When thinking about how to word a letter asking for your help in supporting an important cause, the first thing I felt I should do was to put a face to it. The little boy in this picture is our son, Eli. Eli was a healthy, thriving, sweet little boy who loved life and should have had the opportunity to experience all that it offers.

Tragically, that isn't going to happen. Eli died suddenly on March 6, 2007 at 21 months of age while sleeping in his crib, leaving behind a twin sister and older brother. Despite extensive testing, no one can tell us why this happened. What we do know is that this happens to about 1 in 100,000 other children over the age of 12 months every year. While great strides have been made in understanding and preventing SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, little is known about SUDC, Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood. To change that, two other SUDC mothers began the work that led to the establishment of the SUDC Program in 2001. The SUDC Program is part of the CJ Foundation for SIDS, a foundation that has been instrumental in reducing the occurrence of SIDS deaths through research and awareness programs.

The SUDC Program's goal is to further research and to provide support and advocacy on behalf of families affected by SUDC. In order to help support their ongoing efforts and to pay tribute to a little boy who loved storytime, our family established the not-for-profit Read and Remember Eli Foundation. Eli's Foundation provides financial support to the SUDC program and provides local charities and organizations with new books for toddlers and preschool children.

We hope that you will consider supporting Eli's Foundation. There are several ways that you can help contribute to the success of our Foundation's missions. You can make a monetary donation directly to the SUDC Program by visiting their website (www.sudc.org) and making an online donation in memory of Eli. You can also make a contribution to Eli's Foundation by supporting our book drive effort through a gift of new toddler or preschool level books, by making a monetary donation, or by attending or sponsoring a gift at our next event. The Read and Remember Eli Foundation is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Eligible contributions are deductible from federal income tax. If you would like to make a donation directly to Eli's Foundation, please complete the Donation/Sponsor Form and return it to the address on the form.

Thank you for your time and support.

Sincerely,

Michelle Graczyk
Eli's Mom