Inaugural recipient of the “A Mother’s Wish Foundation Prize in IBD Research” at Penn-Dr Wu

Hi Laura,

 

I’d like to share with you the terrific news that Nichole M. Belle, MD, PhD (cc’ed) https://www.pennmedicine.org/providers/profile/nicole-maloney-bellehas been chosen by the selection committee as the inaugural recipient of the “A Mother’s Wish Foundation Prize in IBD Research”. She is an outstanding young investigator studying important facets of intestinal epithelial and immune function related to IBD. Christian Hyde will be providing additional information about Nichole that you can share with the members of your Foundation. Nichole would be delighted to participate in your fund-raising event in the fall.

If you have any questions, please let me know and thanks again to you and your Foundation for the gift supporting this award program in IBD research for the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Best, Gary

 

——————

Gary D. Wu, MD

Ferdinand G. Weisbrod Professor in Gastroenterology

Director, Penn Center for Nutritional Science and Medicine

Co-Director, PennCHOP Microbiome Program

Co-Director, Center for Molecular Studies in Digestive and Liver Diseases

Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

915 BRB II/III, 421 Curie Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19104

 

Phone: 215-898-0158

Fax: 215-573-2024

 


A Mother’s Wish Second Annual 5KRun/Walk Oct 1st, 2022 at Heebner Park

 

CLICK HERE TO BE A SPONSOR →

 

 

We would FINALLY like to announce our “2nd annual” A Mother’s Wish 5k Run/Walk!  We have missed you all since our event in 2019 and cannot wait to run/walk with you again this year!  Please plan to join us on October 1st, 2022, so that we can work together to help the 10 million people living world-wide with Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis.

This event, which includes a 5K run and 1-mile walk, is a family-friendly day of giveaways, raffles, entertainment, refreshments and so much more!

 

 

When: Saturday, October 1st 2022

*Registration begins at 8:15 am

*Preston from WMMR https://wmmr.com/shows/preston-and-steve/ begins the fun at 8:50 am

*1 mile walk begins at 9:00 am  Heebner Park 1 Mile Course Map

*5K starts at 9:15 am!    AMW Heebner Park 5 K Route_

 

Where: Heebner Park, Worcester PA – 1721 Valley Forge Road, Collegeville PA 19426 https://www.worcestertwp.com/departments/parks-recreation/parks-trails/

 

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

Early Bird Registration Special ONLY $25 when you register before July 1 ,2022

$25 (ticket prices July 2 through September 30 – $30)

Race Day – $40

 

REGISTER YOURSELF & YOUR FAMILY HERE:

https://runsignup.com/Race/PA/Collegeville/AMothersWish5KRunWalk

 

Other GREAT Stuff: Family friendly, t shirt (register before 9/1 to guarantee yours!), refreshments, water stations, raffle baskets, prizes and SPECIAL GUEST Preston Elliot from 93.3 WMMR’s Preston & Steve show!

Stone Attic will be playing live music!http://www.stoneattic.com

 

 

CLICK HERE TO BE A SPONSOR:

https://forms.donorsnap.com/form?id=aae7e290-921d-494f-a005-dff926d3f1de

The race will be professionally timed by the Bryn Mawr Racing Co! Awards will be given to overall and age groups.

 

Stay tuned for more details but get your family registered NOW! We can’t wait to spend this special morning with you!

 

If you, or someone you know, would be interested in sponsoring this event, volunteering, or donating to our raffle, please send an email to amotherswish@comcast.net

 

Our Mission: A Mother’s Wish Foundation’s mission is to support families and fund research to find a cure for IBD. One way we are doing this is with an endowment to the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Through your generous donations, we are able to support the teams of doctors at PENN that are working tirelessly to both find a cure, and to improve medications and treatments to make a better life for all of those living with IBD.

