New features on TeamBretMichaels and more
Hey everyone,
My name is Christine, PoisonCris to the longtime fans or CrissyPie to those who follow me on Twitter. As a member of Team BMB and Team Bret Michaels for the last fifteen years I have learned so much about Bret Michaels and the person he is. He’s more than just a rock star, entertainer or just a businessman. He is all of those things combined and a whole lot more.
This site, TeamBretMichaels.com is meant to focus on that more part. It’s about all the causes he supports and issues that he wants to raise awareness about. It’s about finding cures and connecting people with other people and being an inspiration for everyone. It’s also about promoting a healthy lifestyle, an active lifestyle and being an example of living life to the fullest.
The many causes Bret supports include diabetes, heart disease, childhood cancer, adult cancers, military charities and pet charities. There are, of course, many more organizations and causes that Bret Michaels and the Life Rocks Foundation have helped and will continue to help. We get thousands of charity requests, big and small, every month. We can’t always participate or oblige every request. TeamBretMichaels.com was created, in part, to help spread the word about those many charitable fundraisers and events, and we are working sharing the information with all of our readers.
Currently we share your stories of hope and encouragement, living life to the fullest and stories from some of the people that we have directly helped. The community calendar page will be debuting soon to share your activities and events surrounding causes such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, autism, and other community events that promote health and wellness. Be sure to check back soon for more information on submitting your event†.
Another fun section of TeamBretMichaels.com is for kids, camp counselors and teachers, and families to help us spread the messages and goals of Team Bret Michaels and the Bret Michaels Life Rocks Foundation. There’s a section called “Flat Bret” and you can print out Bret, cut him out and take him with you to camp, on vacation or even to walks and events for the causes you support. We’ll share your “Flat Bret” adventures with our TeamBretMichaels.com readers. You can print it out and color it and the awareness bracelets to match your cause or event. Information about “Flat Bret” and submitting your photos is available at TeamBretMichaels.com in the menu bar under “Flat Bret.”
Thank you all for reading the stories and sharing your stories so far at TeamBretMichaels.com, we have many, many more stories to share and with your help we are working to build a site for everyone to not only share, but help make a difference in someone’s life.
On a personal note, aside from the causes listed above, there is one cause that means a whole lot to me personally and this time of year reinvigorates my desire to fight for this cause. April is Parkinson’s Awareness month. April has become a bittersweet month for me. Six years ago my Dad passed away. April is also my birthday month. My birthday is April 5 and in 2007 on April 20, my Dad passed away – hence the bittersweet feelings when my birthday rolls around mostly because the last email I got from my Dad was asking if I got my birthday care package. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him. In his last years he dealt with increasing tremors due to Parkinson’s disease. It didn’t slow him down too much, finding ways of keeping busy with woodcrafting after he retired. He didn’t give up on living even as the disease progressed further. I wish a cure could have kept him here on earth, but I know that I can make a difference by raising awareness and hopefully helping to find a cure in the near future. With Parkinson’s there is much more than just taking medicine or getting check-ups, there is the care involved by family and loved ones, whose life is affected as well. My Mom was my Dad’s caregiver. She’s a role model, she’ always keeps moving and always has something going on.
In honor of my Dad I set up a Memorial Fund page at Parkinson.org as one of the ways I am helping to find a cure and raise awareness. It’s my story to share with the world that someone I love and miss dearly was taken by a disease that I want cured. It’s my tribute to my Dad, and my Mom, too.
In addition to the National Parkinson’s Foundation, there is the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. As with all causes there are a variety of charities to help fund research and help make a difference in the life of someone affected by Parkinson’s disease.
You can make a difference in the life of someone by sharing information and resources with everyone you know. No matter what your personal cause – diabetes, childhood cancer, Parkinson’s – the small part you can play in the big picture will make a difference.
There is one more cause that I support; it is the No Kid Hungry campaign. Ending childhood hunger in America is important to the future of this great nation and to ourselves. This campaign is an effort to make sure that no child goes without food and gets a healthy start in life. There are many ways to help and it includes going out to eat at participating restaurants in September or host a bake sale. Check out their web site for more ways that you can help.
Thank you all for sharing your stories, photos and inspiration with all of us at Team Bret Michaels. We are united in raising awareness, not matter what our personal cause may be.
For more information:
National Parkinson’s Foundation – http://www.parkinson.org
Herman M Ellis Jr. Memorial Page – http://www3.parkinson.org/goto/HermanMEllis
Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research – http://www.michaeljfox.org
No Kid Hungry – http://www.nokidhungry.org
Bret Michaels Life Rocks Foundation – http://www.liferocksfoundation.org
Team Bret Michaels – http://www.teambretmichaels.com
Donate to the Life Rocks Foundation – http://www.crowdrise.com/bretmichaelsliferocks
You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram and keep up all I do with Bret and learn a little about me, too. 🙂
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CreativelyMusical
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/crissypie @crissypie
Tumblr: http://crissypie.tumblr.com
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/crissypie1971 @crissypie1971
For Everything Bret Michaels:
http://www.bretmichaels.com (links to official social media pages are found here, too)
http://www.teambretmichaels.com
http://www.shopbretmichaels.com
†More information about the community calendar will be coming soon. We will review all submissions as best we can, however, it is up to you to verify the information we are passing along. Before donating to any cause you should be sure that it is legitimate and do your own research. As with all content, stories and information posted on TeamBretMichaels.com, we are not offering advice or endorsing any person or event – just sharing information. Before participating or donating to any event/person, it is important that you do your own research to make sure that it meets your expectations and that it is a legitimate charity or cause.