Hello, everyone, and Happy Holidays!

Just wanted to take a few minutes to update everyone on our fundraising efforts and to talk about the new aStore link you can see at the end of the menu on top of this page.

Generous friends, family, and strangers continue to step up to the plate and contribute their time, clicks, and money to Anikka’s cause. Thanks to all of you kind-hearted people, Anikka’s surgery fund passed the $1500 mark last night! We estimate that the total costs associated with the procedure (2-3 operations, plus travel to/from NYC, etc.) will run in the $20-30,000 range and our goal is to raise about half that total through this site. That means that, in just over one week, you’ve already helped us get 10% closer to the mark. Again, thank you all!

A small portion of the $1500 raised so far was generated through the Amazon.com search box located in the lower-right corner of the screen. Every time somebody orders an Amazon.com product through that link, Amazon.com pays a commission that, of course, goes toward Anikka’s fund. Right now, that rate is about 4%, but the great thing about system is that the commission percentage increases as more and more people purchase through our site!

To try to leverage Amazon.com’s generous associate program even more, we created the aStore for this site and filled it with some of Ani’s favorite books, movies, and music available on Amazon. Purchasing any of those items is yet another way people can help that doesn’t cost them an extra dime. After all, if you plan to buy one of these books, CDs, or movies anyway, why not do it here knowing that some of the money you pay will go to a good cause? Better yet, Amazon.com is tacking on an extra 4% commission to anything purchase through an aStore through the end of the year. It’s win-win!

Thank you again for all your support!

The Playstation 3 auction ended this afternoon and provided a fantastic start to our fund raising efforts. The winning bid was $905, which, after our costs and the ebay fees, adds about $220 to the fund! Thank you for your winning bid, CyberPhoneMan!

In addition to the successful auction, Farkers everywhere opened their hearts and wallets and offered several donations through the Make a Donation links on this site. In the 24 hours after the auction link was greenlighted on Fark.com, we received over $650 in gifts from Farkers! While we’d love to publicly thank them all for their support, several of them requested to remain anonymous and we will, of course, honor their wishes. Others, however, are gratefully listed on our Donors page.

Finally, even those who weren’t able to contribute monetarily to Ani’s fund did what they could to help. Several people offered their heart-felt support, many people posted Anikka’s story on their own pages or in other forums, and still others made Amazon.com purchases through our search box (bottom of the sidebar on the right). The commissions earned there, in combination with the Google AdSense revenue earned through clicks on our various advertisements, added another $74.30 to the account. All told, Farkers contributed $950 toward Anikka’s surgery in just two days!
Thank you all very much for your generosity and support!

Good news!

We just stumbled on a Playstation 3 and will auction it off on ebay to help jumpstart Anikka’s surgery fund! Click HERE or browse over to ebay and search for item number 250057945797 to bid right now!

Help give Anikka (and yourself) a Merry Christmas! The auction ends tomorrow afternoon, and 100% of the proceeds will go directly into Anikka’s surgery fund.

Thanks for your support!

This is Anikka Bella (or Anibella, for short). Beautiful, isn’t she?

Anikka was born with a large, brown birthmark called a congenital nevus. Essentially, it’s like a big mole present at birth, only much larger than normal and, in Ani’s case, covering a large portion of her left cheek.

As Anikka’s parents, we’ll do everything and anything we can to make sure that Anikka has every opportunity in life. Unfortunately, in a society that places so much emphasis on physical appearance, we know that a large birthmark in such a prominent location presents sizable roadblocks for our daughter. In addition to the psychological issues, some studies have shown a link between congenital nevi and an increased chance of developing a malignant melanoma. With all this in mind, one thing is abundantly clear: the nevus has to go. Read the rest of this entry »