I want you to meet my friend Renn.
Renn is 6 1/2 years old and has Epilepsy.
He is the son of Bethany Telles, author of “Waiting for James in a Sea of Pink,”. I have been following Renn’s battle with epilepsy on “The Brain of a Jedi” blog (Click HERE).
He gets seizures every day. They tried all kids of medications that didn’t work. Renn has had all kinds of tests and procedures done and they didn’t work.
On October 28th the doctors are going to put some kind of grid in his brain to figure out what part of his brain is doing it and then they are going to take that part of his brain out. They may have to take a whole section out.
As if having part of your brain taken out at 6 1/2 years old isn’t enough, the Telles family has to deal with living pretty far away from the hospital that Renn gets the procedures done at and there are a lot of medical bills.
This is all really hard for me to think about (I can’t imagine what Renn’s brother, Eli is going though). Renn is so young and he is facing some scary stuff. His whole family is. I saw that the Telles family set up a donation page to help with Renn’s medical expenses (click HERE) and I wanted to help, but I am an 11-year-old kid and I felt pretty helpless.
I thought about what I could do to help Renn and his family. I thought about what I can do, what I can do better than anyone I know. I came up with…
READING.
This gave me an idea. I am the fastest reader of anyone I know.
I thought about how I could turn my super reader power into something helpful and I came up with “Reading for Renn.”
I am asking people and businesses to sponsor me for the month of October. Sponsor me for every AR point I get. For those of you who don’t know AR is Accelerated Reader. AR is a program that some schools do. Kids read books, take tests and get points. The goal set for me by the school this year, as a sixth grader, is 60 points. My personal goal for this year is to get 1505 points (just enough to beat the district record I set last year 😉 ). For Reading For Renn, my goal is to get 150 AR points for the month of October. You can follow my progress right here. I will keep track of the points I get and I’ll have a little widget on my side bar too.
FOR EXAMPLE – If someone sponsors me for 10 cents for every point and I get 150 points they donate $15.00 to Reading for Renn which goes to the Telles family to help cover Renn’s medical costs. On November 1st I will announce the total AR points I earned for the month of October. Please think about sponsoring me, spreading the word or just cheering me on!
If you would like to sponsor me, please leave a comment in the comment section. You don’t have to leave your name if you don’t want to, just an email address I can contact you at the end of the month with instructions on how to make the donation to Reading for Renn. If you’d like to make a donation directly, you can click on the PayPal** button at the bottom of this post (you don’t have to have a PayPal account to make the donation).
Please share my fund-raiser with the people you know. I was really surprised at how serious Epilepsy can be. I didn’t know all of this until I met Renn. I think more people should know about it.
All money I raise will go to helping the Telles family pay medical bills and stuff related to Renn’s care. If they have more than they need, I will ask them to donate the rest to The Epilepsy Foundation. A great organization dedicated to finding a cure for Epilepsy.
I want to give special thanks to Susanna Leonard Hill for giving me advice and suggestions on this Hare-Brained Scheme. 🙂 Thanks to Julie Rowan-Zoch for designing the awesome Reading for Renn button (that you are welcome to share and link back here) and the image for the point counter!
Thank you for taking the time to read this! Now excuse me, I have to get back to reading!
UPDATE #1 – Want the code for the Reading for Renn Button?!?
Click HERE to hop on over to S&K’s blog post with the code they developed and copy it for you to use!
Thank you to Cool Mom of the S&K gang for writing this! Check out Stanley and Karina’s book and blog by clicking HERE!
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UPDATE #2 – NY Media Works Just pledged to MATCH the money I raise! I am trying even HARDER to read as much as I can! My mom just got me their latest book – The Bubblegum Princess! Click HERE to order it! Click HERE to visit NY Media’s website!
UPDATE #3 I got the Purple Lightsaber Award from Renn! Battle on Renn! So many people are behind you!
My Reading for Renn Challenge is over. Thank you all very much! With your help I was able to raise over $3000.00 for the Telles family! May the force be with all of you!
Categories: Other Stuff Related to Books and Reading
Looking good!
I know! I’m amazed at how kind people are! Kid-Lit people are the BEST! 🙂
The BESTEST!
The BESTEST of the BEST! 😆
The BIGGETY BESTEST of the BEST (we might need to keep this going on the MPBM page!)
😀
YES!!!! Fantastic! Please do email me Erik as I’d love sponsor you. You are AWESOME!! xx
I’ll be emailing you tomorrow! 😀
Awesome idea! I’ll definitely sponsor you, Erik and spread the word. Good luck!
Thank you Ms. Johnson! I am really grateful!
Erik, you are an amazing kid. Good luck with your reading I will share your blog to my friends and networks… I will make my donation with your PayPal button – happy reading and good on you for being such a caring guy.
