A dear friend of mine has stage 3 NHL and needs a bone marrow transplant. Luckily her son is a match. We raised 10 of the 15 grand needed for the operation and petitioned the medical board to do the procedure for that. They agreed. Part of the money raised was a 5,000 dollar cashiers check since one of her friends sold his Harley-Davidson to help out. Unfortunately whoever he sold it to is a con artist and the check was fake. We are now trying.g to raise that 5 grand as quickly as possible. She is no longer a candidate for surgery as of February. We have a chipin account and a Facebook page. I have been sharing with all of my friends.

So do any of you have any other ideas on how we can raise the money by then?

Go to your local news stations. Most people really do not realize that you can have a donor match and be denied treatment for lack of funds. Usually if people hear about this kind of thing, they get all indignant and donate.

Food sales fundraisers are big here - fried fish, spaghetti, or jambalaya boxes. I know someone who raised about 10K that way. There are usually people who have the equipment and will donate their time.

Restaurants also do fund raiser nights - on a designated night, 10% of their take goes to your charity. The big chains are usually more than happy to do it (and those froyo places that have popped up lately), you just have to pass out fliers and get groups involved. I know our school and Girl Scout troops are always passing out fliers for So and So night at Chilis, bring in this flier and 10% goes to Whatever Fundraising Group.

The Restaurant things are fastest to set up and you can hand out fliers to schools, churches, scouts, etc. Set up one for every night of a week if you can.

Good luck. We have AWFUL insurance and my daughter has a chronic neuro issue. It is heartbreaking to know there's something your child or loved one needs but due to lack of funds, you can't provide it. I can not imagine how much worse it must be in a life threatening situation. Will keep your friend in my thoughts and prayers.

The restaurant thing would probably be fastest to set up.

The restaurant idea is a great one.
Also, a spaghetti dinner at a church or school with a silent auction.