NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

Mission Statement

At the October Board meeting, Jenny’s Light mission statement was refined to be shorter and more specific. The new mission statement reads as follows:

Our mission is to improve and save lives by increasing awareness of all perinatal mood disorders including postpartum depression.

In the Media

Mpls St. Paul Magazine
Jenny’s Light was featured in Mpls St. Paul’s November issue. The in depth article was the longest overview of our organization and has done an excellent job of increasing awareness in the Twin Cities area. Click here to view a copy of the article:

AOL

AOL featured a story on Becky Lavelle and Jenny’s Light in October, resulting in over 1,300 hits to our website (the second busiest day behind our perezhilton.com feature).

 

Lori & Julia Show Live Radio Coverage

Minneapolis/St. Paul’s 107.1 fm will feature a live interview with Becky Gibbs Lavelle during their November 19th show. Listen-in live from 3-6 pm CST at http://www.fm107.fm/.

 

Jenny’s Light Ad in Pregnancy Magazine

We have placed our first ad in order to spread awareness of perinatal mood disorders. The full page ad will be in the November/December issue of Pregnancy Magazine. Click here to see the entire article.  Thanks to Fallon Worldwide for designing the ad for us.

Blogs

Jenny’s Light is starting to be a topic on more and more mom blogs. As an example, our website featured increased hits as a result of the following recent post: http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/search?q=jennys+light. If you’re active in any relevant blogs, please post an entry about Jenny’s Light- it’s a great, easy way that you can help our organization!

Fundraisers & Outreach

Marin County Triathlon
Congratulations to Becky and Brian Lavelle who both won the Marin County Triathlon on October 26th.  Their first place finishes resulted in $10,000 for Jenny’s Light.  In addition, Race Director Mark Liebert is donating 1/3 of all race proceeds to our cause. Thank you, Mark, Becky and Brian!

 

Facebook
Jenny’s Light’s Causes page on facebook now has over 2,300 members and has raised over $1,300 in the past month. Our goal is to raise $5,500 by December to fund our first full-page ad in Pregnancy magazine. To see or join our page go to http://apps.facebook.com/causes/67472?m=c76971a8&recruiter_id=15061856

 

Billy Richmond
Billy Richmond completed the furnace creek 508 bike race and raised over $5000 for Jenny’s Light....way to go Billy and thank you!

Katie Porter
Jenny’s college friend Katie Porter raised $1200 for Jenny’s Light at a Macy’s sample sale in San Francisco. Thanks, Katie!


Twin Cities Marathon Cheer Zone
Karen Nowakowski and her friends won second place in the 2008 Twin Cities Marathon Cheer Zone contest; a competition to be the best cheering party on the course.  They earned $500 Jenny's Light for their efforts.  Thanks Karen and friends!

Thermals, onesies, kid's Tees and Long-Sleeve Tees Now Available!!

We have partnered with Gear West Bike & Triathlon to bring you our entire line of Jenny's Light clothing. We now have short-sleeve shirts in charcoal grey for $35.00 as well as long-sleeve shirts in black for $40. Jenny's Light gets 100% of the profit. You can help us raise money and spread the word not mention look cool. Long-sleeve thermals, onesies and kid's tees will be available soon! The short-sleeve shirt was featured in the October, 2008 issue of Glamour magazine as seen worn by Becky Lavelle below. Click here to order yours now!

Jenny's Light and Becky Gibbs Lavelle Featured in Glamour Magazine

There is a great article in the October issue of Glamour Magazine featuring Jenny's Light and Jenny's twin-sister and Glamour Hero Becky Lavelle. The article touches on how Becky is facing life with her twin sister and what Jenny's Light is doing to help others get help. This is a great source of exposure for our organization. The article is on pages 249-250.

This fall in a unique undertaking, Keith Shelly of Shelly Home Company who is a member of the Southern Living® Custom Builder Program, is using the resources of his company to help Jenny's Light shine even brighter. Keith knew Jenny as she was his point of contact with Southern Living.

The Shelly Home team is remodeling the Alamo Heights location at 429 College Street into a Southern Living showcase home. Upon completion, this home will be open to the public with 100% of the proceeds from ticket donations benefiting Jenny's Light.

The open house dates are set for October 9-11 from 10-6pm and Sunday, October 12th from Noon-6pm.

Click here for a pdf of their promotional postcard.

Click here to see the Souther Living press release regarding this fundrasier.

Please visit his website for more details at shellyhomecompany.com Thank you Keith!!

 

 

 

 

Marin County Triathlon Fundraiser

October 26, 2008

 

Jenny's Light is honored to be one of three charities benefitting from this fundraiser. They are giving some great prizes to people who help raise money through their website.

