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Saturday, April 21, 2007

Calling all Do-gooders . . .

I have been described as cynical, pompous, ill-mannered, self-important, self-serving, acerbic, overbearing, arrogant, and surly. (And that was just in the last birthday card I got from my mother.) I don't deny it, but I would like to point out that I do have at least two soft spots. One is for Kristen Chenoweth, who keeps ignoring my phone calls, by the way. (Don't make me go all "Alec Baldwin" on your voice mail, kitten!) The other is for kids with personality (just not too much.)
Well, today I heard about this little guy in Canada who is battling with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia or A.L.L. and has decided that, while conquering his disease, he also wants to take on a Guinness World Record. His name is Shane Bernier, and it seems that Shane has a birthday coming up at the end of May, his 8th birthday, to be specific. Shane would like to beat the current world record for number of birthday cards received before his next birthday, which is May 30th. (Thanks to Jamie Tolen for the info on that.)
Now, I checked out the story in case it was a hoax (cynical, remember?), and it's legit. Shane needs to get 350 million cards to beat the current record. I think we can do that, don't you?
So, here's a link to the webpage about this, but there aren't a lot of details. Jamie said something to me about "no home-made cards," and I don't know whether the cards ought to have separate postmarks, or if you and your friends can throw several in a box and mail them all together. My suggestion would be to err on the side of caution and mail your "store-bought" cards individually. This kid's facing the possibility of a bone marrow transplant. Spring for the stamp, jerky! (Nobody's ever going to confuse me with Danny Thomas, are they?) If the thought of knocking out a world record doesn't quite float your boat, then try this on for size: in an interview, little Shane said that seeing his name written on paper brings him joy. (I've got you now, don't I?)
Here's the address in case the link doesn't work:

Shane Bernier
Box 484
Lancaster Ontario
CANADA
K0C 1N0

This has been a long week for the world, folks, and I don't know about you, but I could sure do with spreading a little sunshine, how about you?
For those of you who are so inclined, Shane's favorite thing in the whole world is legos. Of course it's Canada, so it might be legoos. (I'm a bad, bad person . . .)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Brady,
I also read (I'm cynical too I guess) that Shane opens every envelope and reads the ones that are written in French (his mother and grandparents read the English ones to him). So if you know French...
Thanks for sharing this.
Kathleen