Ever since our daughter Ema was diagnosed, we always wanted to do our part to raise funds for the Rett Syndrome Research Trust, with the ultimate goal of helping to find a cure for Ema and the hundreds of thousands of girls like her. We’ve always had great admiration and respect for RSRT. With Monica Coenraads and Tim Freeman, both parents of daughters with Rett, we know RSRT cares as much as we do about getting to a cure. It was also important to us that RSRT is so efficient, with an average of 96% of funding going right to the research. So we knew the funds we would contribute would go to what matters most.
We contemplated many things to help support RSRT’s research. At the top of our list was doing a local benefit. But we are both very busy with work and three young children at home, so our time to arrange an event was limited. Then Tim asked us about doing a Rettgive campaign for Ema. He said it was simple to set up, and you could ask as many people as you want to donate. We thought this was a great way to begin contributing, and letting the rest of our family and friends know about Ema and to contribute as well. In a short amount of time, we came up with a webpage for Ema with the help of Tim that beautifully summed up our daughter and the steps needed to donate. We decided that a short video montage would be the best way to get our point across. And boy did it do the trick.
We were absolutely stunned by the outpouring of support from family, friends, colleagues, therapists, and teachers. Not only did they donate, but through the Rettgive platform, they were able to forward Ema’s page to other people who then, in turn, also donated. We were able to raise $13,161. This is extremely gratifying. We are humbled by the number of people who donated, including people we know and strangers. But the biggest accomplishment is that we were able to do our part in advancing Rett research, moving us closer to a cure for Ema and all the other girls and women with Rett. We strongly encourage other families out there to consider doing a RettGive campaign. It is easy and straightforward to set up, and there is no right or wrong way to do it. The only thing you need is your beautiful angel’s story to tell the world.
- Stuart & Lenka Offner
Inspired to start your own RettGive campaign? Get in touch with us today to get started!