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. To help support their efforts, our family established the not-for-profit Read and Remember Eli Foundation. The foundation's mission is to raise awareness and support for the Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood Program and to pay tribute to a little boy who loved storytime by providing local charities and organizations with new books for toddlers and preschool children.

We hope that you will consider supporting Eli's Foundation. 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. There are several ways that you can help contribute to the success of our Foundation's missions. You can make a monetary contribution to Eli's Foundation, you can attend or sponsor a gift at our event, or you can support our book drive effort by donating new toddler and preschool level books. If you are able to make a donation, please complete the Sponsor/Contribute Form and return it to the address on the form. You can also make a monetary donation directly to the SUDC Program by visiting their website and making an online donation in memory of Eli.

Thank you for your time and support.

Michelle Graczyk
Eli's Mom