Love for Levi ♥
The idea of Love for Levi originated when we had the intention of doing something special for 'Supernatural' actor Jensen Ackles that we could present to him in person. The wonderful thing about the SPN family is how loyal and passionate they are, which we've seen a lot in the last year+, with outpourings of support for the Always Keep Fighting (AKF) campaign, GISHWHES, and Random Acts organization. There had been a few surprises at recent SPN conventions for Jared's AKF campaign, and a lot of love and well wishes for Misha following the incident in Minneapolis this year.
At that point, I felt it was time to do something special for Jensen. I didn't want to purchase a gift or material item, but instead come up with something that would make a difference, so I considered what charities or projects fans could raise money for. Something Jensen has been very passionate about and dedicated to over the years is the Down Syndrome Guild of Dallas, as Jensen's nephew Levi was born with Down syndrome. The DSG of Dallas helps to support children with this disease. While family, friends and fans of the Ackles family are able to donate to Team Levi (for the buddy walk) annually, it still felt like it would be a beautiful gesture to raise money for a cause that he cared so much about.
As I read more about Down syndrome, it touched my heart even more deeply than I expected; for instance, the life expectancy of an individual with Down syndrome is still substantially shorter than that of the average male or female, and there are a ton of health complications associated with Down syndrome as well. Eventually we had several other people approach us expressing an interest in donating time and/or money to this cause.
While we have set our goal at $5,000 to be realistic, we don't want to stop there. We would absolutely love to exceed our goal by a longshot and we will do whatever we can to make it happen!
Please note that GoFundMe does have a few small fees associated with donations (as most fundraising websites do), but because I don't want to take away from the cause, I'm going to try my best to contribute the money to each donation made to make up for those fees. None of the proceeds will go towards fundraising materials (e.g. website costs, etc.); all fundraising materials will be paid for out of my own pocket.
Any donations that are made will be presented to Jensen at SPN MinnCon 2016. We will be coming up with a way for each person that donates to write a message to Jensen if they would like to. Please see our website for additional details on the plan we have in mind.
Disclaimer: Photo credit to Down Syndrome Guild of Dallas . Please note that we are in no way associated or in contact with Jensen Ackles or his family. See above to learn how we plan on presenting the donations to him.
At that point, I felt it was time to do something special for Jensen. I didn't want to purchase a gift or material item, but instead come up with something that would make a difference, so I considered what charities or projects fans could raise money for. Something Jensen has been very passionate about and dedicated to over the years is the Down Syndrome Guild of Dallas, as Jensen's nephew Levi was born with Down syndrome. The DSG of Dallas helps to support children with this disease. While family, friends and fans of the Ackles family are able to donate to Team Levi (for the buddy walk) annually, it still felt like it would be a beautiful gesture to raise money for a cause that he cared so much about.
As I read more about Down syndrome, it touched my heart even more deeply than I expected; for instance, the life expectancy of an individual with Down syndrome is still substantially shorter than that of the average male or female, and there are a ton of health complications associated with Down syndrome as well. Eventually we had several other people approach us expressing an interest in donating time and/or money to this cause.
While we have set our goal at $5,000 to be realistic, we don't want to stop there. We would absolutely love to exceed our goal by a longshot and we will do whatever we can to make it happen!
Please note that GoFundMe does have a few small fees associated with donations (as most fundraising websites do), but because I don't want to take away from the cause, I'm going to try my best to contribute the money to each donation made to make up for those fees. None of the proceeds will go towards fundraising materials (e.g. website costs, etc.); all fundraising materials will be paid for out of my own pocket.
Any donations that are made will be presented to Jensen at SPN MinnCon 2016. We will be coming up with a way for each person that donates to write a message to Jensen if they would like to. Please see our website for additional details on the plan we have in mind.
Disclaimer: Photo credit to Down Syndrome Guild of Dallas . Please note that we are in no way associated or in contact with Jensen Ackles or his family. See above to learn how we plan on presenting the donations to him.
Organizer
Kendall Halvorson
Organizer
Eagan, MN