a check or money order payable to :

The Shannon Mosher Memorial Foundation, Inc., c/o Treasurer, 3589 Rock Elm Court, Auburn, GA 30011. 

Thank you for your generosity and desire to help. Please provide your name and full address, and the Foundation will send a written acknowledgement of your contribution.

All contributions to the above Funds are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. These Funds are administered by The Shannon Mosher Memorial Foundation, Inc., a 501 (c) (3), non-profit tax-exempt organization located at 3589 Rock Elm Court, Auburn, GA 30011, whose primary mission is to assist leukemia patients and their families; to increase the funding for leukemia and bone marrow transplant research; and to increase the number of bone marrow donors on the national registries.

THE SHANNON MOSHER MEMORIAL FOUNDATION, INC. (REG. #13950) RECEIVES 100% OF EACH FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION (THERE ARE NO PROFESSIONAL SOLICITORS OR FUNDRAISERS CONTRACTED BY THE FOUNDATION WHO RETAIN ANY PERCENTAGE OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED).  A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE FLORIDA DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.

For additional information about the above specific Funds, please contact the Foundation at stuartmosher@aol.com, or call 1-678-377-7036.

d. One area of special interest to the Foundation relates to "post-transplant complications." In order to attract significant contributions for research from corporations and other non-profit organizations and foundations, the Foundation has established The Shannon Mosher Memorial Research Fund at The Marrow Foundation in Washington, D.C.  

This Fund has been established to raise research money that will be directed to specific Scholars and Post-Doctoral Fellows whose works specifically pursue the study of post-transplant complications, such as graft vs, host disease and other infectious diseases which, at the end of Shannon's 15-month battle with leukemia and just two months after her bone marrow transplant, are what took her from us. 

Tax-deductible contributions to help in these efforts to find scientific breakthroughs that will reduce the mortality rates caused by post-transplant complications may be made to:

The Marrow Foundation for The Shannon Mosher Research Fund. Mail these gifts to: 3001 Broadway St., N.E., Suite 100, Minneapolis, MN  55413-1753.

For additional information about The Shannon Mosher Research Fund, please contact The Marrow Foundation at tmf@nmdp.org or call 1-202-638-6601, or contact The Shannon Mosher Memorial Foundation at stuartmosher@aol.com, or call 1-678-377-7036.

6. Become a regular blood donor, and consider donating platelets one or more times each year.

7. Encourage other family members, friends and business associates to get involved in helping to fulfill the Foundation's mission, by using or modifying the below sample appeal letter

Sample Contributor’s Appeal Letter

Dear                 :           

I’m writing this letter on behalf of The Shannon Mosher Memorial Foundation, Inc., established to honor the life of Shannon who died May 20, 2000 at age 28 after a 15-month battle with leukemia. At this time, I am asking you to join many others and us in contributing toward the Foundation’s mission of providing financial and other assistance to leukemia patients and their families; increasing the number of bone marrow donors on the national registries; and increasing funding for scientific research that targets the causes of leukemia, better treatments, and higher success rates of bone marrow transplants for patients with this disease.

After being diagnosed on February 11, 1999 with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML), which is a form of cancer of the blood, Shannon went into complete remission after several weeks of intense chemotherapy and other treatment. However, a week before Thanksgiving the leukemia reared its ugly head once again, and a bone marrow transplant became her only chance for extending her life. With the financial, prayer and emotional support of over a 1,000 people like you, Shannon went to Boston, MA and had the transplant on March 18. After leaving the hospital on April 21, she was on her way to recovery until severe complica- tions caused her to be readmitted on May 9.

Sadly, Shannon is a statistic. She is one of the 21,700 people who the American Cancer Society projected would die of leukemia during the year 2000; this number of deaths is 70% of the total 30,800 new cases of leukemia projected for 2000 in the United States. This is an unacceptable rate!!  

But Shannon is so much more than a statistic; she was an inspiration to thousands of people who followed her story. Visit the Foundation’s website at www.shannonmosherfoundation.org to learn more about Shannon, the struggles she and her family endured during her 15-month battle with leukemia, and other details of the Foundation’s vision and what else you can do to help.  

This is where you and I can be of assistance and help. Your contribution, large or small, will be greatly appreciated, and will help to fulfill the Foundation’s mission. While I hope your donation will be led by your heart, I remind you that your donation is tax deductible.  The Foundation will send a receipt for tax-reporting purposes to all contributors.  If you have any questions or would like additional information, please email the Foundation at stuartmosher@aol.com or call 678-377-7036.  Financial contributions will be directed toward individual patients engulfed in their own battle against leukemia, toward giving more patients a chance at a better bone marrow donor match, and toward improving treatments through specific leukemia-focused scientific research.

Thank you for your consideration and, hopefully, your help. 

Sincerely,