Sincerely,

A Mother’s Wish Board Members

 

OUR AMAZING SPONSORS:

 

Friend Sponsors:

Jackie Adorno & Doug Carlson Team of Long & Foster Gold team logo 

Produce Junction-Matt Adorno https://www.producejunction.com/

Gary Waxman http://www.morgcpa.com/

David Swartz Carisma Auto Specialties http://Www.dents.repair

Crohnie :

Germantown Title Company http://germantowntitle.com

Bronze:

Windmill-Susan and Richard Tressider

DICCIANNI FINANCIAL GROUP INC https://dfgpa.com/

IN KIND DONATIONS:

Neil Suhre-Photographer

Preston Wilson-Emcee

Stone Attic-Band

Lori & Karl-Ocean City Beach Front Condo

Preston from WMMR

Charisma Auto Specialties

DONATIONS-THANK YOU!

Doug and Kate Marshall

Tom & Jamie’s wedding donations

Caryl Raport

Andrea Bristol

MaryAnn Kliamovich

Kathryn Head

Thomas Volpini III

Michael Donahue & Jacqueline Morrill

 

DONATIONS FOR OUR BASKETS:

Richard and Caryl Raport-Party Company

Dr. Gregory Hillyard-Oral B Electric toothbrush

TAP 24

LA BELLE EPOQUE Wine Bistro

Stephen’s on State

WIN Signature Restaurants

Iron Hill

Spasso Italian Grill

 

 

 

 


THANKS TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS HELPING US WITH OUR SECOND ANTI COVID GALA ONLINE AUCTION

We hope to be back in person to see you all soon. In the meantime, we can’t thank you enough for pivoting with us while we navigate the times we find ourselves in today.

We want to make a big shout out to our generous friends who donated to our 2021 fundraising efforts:

DONATIONS:

 

WMMR-Preston Elliot

Germantown Title- Dana Santangelo & Mari Gates

Diccianni Financial Group, Inc.

John & Molly Cartmill

Brother Efrain Rivera

Jacqueline Adorno

Patricia MacCorkle

Lauren $ Neil Suhre

Jacqueline Morrill

Kathryn Head

Catherine (Kit) McCarty

Maria Bialek

Renee Petersohn

Doreen O’Neill

National Collegiate Scouting Association

Sabrina Marsilio

Mary Ann Kliamovich

Marquette Associates

Maria Popp

 

 

 

TO OUR FRIENDS THAT HELPED MAKE OUR AMAZING BASKETS FOR THE AUCTION:

Susan & Charles Hoffmann-Italian Gourmet Basket

Lauren & Dimitri Gianneas-Gift card to Double Decker

Alicia Adorno Martinelli-Prive’ Salon at Wayne

Kim V. Heyman, Esq.-Luxury Soaps

Bala Judaica and Jewelry-Menorah Basket, earrings

Richard Raport-all the theme baskets

Lauren Suhre-Amelia Paris Gift Card

Colleen & Kevin Hopkins-Jo Malone Candle

Erica Scheer-Soccor

Marissa Magnatta-Philly items

John Brazier-Phillies Basket

 

 

 

 


WORLD IBD DAY MAY 19TH

Today, A Mother’s Wish Foundation, along with all of you, celebrates World IBD Day. This is a day we hope to raise awareness of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis on behalf of the more than 10 million people worldwide living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

 

Our foundation works tirelessly to raise awareness so that the world can truly understand how unbelievably debilitating Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis can be. And we simply cannot do that without your support.

 

So today, if you know and love someone with IBD, please help them get one step closer to living a life without this chronic, life-long illness by doing one or all of the following:

 

💟research and understand the true meaning of IBD (inflammatory bowel disease)

 

💟send your loved one a special note letting them know you are proud of their fight against IBD

 

💟like & share this post as well as encourage your friends to follow us

 

💟reach out to us letting us know how you would like to help by getting involved with our foundation (p.s. our foundation’s board is made up of local moms whose life has been greatly impacted by IBD and we’d love to have you join us!)

