Welcome to the Chris Elliott Fund BLOG and our NEW Website, Phase 1!

This week, the Chris Elliott Fund launched our new website at www.ChrisElliottFund.org. Can you see me smiling?

I am smiling this morning, feeling very LUCKY, THANKFUL and thinking about the word “RECOGNITION”. Let me tell you why.

Five weeks ago, the Chris Elliott Fund (CEF) received restricted funds/grant to be used exclusively for new website development and ongoing web support. There are lots of companies and agencies who provide these services, depending on where you are based. For example, search for “Web Design Cardiff” if you are looking for website design assistance in Cardiff and you’ll be sure to find many great companies.

Before the news of this grant, we would have had to consider planning and designing a web page ourselves to fall in line with our restricted budget. But this grant has changed all of that. With this kind of money, we will be able to invest in the ongoing stability of the new website which we are all sure our users will much appreciate. Utilizing services like Hostiserver will enable us to provide a reliable user experience to reduce frustrations on our site for our users. We hope that the fixes we make will have a lasting impact but with technology, we know we must be ready to adapt, whether that be with Sydney servers or with another overhaul down the line. This has been considered in budgeting decisions.

This funding was provided by Jim and Mona Edwards and Superior Steel. I’d like to take this moment to RECOGNIZE and THANK Jim, Mona and Superior Steel for this great gift. This gift is the kind of gift that the CEF desperately needs and the kind of gift that keeps giving. Why? This gift is the kind of gift that continues to live on through all of the brain tumor patients, caregivers, families, friends, donors, etc. who will visit the CEF website looking for help to not only end this disease but to survive this disease through education, awareness, advocacy and research. The Chris Elliott Fund is very lucky to be able to now offer more information, hope and strength to all who visit our website.

Of course, what’s $ and a desire to help brain tumor patients if you don’t have a GREAT web designer and web director! Let me RECOGNIZE and introduce you to ours – Nicholas Swanson. We are very LUCKY to have him on TEAM CEF and I highly recommend his work and dedication. THANK YOU NICHOLAS!

Seriously, can you see me smiling as I write this?!

I have to share one more cool thing that happened. Yesterday, another great gift was given to me while I was at the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce Luncheon mtg. listening to John Curley’s (host of King5’s Evening Magazine Show for 14 years and now the BEST auctioneer you can hire, www.johncurleyauctions.com) inspiring presentation, which lead to who do you know who is LUCKY and the word “RECOGNITION”.

He asked us to think about who do we know who is LUCKY, why are they lucky and why do we think of them as lucky. My first thought was “I’m lucky”. Some people, knowing my personal journey with my husband’s brain cancer, would be surprised to hear me say that, but it’s true. What I learned from John’s presentation yesterday, which was excellent, (RECOGNITION) is this:

People are not simply born lucky, but rather, the LUCKY one’s know the secret. Some know they know the secret and some don’t even know they know because it comes naturally to them. At this point, you might be asking yourself, what is she talking about?

The secret to being LUCKY is RECOGNITION. When you consistently go outside of yourself to take the time to RECOGNIZE others, which can take many many forms, like saying Thank You, buying the person in front of you a cup of coffee/”paying it forward”, hand writing a Thank You note, acknowleging others and really listening to their responses, shaking hands with strong eye contact and really meaning “Nice to meet you”, validating others, etc. Whatever form recognition takes, when you RECOGNIZE others, you are on your road to being LUCKY and here’s why:

The act of RECOGNIZING does not make one LUCKY but rather, the ACT OF RECOGNIZING OTHERS OPENS DOORS for you and/or your business. Think about that for a minute……who in your life RECOGNIZES you? Who do you RECOGNIZE?

This concept became clearer to me yesterday, when Deb Sogge, Executive Director of the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce, came up to me at the end of the meeting and said “Dellann, that is what the Chris Elliott Fund and you do so well. You RECOGNIZE people in our community as well as all the people who reach out to the CEF for help and hope. This is why you are successful”. I thanked Deb for what she said but it wasn’t until later in the day when I reflected on what she had said that I realized that, perhaps, she was right.

You see, Jim, Mona and Superior Steel – you know, the ones who just funded our new website, came to the Chris Elliott Fund and I 7+ years earlier when I had taken the time to RECOGNIZE one of Jim’s best friends, John Brace (JB), when he reached out for help from me because he had just been diagnosed with a Glioblastoma brain tumor. I, of course, was honored to help – JB is the first brain tumor patient, outside of my husband, that I/CEF ever helped. Not only that, JB is now a healthy awesome example of a true SURVIVOR of Glioblastoma brain cancer, www.gliosurvivors.org.

This is how LUCK and RECOGNITION works. I RECOGNIZED Jim’s request to meet and help JB and many years later when I stated that the CEF desparately needed a NEW website including a professional web director/designer, etc., he RECOGNIZED my request and told me about his son, Nicholas Swanson, who works in San Francisco and is a professional Web Director/Developer. He then introduced me to Nicholas and as you can see when you visit our website, www.ChrisElliottFund.org, this RECOGNITION turned into a beautiful partnership and a beautiful website that we are VERY PROUD of.

Yes, I am lucky. Many years ago, I reached out to John Curley at King5 asking him to do a story on Evening Magazine on my husband’s brain cancer journey and the creation of the Chris Elliott Fund in hopes of providing education and awareness about this disease. John RECOGNIZED that “Chris’ Story” could be his own story and although he could not do a story on CEF, he reached out and RECOGNIZED my request, told me that this is the story he reads when he finds himself thinking he is too busy for his kids….today, John Curley is not only our auctioneer of choice, but he is a valued Chris Elliott Fund Board member. We continually learn much from John and are LUCKY to have him associated with TEAM CEF! This is another example of how LUCK and RECOGNITION go hand in hand.

Yes, I am lucky and blessed. Enjoy our new website and I look forward to hearing what you think about it and may you be LUCKY in life and your work too!

On that note, the Chris Elliott Fund is currently seeking funding for or free office space. Maybe it will be my LUCKY day and someone who I have previously RECOGNIZED will reach back out to me with office space? WOW! Wouldn’t that be great! You never know know……Please contact me if you can help, [email protected].

Blessings,

Dellann Elliott
President & CEO
Chris Elliott Fund for Glioblastoma Brain Cancer Research