Image source: Let’s Get Maybelle to Ellen

Sometimes the two highlights of my day that don’t involve the Little Man are reading Instagram/Twitter and watching The Ellen Show.  I never thought I would be the kind of person that looks forward to a daily talk show, but it turns out I am.  I really love watching The Ellen Show.  I actually record it on Foxtel IQ and then watch it with the Little Man while he has a meal and a snooze.

I often find myself in tears on the couch because of the enormous acts of generosity that Ellen undertakes and inspires.  Just yesterday I was blubbing like a fool over 4 children surprising their Mother with a trip to Ellen to say thank you for being such a wonderful mother, role model and for sacrificing for her children despite being in a tough financial situation and facing a bout of cancer.

I really love that Ellen encourages people to look outside of themselves and undertake an act of kindness to try and make a difference to someone else.  It’s a really beautiful message and something that I truly hope I can encourage the Little Man to do.

Turns out I’m not the only one that loves Ellen.  A wonderful lady whom I follow on Instagram/Twitter is BiancaJWood.  Her daughter, Maybelle, was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukaemia in November 2011.  It’s a life threatening blood cancer and it, and it’s treatment, is wrecking havoc on Maybelle‘s body.

I can only imagine what it must be like to have your child diagnosed with cancer.  I know how much it hurts when I think the Little Man is uncomfortable, let-a-lone if he was to ever really get sick.  It makes me tear up just thinking about it.  I imagine that it would be so easy to get lost in the injustice of it all and to curl up into a ball and give up on life, but the Wood family have done just the opposite.

Every day I’m amazed, inspired and moved by the courage, good humor and love that they all share and use in dealing with this life changing diagnosis.  It’s seriously inspiring and makes my heart swell just thinking about them all; and I’ve never even met them!

BiancaJWood‘s daughter Maybelle is a fan of Ellen (kids got good taste!) and she’d really love to get to the USofA and attend The Ellen Show.  It’s an expensive dream, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.  In fact, there’s a whole community of people from the internet that have banded together to try and help her realise her dream.  (Man, I love the people on the internet!)

There’s a number of ways you, and I, can help Maybelle realise her dream.  Here’s some information about them:

Facebook Auction:  Maybelle’s Auction will start on Monday the 5th of November at 9amAEST and will continue through to Friday the 9th of November at 8pmAEST.  The items up for auction have all been donated by wonderful people and are a wide variety of awesome.  There’s quilts, paintings, kids toys, clothing, stationery – just to name a few.  I’ve got my eye on a couple of lovely items that I’m hoping to either win or drive the price up on when the auction starts!

Donate to the Facebook Auction:If you’re able to you can donate an item to be auctioned. Details can be found here.

Get Maybelle to Ellen Tote:  This tote has been designed by the uber talented Ms Curly Pops and features the television logo (as pictured above).  It’s a great product that not only helps raise money but it’s also really handy.  Especially if you live in the Australian Capital Territory where they’ve outlawed plastic shopping bags!

Straight Donation: If you’re so inclined you can donate cash straight to the cause through a bank transfer or through paypal.  This is a great option if you’d like to host a morning tea for her, or have a bake sale at work, or organise a local event – anything you can think of to help raise some cash.

Let’s Get Maybelle to Ellen Facebook Page: This page has been set up to try and help spread the word and get the attention of the Ellen Show.  It costs nothing, but means the world, to click a ‘like’ on the page and help raise the numbers.

If you can think of another way to raise some funds for Maybelle or maybe an original way to try and get the attention of The Ellen Show I’d love to hear about it.  Participating in this fundraising activity is something really simple that can make a huge difference in someone’s life.  If you can, it would be wonderful if you did.

Be sure to come back on Friday, I’m going to dedicate this week’s Friday Fancy to showcasing some of the amazing items that have been donated to the Maybelle Auction.