 

💟commit to joining us this fall for our virtual auction in October or in the spring of 2022 for our next run/walk

 

💟head to www.amotherswishfoundation.org to make a donation today and learn about all the ways we support individuals and research

#amotherswish

#supportingthosewithIBD

#crohnsdisease

#ulcerativecolitis

#crohns

#colitis

#IBD

#inflammatoryboweldisease

#amotherswishfoundation


TALOTTA FAMILY TURNS SADNESS INTO A DEDICATION TO LOVED ONES SUFFERING FROM CROHN’S DISEASE & ULCERATIVE COLITIS

Emilia Talotta passed away on April 1, 2021 at the age of 97. She was the beloved wife of the late Giuseppe, devoted mother of 3, loving ‘Nonna’ to 9 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. She is the grandmother of our board member, Sabrina, as well as the namesake & great grandmother to our own Crohn’s warrior, Emilia Marsilio. Additionally, Emilia Talotta was the grandmother to Crohn’s warrior, Cathy Capper, and Colitis warrior, Jenn Talotta.

In lieu of flowers the family requested contributions be made to A Mother’s Wish Foundation. The outpouring of love and support has been astounding. We thank you all for your donations which help to support ongoing research and education!!


Our Own Jeff Wickersham takes on a MASSIVE Challenge for the love of his son, SEE IT ALL HERE : https://diem.life/amotherswish/4x4x48-challenge/1021/66853

This is my son Carter. He loves to play basketball and watch sports. He is happiest when spending time with his family and friends. Carter was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in January 2016, at just 5 years old. His courage and strength are what inspired me to do this race. If you have a moment, please read his story below, and consider donating. 100% of money raised from this race will go to A Mother’s Wish Foundation, a local non-profit who has helped Carter, and my whole family, through the most difficult of times.

In April of 2015, just before Carter turned 5 years old, we noticed he began to look and act differently. He had no energy and lost interest in playing with friends because he was too tired. His eyes were sunken and dark and he was not gaining any weight. By May, he was complaining daily about stomach aches. Thankfully, his pediatrician, Dr. Brogan, was as concerned as we were and referred us to CHOP’s hematology/oncology department for more testing.
By the fall of 2015, Carter had entered kindergarten and we still had no answers as to why our son was so sick. He was receiving weekly IV iron infusions and was sent to CHOP’s GI Department. Here we met Dr. Grossman and Dr. Conrad who performed an array of tests including an upper endoscopy, a colonoscopy, dexa-scans, video endoscopy (video capsule) and barium x-rays of his abdomen. Finally, on January 8th, 2016, Dr. Conrad called with the news that Carter had Crohn’s Disease. This diagnosis was very tough to hear as parents, but at least now we had an answer.
Since the day we received the news that our son had an incurable, life-long chronic illness, our lives changed. Carter began a medication regimen of swallowing four, sometimes five, pills a day. We made extreme changes to our diets to include only whole foods and to avoid any foods with additives or preservatives.
My son took every test, pill, long drive to CHOP, weekly iron infusion, and diet change in stride. He has learned which foods are going to help him heal and which are going to cause him to flare. Carter has shown us all what true strength and resilience is. He has kept a positive attitude through some pretty tough times. He is why I run this race.
For more information about A Mother’s Wish Foundation, please go to https://amotherswishfoundation.org/.


ANOTHER YEAR WITH NO GALA’S BUT WE ARE COOKING UP SOME VERY COOL IDEAS AND LOOK AT OUR GENEROUS FRIENDS-STAY TUNED

I am pleased to say that all of our friends, family, and sponsors are still with us! a big round of applause for the love that has started in 2021!