Thank you Ms. Jacques! I really appreciate it! 😀
So heart-warming. You have a lovely, generous soul. I would be happy to sponsor you.
Thank you Ms. Darshana! I am very grateful for you doing this! 😀
This is so heart-warming. You have a generous, loving soul. I would be happy to sponsor you.
This is very cool, Erik. What a great way to help Renn. I’ll pledge ten cents a point. And now to spread the word…
I shared everywhere I could think of, including two author groups. You go, kid!
Thank you Mrs. Isenhoff! I think this might work! 😀
Thank you Mrs. Isenhoff! I really am glad that you are spreading the word! 😀
Erik you are my HERO! What an amazing idea from an amazing kid! I will be sponsoring you and sharing your page with all! Keep it up kiddo!
Ooops forgot to say..i will pledge 20 cents a point
Thanks! $0.20 it is! Now, I just need to get 2000 points! 😉
Thank you VERY much, Ms. James! I REALLY appreciate it! 🙂
Erik, How wonderful of you to do this! I’ll sponsor you at ten cents a point.
Thank you very much Ms. Newman! I am very grateful to you! 😀
Erik, you have the biggest heart. And I love how you’ve roped Susanna and Julie into your hare-brained scheme. I am going to sponsor you, but please don’t leave me penniless. I know how much you read. 🙂
Sorry, I didn’t leave my sponsorship level. I’ll do 20 cents a point. Go Erik!
Great! I forgot to mention – I upped my goal to 20,000 points! 😉
Thank you Ms. Larson! I appreciate it!
Erik, you’re all heart! I’ll sponsor you 20 cents a point.
Thank you VERY much Ms. Tilton! You are very generous!
Erik, I truly believe that if the world had more people with hearts as golden as yours, even more amazing things could happen. I’d be happy to sponsor you at 10 cents per point and will share this on my FB page.
Thank you super much, Ms. Brown! That compliment really got to me! 🙂
I had an aunt with epilepsy. I’d be honored to sponsor you for 10 cents a point, Erik. Go, you! What a wonderful thing you’re doing for Renn.
Thank you very much! I appreciate it! I never knew how bad epilepsy could be so bad until I learned from Renn. I think more people should know about it!
This is super cool, Erik. I made a donation via Paypal. Happy reading and YAY you! 🙂
Ya know what, Kid? I really like you. I’d be honored to sponsor you in this. I’m so proud to know you, Erik! Ten cents over here, Kid!
Thank you Ms. Courtney! I appreciate your pledge! 😆
Thank you Ms. Patrick! I appreciate your support! 😀
Erik, you already know what I think of your hare-brained scheme 🙂 You are a wonderful person with a kind heart, and I think your read-athon is inspired! Of course I will sponsor you. Although I might reserve judgment on how much I commit to until I see how many thousand points you end up earning 🙂 Want to email me and we’ll negotiate? 🙂
Sure, I’ll email you and we can negotiate! So… did you know I have a degree from Udontrememba College in Hypnotising? A master’s degree? 😉
LOL!!
🙂 I should have known!!!
Look DEEP into your computer screen… You are getting sleepy… *ZZzzzzzz* 😉
Erik, I’m definitely going to sponsor you. This is near and dear to my heart because of Christopher! YOU ARE JUST SO DOGGONE COOL! .10 cents a point and I’ll tweet and FB my heart out. And good on Julie’s art!
I hope Christopher is doing well, and thank you for your support! 🙂
Erik, I’m in. I have been following Renn’s journey and my heart goes out to him and his family. I’ll sponsor at 20¢.
You are very kind to do this.
Oh…my email penny dot klostermann at gmail dot com
🙂
Thank you Ms. Klostermann! I am glad of the support! 😀
You don’t cease to amaze! What a kind heart you have! I’m in as a sponsor too. Send me a note!
OK Ms. Trapani! Thanks for taking part! 😀
I’ll sponsor you
Thanks Aunt Char~Char! 😀
This is a fantastic idea. You are a great and caring kid! I will be happy to support you, Renn and his family, and the Epilepsy Foundation.
Thank you Ms. Gomez! I’ll email you when I have my point total! 😀
This is a brilliant idea. Count me in.
OK Ms. Moore! I’ll email you at the end! 😀
I would love to sponsor you Erik.I think you already have my email. What a very special thing you are doing. Renn is lucky to have a friend like you.
Thank you Ms. Foster! I’ll be emailing you! 😀
Erik, I am so touched and impressed that you are doing this to help Renn. I’m in for 20 cents a point!!
Thank you so much Ms. Hedlund! You are a very generous person! 😀
The S&K gang will sponsor you! If it is okay, we’ll give you our donation amount when we see you (we are so lucky) – so paypal won’t take any money. 🙂 We’ll also post about it on our blog in the very near future, too! Awesome, Erik! Our prayers are with Renn and his family.
