Chicago Botanic Garden
"Show Some Love: A Little Goes a Long Way"
Wear Blue for the Cure!
Raise awareness for MTM and CNM with the wonderful volunteers at Where There's a Will There's a Cure, who donated $105,000 to research last year!! 

On February 28, which is Rare Disease Day, don your favorite gear in blue, baby blue, sky blue, azure, cobalt, navy, midnight, aquamarine (you catch the drift!) and then post a picture on the Facebook event page to show that you wear Blue for the Cure!

You can see some of last year's blue-clad participants in this video!

Wearing Our Hearts on Our Sleeves, or Chests, or Coffee Mugs!
Make a statement this Valentine's Day and "Show Some Love" by checking out our MTM-CNM Family Connection store on Zazzle. 

You can grab an "I <3 Someone with MTM/CNM" t-shirt or one of our other great designs...or maybe you'd like to pick up one of our other items as a sweet gift for your sweetie! 

All proceeds from the sales support the MTM-CNM Family Conference!
 

 

Jellies at the Shedd Aquarium

Are you eagerly counting down the days to the 2015 MTM-CNM Family Conference like we are?? We are so touched and excited to see the enthusiasm that's building in our precious community.

If you're attending or possibly attending, please consider answering this brief pre-conference survey before or by February 14th, so that your input can assist us in making this conference as inclusive, informative, and fun as possible for all!

 

In the meantime, we have some fun events to share with you for this coming February!
Feb. 14--Fundraise with us on Crowdrise!

Crowdrise for 2/14
Click JOIN THE TEAM to create your own fundraising page!





Thanks to your support, we are steadily approaching our *fundraising goal for the 2015 MTM-CNM Family Conference, but we still have a way to go! 

Please consider joining those of us who have created a personal Crowdrise fundraiser in honor of our affected loved ones. 

 

Then on Valentine's Day, encourage your family and friends to "Show Some Love!" for our MTM and CNM families by making a donation of $20.15 (or more) for our 2015 MTM-CNM Family Conference! Every little bit helps!


Wear Jeans for Rare Genes!
Marie, Stesha, Jona 2011
As many of you know, the last day of February is Rare Disease Day! But you don't have to wait until then to celebrate our rare MTM and CNM genes.

For instance, one of our MTM-CNM allies nominated the MTM-CNM Family Connection for her company's designated Friday Jeans Day charity for this quarter, i.e. January through March, and we were selected!! 

What this means is that on every Friday of the quarter employees can choose to make a $5 or more donation to dress down in jeans, and when all the donations have been collected, the money is then sent to our non-profit organization! So sweet and simple, right?!

Why not join in the FUNdraising and suggest a Friday Jeans Day to support the MTM-CNM Family Connection at your workplace? Or you can do a Jeans Day at your school just as the Ward family has done at William's school! It's a super-easy way to let people know about what we do and support our conference!

We'd also love to know what other kind of creative fundraising ideas you have!
 
Reserve Rooms Early!
Chicago Navy Pier


It's only January and our block of rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn O'Hare already are filling up! 

 

Please make sure to reserve your rooms now to get the special conference rate of $119/night, which includes breakfast.

 

If you're reserving dates between Thursday-Sunday, you can reserve online here.

 

For those of you who are interested in extra time to explore the city's manifold attractions or to mingle with families, keep in mind that the rate is available three days before and after the conference dates. In order to take advantage of the discount, please call the front desk directly at (847) 296-8900 from Monday through Friday to reserve your rooms. If you have any problems, you can ask for Laura and she would be more than happy to assist you. 
Great view on the Chicago Architectural Boat Tour!
Let's continue working together to make this year's conference even better than the last!
 
With love and hope,
 

The MTM-CNM Family Conference Planning Team!
*The MTM-CNM Family Connection team works on an entirely volunteer basis with no additional perks, i.e. we cover our own travel expenses and accommodations for the conference and related events just like anyone else. We keep running expenses at a minimum to ensure that donations truly support this conference, which is for all of us. Learn more about how our organization utilizes funds at www.mtm-cnm.org/fundraising.html.