As two grateful families recently discovered, you don’t need to be a professional fundraiser to 为麦克莱恩筹集资金.
在医院在线DonorDrive平台的支持下, the Smith and Merhige families turned their passion for helping those with mental illness into dollars supporting McLean’s mission.
以积极而有意义的方式, 这两个家庭, 还有更多, are embracing the idea of community fundraising and creating impact in the process.
If you have questions about sponsoring a campaign, please visit DonorDrive or 电子邮件本
有机筹款让记忆永存
给乔治·史密斯和他的家人, raising money for McLean was a way to honor his brother Andrew, who died in 2011 after struggling for years with schizophrenia. 2016年，史密斯夫妇为麦克莱恩提供了初始资金 WellSpace 程序, which offers support and education to young adults who have experienced episodes of psychosis.
“One of the things we realized about Andrew was how desperately lonely he was during his illness. WellSpace fosters a sense of community in a welcoming and organic way,乔治说.
The Smiths have continued to support WellSpace since its founding, both with individual donations and by raising money among friends and family. The occasional group walks and email fundraising campaigns they fostered “have brought people who cared about Andrew together around a common cause,乔治说。. “Raising money for WellSpace has been a way for our family to keep Andrew’s memory alive.”
随着去年麦克莱恩的DonorDrive平台的推出, the Smiths found that raising money for the hospital was “much easier than doing it on our own,乔治说. So easy, in fact, that the family was able to raise more than $15,000 for WellSpace in a few months.
The new platform simplifies the entire fundraising process—from helping fundraisers create a personal campaign page to tracking those who have donated. “DonorDrive对麦克莱恩来说是件大事，”乔治说. “It was easy to set up, easy to use, and easy for those who donated.”
乔治和凯蒂·史密斯
The Smiths plan to continue using the platform to raise money for WellSpace.
“有机, personal fundraising is a wonderful way to ensure that those who loved Andrew are honoring and remembering him,乔治说.
“We’ve created a social network around talking about Andrew and the challenges he faced while also raising money for an important cause.”
有影响力的派对
The Merhige family also latched on to the new platform post-pandemic when they decided it was time to take stock of and celebrate their good fortune after more than two years of navigating challenging times.
Members of the Merhige family have had their struggles with anxiety, 在大流行期间，这些问题变得更加严重.
One of their children participated in a McLean 程序—which had an “immediate impact” on him. “He embraced the 程序 and did very well,” said John Merhige.
贯穿他们孩子的挑战, John and his wife Mary-Michael were acutely aware that they were among the fortunate ones. “就像我们家在挣扎一样, we knew we were blessed to be able to get our kids the help they needed. Too many families don’t have that ability,玛丽-迈克尔说.
By the fall of 2022, the Merhiges’ “boat of crisis had steadied. It was still rocking, 但 we were starting to feel human again,” Mary-Michael said. “我们准备好一起庆祝我们的生活, 同时也意识到我们经历了一场巨大的考验.”
After much discussion—and with their three teenagers’ enthusiastic buy-in—the family decided to host a “120-Year Celebration” to commemorate 约翰和玛丽-迈克尔’s 50th birthdays and their 20th wedding anniversary (50-50-20).
“We knew we wanted to have a party, so we decided, ‘let’s have a party with impact,’” John said. In lieu of gifts, the Merhiges asked partygoers to donate to McLean.
他们是最早使用麦克莱恩的DonorDrive平台的家庭之一, 默希夫妇在这方面取得了巨大的成功.
他们筹集了超过13美元,000元给医院, targeted specifically at assisting families without resources to obtain help. 同样重要的是，他们提高了人们对心理健康的认识.
约翰和玛丽-迈克尔 Merhige at their “120-Year Celebration”
“当你浏览我们的捐赠页面时, 很多人都写了衷心的留言, 感谢我们如此坦诚,玛丽-迈克尔说. “对我们来说, our personal fundraising effort was about acknowledging the challenges and loneliness families face when dealing with mental health challenges.”
在九月一个美丽的秋夜, 约翰和玛丽-迈克尔, 还有很多朋友和家人, 跟着一支三人爱尔兰乐队跳舞, 集体深吸一口气, 这是几个月来第一次庆祝.
正如玛丽·迈克尔在充满希望和乐观的祝酒词中所说的那样, “我们要感谢你们的支持——不仅仅是为了我们, 但, 向外看, for those kids whose families may not have the resources to help them.”
你想不想开个派对, 跑马拉松, 尊重所爱之人的奋斗, 纪念一个生命, 提高认识, 或者只是以有意义的方式支持麦克莱恩, the DonorDrive platform allows you to organize your community-based fundraising with ease, all while advancing McLean’s mission to improve the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness.
访问 DonorDrive 今天开始一场运动.