~Cool Mom for the S&K gang
Thank you very much S&K and gang! 😀 That is very generous of you!!! I can’t wait to meet you guys! Thank you to Cool Mom for getting the tickets! (for those of you who don’t know – WE ARE GOING TO A RICK RIORDAN BOOK SIGNING!!! and I am a little excited about it) 🙂
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
~Neighbor Girl
Erik, Thank you for starting this fund – I’ll help spread the word. My little publishing company, NY Media Works, will match your total donations. So, if you’re at 13 points now, get crackin’! 🙂
Seriously?!? THAT IS SO AWESOME and SUPER GENEROUS!!! WOO! NY MEDIA WORKS ROCKS (I just tweeted that too 🙂 )! Check out my point total! I am now at 28! 😉 Thank you – Thank you!!!
P.S. My mom just ordered me The Bubblegum Princess 😉
Yes, sir! We see those AR points going up – good job! You’ll also get a smile from all of us for each one!
THANK YOU!!! I REALLY REALLY REALLY am grateful to you, Ms. Gribble! 😆
The Telles family loves Julie G.!! Thank you, friend. What a gift you are to us!
🙂 You are so welcome!
Eric, I’m in. We need more people like you willing to stand up for others. Way to go. Put me down for $1.00 a point! drobert@drobertpease.com
Thank you Mr. Pease! WOW! I really appreciate that! That is very generous of you! Thank you for the kind words too!
You never cease to amaze me, Erik. Thank you for doing this for your friend. Donated. Bless you, Renn. You’ll be in our prayers.
Thank you for your support Ms. Stokes! I appreciate it! Hey, when is the next Cassidy Jones book coming out?!? I want to read more Cassidy Jones! Maybe I’ll just re-read books 1-3 while I am waiting. 🙂
This rocks big time, Erik. I am posting this all over my social media.
Thank you Miss Marple! I appreciate it! 🙂
Way to go Erik!! I would like to send you some dog treats to keep up your strength, but the Mom Person says we’ll just make a paypal donation. You are a fine young man and I am rooting for you and Renn!!
Thank you Rhythm and Mom Person! That is very kind of you! (if you send dog treats – no liver flavored please) 😉
mmmmm! I’ll keep those for myself!
Please email me. I hope my kids have your heart and drive when they get to be your age!
Thank you very much for the nice words! I will be emailing you!
I’m sharing, I added the button to my blog, and I’ll be cheering you on until my cyber-voice is hoarse (after that, I’ll use hand signals, or semaphore, or Morse code or something.) This is a fantastic idea, Erik! Good for you!!!
Thank you very much Ms. Stilborn! Thank you for spreading the word! Maybe you can try smoke signals too! 😀
Erik, you’re an amazing young man. Rock on, buddy! Put me down for .10 a point. 🙂
Thank you very much Mr. Singleton!
Count me in, Erik. You truly are an inspiration and a totally good egg! Will certainly be sharing your mission to help Renn and his family every chance I get…and if I don’t get a chance, I’ll make sure to schedule it! ;0)
Thank you Ms. Sadd! Thank you for spreading the word and for posting about it! I really appreciate it!
P.S. Did you get my last email from you? I know sometimes my emails get spammed if I put an attachment on them…
It’s a pleasure and a duty to help out with a great cause, Erik. :0)
I haven’t received a recent email from you.
I’ll resend the email! 🙂
Reblogged this on Donna L Sadd and commented:
I want to share a very important post about one kid helping another and his family and ask for your help in sharing and supporting his mission. Big, huge thanks in advance! :0)
Now this is truly superheroic of you, Erik. Sign me up too and send me an email to sort out the details 🙂
OK Mr. Eveleigh! 😀
This is fantastic, Erik! Such a generous and loving heart, the world would be a better place with more like you. I just got in from my flight home and catching up with what is going on and had to let you know I want to pledge .20c a point and will post about your wonderful caring idea soon on my blog. (love Julie’s artwork button, isn’t this group super bestest of the best… :)) You go Bro! (as we say down here)
Hope your flight was great! Thanks for the pledge! It is much appreciated, Ms. Tulloch! 🙂
Erik I’m in! You’re one awesome dude! I’ll spot you 10 cents a point. Here’s my email: seledwith at gmail dot com. Cheers and way-to-go! This world needs more people like you!
Thank you Ms. Ledwith! 😀
Reblogged this on Kid Lit Reviews and commented:
Check this out!
Reblogging this tomorrow. Definitely sponsoring you. 😀
Thank you! (and it’s already reblogged. ❓ ) 😀
You are one cool kid, Erik. Put me down for 10 cents a point. I’ll spread the word for you too.
Thank you Ms. Monette! 😀 Your pledge is appreciated! 😀
Hi Erik. My name’s Omar. I’m Renn’s cousin. I like your idea a lot. I love reading too and I’m going to Read for Renn also. Thanks for the idea!
