About Me

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Palatine, Illinois
Deedles Photography began after a few visits to the local studio with Addison. Addison is a very special child with Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy due to the severe brain damage she suffered as a result of her extreme prematurity. Deanna and her family found it very difficult to get priceless memories in a studio setting due to Addison’s physical limitations and increased risk of contracting an illness. That’s when Deanna became interested in photography – she desperately wanted to capture those memories for her family! Deedles Photography specializes in many captured memory areas, including but not limited to, maternity, child portraiture, special events and engagement sessions. Deanna is working towards her accreditation through the Special Kids Photography of America association and she hopes to capture your special child’s memories!
Showing posts with label Non-profit organizations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Non-profit organizations. Show all posts

Saturday, November 13, 2010

November - Prematurity Awareness Month


Prematurity Awareness Month
 
543,000 babies (1 in 8) are born prematurely each year.

Premature birth is the number 1 killer of newborns.

Premature babies cost ten times more than healthy babies.
Every year, more than half a million babies are born prematurely in the United States.
Premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death worldwide. Even babies born just a few weeks too soon can face serious health challenges and are at risk of lifelong disabilities. Premature birth costs society more than 26 billion a year.
The March of Dimes works different channels of influence to reduce premature birth rates. One way is to raise public awareness of the serious issue and to invest in education of moms-to-be and health care providers. To create awareness, March of Dimes has designated November as Prematurity Awareness Month.



Featured in this post is my sweet daughter, Addison.  Addison and her twin brother Riley were born at 24 weeks and 6 days, weighing much less than two pounds each. Addison was strong for such a tiny, critically ill baby; however, Riley was simply too small and far too sick to survive – he passed away after four short hours.  Addison just turned three years old and is a bright, bubbly little girl with a passion for life and learning.   




Deedles Photography is available for portraiture sessions for your special needs child!  Whether you are looking to capture your child's birthday memories or looking to celebrate their life - contact Deedles Photography today! Rates can be found under the Portraiture post or by contacting deedlesphotography@gmail.com.  

Thursday, October 14, 2010

$72 Million

While driving with Addison to the ER this morning I noticed that the lottery is up to $72 million.  I started thinking about what I would do with $72 million and here it goes…
1.       $1M       Pay off debt, pay off another special needs/preemie family’s debt with the remainder
2.       $10M     Start a trust for Addison so she will always be taken care of when we are gone
3.       $1M       Donation to March of Dimes
4.       $1M       Donation to Children’s Memorial Hospital
5.       $1M       Donation to the Ronald McDonald House
6.       $1M       Donation to Arlington Pediatric Therapy Center
7.       $1M       Donation to revamp hundreds of playgrounds (or more) to completely accessible
8.       $1M       Donation to Infant Loss Support & Research
9.       $500K    Donation to CMH NICU to provide free support groups for families, free activities, welcome gift for all babies, huge stock of bereavement gowns and micro preemie outfits, huge stock of clothes, blankets, hats, booties and more!
10.   $1M       Write random checks to various friends and family (and even a few strangers) to help their situations
11.   $250K    Donation to Hydrocephalus Support & Research
12.   $250K    Donation to Cerebral Palsy Support & Research
13.   $250K    Donation to Epilepsy Support & Research
14.   $250K    Donation to Down Syndrome Support & Research
15.   $500K    Donation of 10+ accessible vans to families in need
16.   $10M     Start the non-profit “Addy’s Attic” which would provide basic items to NICU families in need (cribs, mattresses, blankets, diapers, formula etc.), it would also serve as a lending place for adaptive equipment and communication devices for Special Needs children
17.   $10M     Expand Addy’s Attic to include several studios that provide free professional photography services for Special Needs families
18.   $20M     Build a state of the art house for my family to include a therapy room, indoor therapy pool, fitness center (for moms!), adjoining bedrooms with a retractable wall so that we can be together when Addy is ill, accessible playground in the back yard, remembrance garden for Riley and more!
19.   $1M       Donation to as many non-profits as possible – Autism, Alzheimer’s, Diabetes, Breast Cancer, and more!
20.   $1M       Buy my wife her Mini Cooper and her Mercedes!  (And get a couple state of the art accessible vehicles for our family)
21.   Remainder          Make some investments, hire a chef to cook healthy meals three times a day, hire a driver, hire a full time nanny for the dogs, hire a personal trainer, go shopping and travel the world with my family and share our story!
What would you do? 
Please leave a comment - I would love to know!
P.S.  Guess you gotta play to win!  LOL