Every Monday Matters Raises Money for Children with Leukemia

LOS ANGELES, CA — March 13, 2008 — Today is no ordinary Monday for Gary & Noriko Cooper and Lenore and Zen Todd who both have a child afflicted with Leukemia.

Authors Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza signed their book Every Monday Matters (ISBN: 1-4041-0512-3, $15.99, January 2008) at Barnes & Noble and threw a Party with a Purpose at The Whisper Lounge located in The Grove at Farmers Market in Los Angeles last Friday evening. As a result of the successful book signing and fundraiser, Every Monday Matters Foundation was able to donate proceeds to each of these families.

Over 250 people lined up to meet the first time authors at Barnes & Noble, according to Marcy Vernier, Community Relations for Barnes & Noble. When asked why she was there, Connie Gonzales shared that she wanted to meet the authors that inspired her, “I was given this book as a gift. Within a couple days of reading it, I was in the grocery story behind a gentleman that was having trouble paying the $16 for his groceries. I paid it for him. The look of gratefulness in his eyes led me here today to thank the authors.”

Connie purchased three more copies of the uniquely designed book to give as gifts to friends. In addition to the authors, patrons also had a chance to meet two other key players in the book, graphic designer for the book Leonardo Canneto and photographer, Jonathon Brown.

Throughout the night, Henry Island Productions filmed the event which could be seen from the flat screens at The Whisper Lounge. Guests also learned through photographs and film clips about Every Monday Matters and the lives of Hunter Todd and Brittany Cooper.

Hunter Todd is only 17 months young and is already in his third round of chemotherapy as part of his Leukemia treatment. Lenore, Hunter’s mother, tearfully shared her experience of finding out her son had Leukemia and embracing and loving her son everyday. “I have a child dying from leukemia and I’ve seen worse,” Zen Todd, Hunter’s father, shared of his experience at spending days and nights at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

“It is amazing to see total strangers of my family coming together to support Brittany. You all truly matter,” acknowledged Gary Cooper, a life coach, and father of Brittany Cooper who battled Leukemia for 9 years and passed away last January at the young age of 15.

As guests left the party, a beautiful set of four inspirational postcards designed by Brittany in the last year of her life, was given to each of the guests.

According to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, leukemia, a cancer of the bone marrow and blood, causes more deaths than any other cancer among children under 20. Fortunately, the overall relative survival rate has improved from 14% chance of living 5 years to nearly 50% from 1960 to 2003. Hunter may be one of the lucky ones as he’s currently in remission.

The top selling silent auction item at the event pulled together in less than three weeks by Oxigen Events and Conscience Entertainment Group was a guitar signed by Paul Stanley of KISS. Celebrity guests that walked the eco-friendly red carpet included Asia’h Epperson of American Idol, Marshall Allman of Prison Break, James O’Shea of Kiss the Bride, Boo Boo Stewart of Everybody Hates Chris and Beowolf, Clare Grant from Walk the Line and Black Snake Moan, Annie Wood from That’s So Raven, Molly Culver seen often as a commentator on VH1, Elisa Donavan most memorable from the movie Clueless, and dancers/choreographers Black Thomas and Sean Riggs both recently seen in Step Up 2 the Streets. Event sponsors included UTC Financial Group, Thomas Nelson Publishers, HOPE Wine, and Peroni.

Every Monday Matters is more than a book, it’s a movement about making a difference and having a positive impact on people’s lives. The Coopers and Todds agree.

So, what are you doing next Monday? Check out www.everymondaymatters.com and make your Mondays matter.

###

Located in Los Angeles, CA, Every Monday Matters’ mission is to empower people to get involved in making a difference in the world. It is dedicated to helping ordinary people do extraordinary good. Every Monday Matters is based on the book by the same name (ISBN: 1-4041-0512-3, $15.99, January 2008). This “involvement” guidebook provides useful, straightforward activities to get people involved and focused on what matters most. For more information, go to www.everymondaymatters.com.