Hi Omar! AWESOME! Good luck on Reading for Renn! Let me know how you do! 😀
You are one compassionate kid. I’ll give a nickel a point.
Thank you!
Inspirational
Thank you! 😀
I shared this on my Facebook page and I would be honored to sponsor you in this. Let me know at the end of the month how much, OK?
thanks for doing this, Erik! I think you are one cool kid. 🙂
Thank YOU Ms. Bowan-Jahn – I really appreciate the reblog! 😀
It’s an important occasion and sponsoring you and supporting you is the smallest of things I can do. 🙂
Reblogged this on Clarbojahn's Blog and commented:
Erik, this kid reviews books is one COOL kid.
Enter me with ten cents a point. Thanks so much!
Just reblogged this, too. I am sharing it as much as I know. And all my Facebook updates goes on my twitter feed so it’s on twitter, too.
Can you think of anything else? 🙂
Thanks for the pledge! And spreading the word! You’re awesome! 😀
My Pleasure! IF you continue to rack up points like you are I may have to negotiate a pledge with you. And just make a donation. I fear for our budget!! 🙂
Hi Erik – I don’t know how I didn’t see this sooner. Put me in for .10 and I also went to Betheny’s site and left a donation there as well. Thanks for reading, for your reveiws, and for putting the word out on this great cause!
Thank you so much Ms. Pfennigwerth! 😀
What an amazing idea! Renn is lucky to have such a great friend. I’ll sponsor you 20 cents a point – let me know how many points at the end of the month, and I’ll give through PayPal.
Good luck and enjoy all those books!
Thank you Ms. Boffa! I am really grateful for the pledge! 😀
Awesome news about the money match!! Yeah for NY Media Works!
YAY! 😀
I’m way late to this party but of course I have to support this awesome effort. Please put me down for ten cents a point. You never cease to amaze. Erik the Great Eater, Erik the Great Heart. 🙂
Thank you, Ms. Write-again. 😀
I will definitely sponsor you, Erik! And I’ve already shared this with all of my Linkedin groups, as well as Google), FB and Twitter. And I will reblog it also. 🙂 You touch my heart…this is what humanity is all about. 🙂
Thank you, Ms. Kirkfield, for sharing everywhere. 🙂
Erik- This is so wonderful that you have come up with a way to help! I know what a fabulous reader you are and believe you will make your goal. I will definitely sponsor you! As a 5th grade teacher, I think it is so great whenever kids come up with a way to help other kids. Hoping all goes well with Renn’s surgery!
Thank you very much, Ms. Peterson, I appreciate it! 😀
Inspirational idea! count me in at $0.10/point!
Everett Robert
Emergency Room Productions
Thank you very much Mr. Robert! I appreciate it!
Reblogged this on Emergency Room Productions and commented:
I want to encourage you to support this cause! As a young man in my tweens and early teens, I suffered from seizures (though not caused by epilepsy) know the fear and frustration that is caused by it. For almost 5 years, I had to take medication every day and had to have blood drawn monthly. I’m also a big supporter of the Accelerated Reader (AR) program. So having the opportunity to combine these two into one awesome giving opportunity counts me in. I am donating $0.10/AR point earned in the month of October, will you join me?
Erik- You are an inspiration! Happy reading!!!
Thank you! 😀
Great job Erik!! You have generated an incredible amount of support – YOU ROCK!!!
Thank you Mrs. C! 😀
I put an announcement about this up on my blog. Good luck! I have 48 AR points for this grading period. Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls series is really popular with my 6th graders, and I think my son read them when he was your age. (Well, the first one– the others came out later!)
What are the GG books about? 🙂
Hey Erik,
I’ll sponsor you! You’re one cool dude. Twenty cents a point–good luck!!
WOW! Thank you so much Ms. Bradley! I am just getting ready to announce the winner of the FABULOUS book – Double Vision: Code Name 711 from my blog giveaway! 🙂 Thank you again for supporting Reading for Renn! 😀
CONGRATULATIONS Erik!! If we had fireworks, they’d be lighting up the sky for you! We’re so proud of you and so pleased we could help!
Thank you Ms. Gribble! I appreciate all your support! 😀
I think it’s amazing Erik that you’re doing this. I love how you throw yourself into advocacies such as this that are meaningful to you. I am praying for Renn and for you, young man with the kind heart. 🙂
Thank you very much Dr. Bacsal! 🙂
I’m really impressed with you. Good job!
Thank you!
Thanks for the info about Renn. You are so kind to spread the word. Will be praying for Renn and his family.
Thanks also for stopping by and commenting on some of my blog tour posts. Your support is appreciated! Wishing you and your family all the best wherever your educational journey leads! 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to stop by and comment on my blog! I really appreciate it!