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH:

Walter & Nancy Rogers

Bernard B Rotko, MD Foundation

Network For Good

Merck

The Marsilio Family

Efrain Rivera

Betsie and Andy from Frame Station Gallery

Mari Gates and Dana Santangelo- Germantown Title

Jeff Wickersham

Charlene M Kliamovich

Bernice M Kliamovich

College Panhellenic Counsel-Sarah Hedley

Vittoria Dean

Margaret Staino

Carol Tornetta

Maria Nevelson

Rebecca Galati

Jennifer Brownstein


Emilia tells all

We have some very exciting news from one of our warriors, Emilia!! She has successfully collaborated on a book geared towards explaining Crohn’s disease to children.

Emilia is the daughter of our Director – Clinical Trial Specialist. She was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease (CD) in 2017 at 8 years old. She is currently 12 years old and in middle school.

As a parent/caregiver of a chronically ill child, we are faced with many difficult questions, for which our little loves think we should know the answers to. “Why is this happening to me? Why can’t I be like other kids my age? How do I make the pain stop?” We parents often have these same thoughts and questions circling in our heads. “Why my child? How much more of this pain can they take? How can I help them to cope?” For Emilia, there hasn’t been any medication that stops the pain when it starts, but being close to mom helps. Sabrina (trying to find a glimmer of hope) has often told Emilia that perhaps Crohn’s was a special gift that would enable her to help other children.

In 2019, while at a pharmaceutical industry conference, Sabrina met Ryan, a director in marketing for a company named StudyKIK. He had written a children’s book on Alzheimer’s (Why Grandma Keeps Forgetting: An ALZ Story). Sabrina asked if StudyKIK would be authoring any books on CD and coincidentally they were, and he asked if Emilia would be interested in collaborating! Emilia was excited to say the least.

Emilia provided her personal experience for the initial draft of the book and then provided edits and comments thereafter. She would light up when there was a draft ready for her review. Emilia truly believes this book was the first step in her helping other children who suffer from CD.

Why Emilia Wasn’t Feeling Well: A Crohn’s Disease Story went to KickStarter in 2020 and was fully backed! The company printed and delivered copies to all who backed the campaign.

The book is now available on Amazon: CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

We are so proud of Emilia and what she has accomplished so far, and can not wait to see what is next for her! Thank you to Ryan Williams and the StudyKIK team for giving her this opportunity!


2020, A YEAR EVERYONE WANTS TO FORGET BUT…..WE MUST RECOGNIZE YOU

Although we all missed seeing each other this year, you were still here for us! A big thank you to our generous donors this year:

THANK YOU THINKING OF US AND CONTINUING OUR FIGHT AGAINST CROHN’S DISEASE

Marc DiBenedetto
Tri County Swim Club on behalf of Gabriella Didio
Brother Efrain Rivera
Amy Wertz
Alyson Borska
Suzann Szewczak
Veronica Newby
Brooke Moebius
Jaclyn Teitelbaum
Carly Venit
Grace Twomey
Madison Chambers
Amanda Streimer
Kaitlyn Johnson
Sierra Gwalthney
Jessica Ferris
Jaclyn Buffin
Alea Keough
Emily Esswein
Sarah Haynie
Brianna C
Hailie Fosbenner
Melissa Nagel
Robin & Michael Weiner
Dana Santegelo-Germantown Tille
Sovan Das                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Nolan Kraus                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Susan Szewczak                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Diane Fosbenner                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Diccianni Financial Group                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Neil and Lauren Suhre
Sabrina Marsilio
Maria Craze
Suzanne McKeever
Colleen Hopkins
Caroline Peeke
Andrea Bristol
Jim and Maria Gunn
Margery Covello
Jacqueline Morrill & Michael Donahue
Kathryn Head

 

 

 

 

TO OUR FRIENDS THAT DONATED TO HELP OUR VERY FIRST VIRTUAL AUCTION:

Lori Kitchelt
Giant Foods
Dick’s Sporting Goods
Redstone American Grill
The Amazing Women on our amazing Board
Prive’ Salon-Alicia Martinelli
Home Goods
Chick-fil-A
Pass Line Casino Party
Tosco Pizza and Italian Restaurant
Bearded Soldier


AMW Nov 2019 Gallery