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Shadow Buddies 4th Annual Golf Classic
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Shadow Buddies Homecoming
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On December 21st, just as the holiday season kicked into high gear, Shadow Buddy Superstar Tony Gonzalez hosted Shop with a Jock, a program offering underprivileged and homeless children the opportunity to bond with professional athletes and go shopping for the holidays. Tony was joined by his Falcons teammates as the athletes accompanied children served by Atlanta Mission, which offers six emergency housing shelters in the metro, for an unforgettable shopping experience. Held this year at Wal-Mart in Suwanee, Georgia (3245 Lawrenceville Suwanee Rd.), more than 30 children from Atlanta Mission were given a meal, drinks and dessert, courtesy of Wal-Mart. Children also received a $100 gift card, courtesy of Wal-Mart and the Tony Gonzalez Foundation, to spend while shopping with their own Atlanta Falcons personal shopper. Of course, children also received backpacks filled with overnight supplies and a Tony Gonzalez Shadow Buddy doll, courtesy of the Shadow Buddies Foundation!
Shop with a Jock reflects Tony's desire to build life-long foundations for understanding, tolerance and compassion for young and old. The 2011 holiday season marked the tenth year Tony has sponsored Shop with a Jock; this is the third year the program has been held in Atlanta. The program is designed to bring joy to children in crisis during the holiday season by giving them the chance to have a warm meal and purchase gifts for themselves or their family members. The day offers a break from the realities of homelessness and uncertainty that many of these children face every day. Thanks to Jim Barber of ATL Nightlife, Wal-Mart in Suwanee and the Falcons for supporting such a great program!
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DUSTIN KELLER VISITS WOODHULL MEDICAL CENTER IN BROOKLYN
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New York Jets Tight End Dustin Keller took time off from his busy game schedule to hand-deliver Dustin Keller Shadow Buddies to children at Woodhull Medical Center in Brooklyn. Held on December 27th, Dustin spent time playing with the children and autographing his Dustin Keller Buddies for children. Thanks to Dustin's donations, the Shadow Buddies Foundation was able to provide him with 200 Buddies for Woodhull's kids! As is evidenced by the photos, Dustin was a huge hit!
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The Shadow Buddies Foundation proudly welcomes the newest “Buddy” to our family!
In partnership with  , The Shadow Buddies Foundation is happy to bring you the Breakfast Buddy Blend, a new coffee creation from the Roasterie in downtown Kansas City.
This hometown brew is sure to help you meet the day with its soft caramel notes and full-flavored, smooth taste. Order yours today for just $12.42 per 12oz. bag by clicking on the label or link below!
http://www.theroasterie.com/coffee/causes/shadow-buddies-foundations-breakfast-buddy-blend//
Plus, 10% of all sales go back to your friends at the Shadow Buddies Foundation!
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Photos from SBF 16th Birthday Bash!
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Check out your photos from our "Shadow Buddies 16th Birthday Bash" at Shutterfly, http.//shadowbuddies16thbirthdaybash.shutterfly.com/.
You can receive one free 4x6 photo through Shadow Buddies, if ordered by October 1.
Email
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to let us know which photo you would like.
If you do not already have a Shutterfly account, you may open one and receive 50 free photos on your own.
Please call us at (913) 642-4646 if you have any questions.
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One of the most difficult things about being a child with a chronic condition is the isolation of being different. The loss of ability to function as a normal child - to run and play and skip and roughhouse - robs these children of normal lives and true friends. Family most certainly helps, but it's friends that share the fears and frustrations and confidences. Friends just like them.
 Shadow BuddiesTM have been designed to be both "The friend like me" and a teaching tool. Working with medical professionals, Shadow BuddiesTM have been designed as warm, huggable Buddies for boys and girls that take the place of friends who cannot be around when needed most. Shadow BuddiesTM are also condition specific, demonstrating anatomically the physical results of treating a particular condition.
Shadow Buddies TM may be used as a psychological bridge to span the gap between treatment and awareness. When seen first on their "Buddy", a scar, catheter or even a stoma has far less impact. A teaching tool as well, Shadow Buddies TM are useful as a means of demonstrating basic care.
Shadow Buddies TM help children, their siblings and family cope with their condition. This in turn makes it easier for health professionals to provide appropriate, successful treatment.
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 Click here to watch a 7 minute video of the Shadow Buddies story
On the left hand of each Shadow Buddy is a special mark, a child's thumbprint. The thumbprint belongs to a very special person named Miles, the inspiration for Shadow Buddies. Here is the story behind the thumbprint as told by Miles mom, Marty Postlethwait.
Born prematurely with mid-line congenital birth defects, Miles was subjected to various procedures and operations from infancy. My life of mothering him was filled with long days (and nights) in the hospital rooms, doctors, offices and recovery waiting rooms.
When Miles was about four, I met him in the recovery room after a particularly long surgery and leaned over him, as mothers do, whispering his name, urging him awake, letting him know that I was there, that I loved him, and asking if he was okay. In the drugged half-sleep that still held him, I didn't know if he had heard me. Suddenly, a movement caught my eye beside his still form. It was a thumb-Miles' thumb-poking up from beneath the white sheets. It was his answer to my whispers, his sign to me that he heard me, and that yes, he was okay. Thumbs up. Everything was okay, Mom.
And so it became our sign, and now the sign of Shadow Buddies. Found on each Buddy's left hand is Miles' thumbprint, the special Shadow Buddy trademark, and every child who owns a buddy now owns a part of Miles as well.
It is fitting that his print is there, because it was Miles who came up with the idea for Shadow Buddies. As you might imagine, heart surgery can be a long, lonely ordeal. After one of his surgeries, Miles asked for a friend, someone just like me. Consequently, the first of the Buddies- the Heart Buddy- complete with scar and mended heart was born.
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