 

Just some of the prizes you can win by fundraising are: A $5,000.00 cash certificate from Toyota Marin off any new Toyota at below their dealer invoice, Sports Basement $25, $50 and $100 Gift Certificates, Larkspur Hotels deluxe lodging, fabulous restaurant dining, REI Gift Certificates, coffee machines for your home, and much, much more.

 

A big thanks goes out to Mark Liebert, founder and executive director of this awesome event.

 

Please click here for more information about this fundraiser.

 

Click here for the event website and general information.

 

Board of Directors News

501(c)(3) Status
It's official... Jenny's Light received notification from the IRS this week that we have been granted 501 (c) (3) public charity status! Therefore, contributions to Jenny's Light are officially deductible and we are qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises and transfers of gifts. Thanks to all of the board members who worked to accomplish this.

 

Leadership Changes
The Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Randy Gibbs has been named Executive Director of Jenny's Light. Randy is Jenny's brother. He currently lives in Hopkins, MN and has become one of the few male leaders in the post partum depression awareness cause. Randy is a service technician for the US Ski Team and the coach of a junior ski program.

 

Karen McCarren has been named President of the Board of Directors. Karen is a lifelong friend of the Gibbs family. She grew up swimming with Jenny and went on to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Clinical Science and Masters Degree in Physical Therapy from Ithaca College. Karen enjoys spending time with her husband and two young boys.

 

To see bios of all other Board of Directors members go to http://jennyslight.org/about-us-leaders.cfm.

 

 

Fundraisers & Outreach

  • Billy Richmond (of San Jose , CA and good friend of Becky Gibbs Lavelle) will be racing the Furnace Creek 508 on Oct 4-5th... that's 508 miles of biking continuously in Death Valley with 35,000 feet of climbing! Track him at www.the508.com and please send him some positive vibes! He hopes to finish in under 36 hours and has already raised over $5,000 for Jenny's Light.
  • Lindsay Agostini finished Ironman Wisconsin and raised over $4,000 for Jenny's Light! Thank you, Lindsay!

Seeking Volunteers
In order to ramp up our initiatives and outreach, Jenny's Light is seeking volunteers to help with the following committees. If you're interested in helping with any of the programs below (even if you only have a few hours to give), please email Alison.hankins@jennyslight.org.

Public Relations & Communications Committee
Committee Chair: Alison DeWall Hankins

We will work to increase awareness of Jenny's Light and perinatal mood disorders through media outreach, brochure and educational content development and communications plans. Volunteers will have the option of helping with press releases, contacting media, writing educational pieces, or other communications pieces.

 

Fundraising Committee
Committee Chairs: Becky Gibbs Lavelle and Kari Strauman
We are currently working on planning a Jenny's Light 5K Fun Run in Los Gatos, CA (March 2009) and Wayzata, MN (May 2009). We are looking for volunteers in both cities to help with organization, promotions, sponsorships and race day events.


Community Outreach and Clinical Programming Committee

Committee chairs: Nicole Kustermann, Karen McCarren and Jesse Kuendig

 

  • Community Outreach Sub-Committee:
    We will focus on pursuing and implementing programs in the community to increase awareness of perinatal mood disorders, combat the myths of motherhood, and confront the stigma of mental illness. We will develop and sustain a list of community resources for expectant and postpartum women. And, we will organize speaking engagements at fairs and other public events.
  • Universal Screening Sub-Committee:
    We will focus on creating partnerships with local hospitals to design and implement a universal screening program to detect and treat persons at risk for, or already suffering from a perinatal mood disorder
  • Provider Training/Education Committee:
    We will work to improve knowledge and awareness of perinatal mood disorders and build a referral network of appropriate qualified providers for women in need. We will also establish contacts at local medical schools and implement speaking engagements for medical students and faculty.
Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine

Make sure to pick up the November issue of Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine. It includes a 5,000+ word feature story on Jenny's Light.

 

Feedback

Over the past few months, Jenny's Light has been flooded with emails of support from mothers, families and clinicians who appreciate all that we're working for. We'll include an email or two in the newsletter each month.

Hi, Becky - I just wanted to tell you how touched I was when I ran into your article, quite by accident. I believe it was in a Glamour magazine in my nail salon. I immediately wrote down your website. As a professional counselor and a mother, the senselessness of your tragedy broke my heart. As you already know, the stigma surrounding mental health issues is so hard to move beyond. Organizations like yours bring a miraculous amount of support, education, and hope for so many women.

Thank you again for all you're doing. There is no doubt in my mind that your work is saving lives everyday, whether you know it or not. I am really anxious for those t-shirts to come out! I plan to order one for myself, and more for friends.

Thank you again ~