Oprah

sent a letter to oprah today, we'll see...

Brett won a custom badge

Brett won a custom designed badge for being the top fundraiser this week. It has his picture and says causeshare superstar. Very cool!

Ryan's Well

http://www.ryanswell.ca/Took the kids and Aiden to the Guildford Library to see the short film about Ryan's Well. We were the only people there to see it. The foundation was started by a 7 year old trying to earn $70 to over a million dollars and countless lives changed. It was so touching and inspiring. I felt like it was about Brett and saw what an impact he is making already. Made a connection with Salisha who offered to help spread the word about Brett's project. And the woman from the library told us to hang a poster there.

Ellen

Just submitted Brett's story to the Ellen show. They are taking stories from kids under 11 with any kind of talent. I had been thinking about it, but my cousin Rene suggested I do it this morning, so I did.

Night of Songs

What an amazing night! They raised over $850 in donations for Lifestraw! Brett went up on stage before intermission and spoke. He was up there on crutches because he twisted his ankle an hour before we weer supposed to leave for the show, so he looked extra pathetic. Matt, Johnny and Hannah were great with him and let him sit back stage for the first half of the show. We set up a table with his poster, straws, almanac, and powerpoint on Bill's laptop and he had cards to hand out with his info on them.
When they gave him the mike he stood there for a minute with it, said "HI", everyone answered him with Hi's and applause, then he stands there for a second and says "make some noise" so everyone screams and claps for him. He said very slowly and clearly, "Thank you all for coming tonight, you helped us a lot and by us I mean, children in Africa and Haiti" You could hear girls saying he's so cute, and some said it right behind Skylar. She turned around quickly with a big proud smile and said "That's my brother"

Causeshare Blog on Brett

http://blog.causeshare.com/

Circus

When Matt Gregory called to ask Brett if he could come to the Hand High School Night of Songs, he didn't hestitate to choose it over going to the circus for the first time.
The Hartmanns bought our tickets from us so we got tickets for Saturday's show.

Pressure

When I told Brett that he got an invitation from the Essex Rotary Club to present at a dinner meeting at the Essex Yacht Club, he said "Why did I even start this?" I asked him what he meant, and he said he was feeling "pressure". I told him I understood how he was feeling and that it was OK to feel that way. I asked if he was feeling pressure about tomorrow night at the High School and he quickly said, "No". So I said then don't worry about anything because we have nothing planned for after that. The dinner could be sometime in the future, if he wants to do it. I need to keep the pace at one thing at a time, so he does not feel overwhelmed. Thinking the High School will give him confidence and momentum.

Phone Interview with Cause Share

Dave Adams called Brett after school today to talk to him and ask him some questions about his project. He will be featuring Brett on their blog. We thought it was going to be a Skype interview so Brett changed into a nice shirt and got ready to sit down at the table. But, when dave called he wanted to stay on the phone which ended up being much better for Brett so he could walk around while he talked. He did a great job answering all of the questions, some he has given before, some were new. I video taped it, am anxious to see how it came out.

Call from Matt

Matt Gregory called today, he got my number from Sue, and told me that each year the high school has a Night Of Song which they use to donate ticket sales to a charity. This year they decided to pick Brett's Project after Matt shared Brett's website with his group and their teacher. His mother had heard about him at Global Awareness Day and passed his info to Matt.
He asked if Brett could be there Thursday night, and I said of course. But, when I got off the phone I realized it was the night we had our tickets to the circus. When I told Brett everything, he didn't hesitate to say he would rather go to the high school.
The girls weren't so quick to agree, they would rather go to the circus. Abby even said "I wish you never started this thing Brett". But we will try to get tickets for another day.
When I spoke to Matt's mother later, she said they were so impressed with hm at church and that they are still talking about him.

Brett won a dozen roses

Today we got an email from causeshare.com saying that Brett's cause received the most donations this week, so he won a dozen roses that he could send to anyone he wanted.
When I told him the good news, he said he would send some to Grandma, some to Poppy, some to Uncle Chris...and then I told him they all have to go to one person. Not sure who yet...