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Jun 19

Please Give to a Cool Kid for My Second 29th Birthday

June 19, 2009 • View Comments • Social Media for Social Good

2008-12-21 14:47:42 -0600
Guess what? Today is my second 29th birthday. And although I’m not too fond of birthdays, I’m trying to make this one rock by raising money for my niece Zoe’s college fund. She just lost her mother to leukemia and has had a rocky past four years dealing with her mom’s sickness.

If you are down for helping cool nine-year-olds who raise thousands of dollars for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, you might want to contribute. I have high hopes for Zoe.

You can find the PayPal link on this page:

http://www.debutaunt.com/archives/000698.php#000698

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May 18

Rock On, @Debutaunt! You Will Be Loved Forever

May 18, 2009 • View Comments • Meet People in Austin

Not sure if you followed, but my sister, Debby Greer-Costello experienced a leukemia relapse and she suffered for six long months in a hospital bed.

Today, her spirit finally passed. I cannot tell you what a relief this is to know that such a beautiful person is no longer undergoing the pain and frustration that is cancer. Deb was such a fun and uplifting person. When you see such a fun person undergo such a taxing disease, it makes you question the justice in the universe. Seriously.

Although I am sad that I will never see my sister again, all is not lost. In my sister’s blog, she used to give people a mission to people everyday. If I know my sister at all, here are the missions she would give you now that she is gone:
1.) Take care of yourself. Whether you realize it or not, people really love you.
2.) Realize that every day is a gift and that every time you see someone, it could be the last. You will see that every person has worth.
3.) Look out for those who need your help the most. The hope you will give others is immeasurable.

I love you, Debster.
RIP Deborah Marie Greer-Costello
July 22, 1967-May 18, 2009
Steph and Deb Looking All Poor
Deb Feeding Little Me
Deb in Highschool
Deb with the Zo-ster

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Oct 20

Using Your Talent for Good, Linearb Style

October 20, 2008 • View Comments • Blogs, Meet People in Austin, Social Media for Social Good, Twitter

Lynn Bender at GeekAustin (aka @linearb to many other circles) is a phenomenal piano player. He heard about my sister Debby’s financial strife while trying to overcome graft-vs-host disease, and decided he’d like to play to help her raise some money to cover her expenses. Right now her health insurance is over $700 a month and she cannot work because she is too sick. She only collects disability right now. It is so difficult for her to overcome this disease which has killed many of her friends, so finances is the last thing she should really have to worry about.

If you appreciate Lynn’s awesome playing of the organ, please consider donating to my sister’s PayPal account. The link is at the bottom:

Take a look at my sister’s blog if you’d like to get to know the person you’d be helping. Please pass this around as well. On behalf of my sister and my family, thank you and God Bless!



debzokiss

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Oct 01

I’m Presenting On Making Social Media Matter at Refresh Bryan/College Station

October 1, 2008 • View Comments • Social Media for Social Good

I am a writer, so it’s not surprising that I don’t really enjoy presenting. My perfectionist tendencies tend to get the best of me. But when Cody Marx Bailey from Downtown Cartel asked for a speaker for Refresh Bryan/College Station, I decided to step up.

My talk is called “Making Social Media Matter: How Social Media Turns Everyday Citizens into Superheroes”. I’m going to be presenting the Blood Drive Tweetup for the first time in public. While creating my slides, it was amazing to remember how many people stepped up in such a short period of time. I feel truly blessed to have been a part of it and hope that my presentation inspires others to create similar drives and movements in their communities.

This presentation is dedicated to my sister, Debby Greer-Costello, who is still struggling with graft-vs-host disease, and to Johnny Romano, who recently passed away of leukemia at the age of 10. Johnny fought a hard fight against ALL and AML for three years. I ask that you extend your thoughts and prayers to his family at this time.

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Jul 01

Come to the Blood Drive Tweetup. I Promise You My Support 100%

July 1, 2008 • View Comments • Events I've Attended

debzokiss

**Note: this is not a stock image. This is my sister Deb and my niece Zoe. I love them very much and want my sister to overcome host vs. graft disease.

38 people.

38 people are responsible for saving my sister Deb’s life. She underwent 23 blood transfusions and 15 bags of platelets in her fight against leukemia before she finally got over it. I owe a world to these people for helping save my sister’s life so that she could live to raise my eight-year-old niece.

I have been pushing this Tweetup Blood Drive pretty hard, and the typical response is, “I’m afraid of needles.” So they retweet it, feel better, and then move on. Retweeting helps for sure, but donating blood and supporting those who do if you are unable to do so helps more. I am afraid of needles too. It’s NATURAL. However, someone in a hospital somewhere is undergoing an operation or has cancer and needs help. Someone out there was in an accident or in a war and needs blood right this very moment. This person is much more terrified than you are of that needle because receiving blood to them is literally a matter of life and death. Considering the vast numbers of people who have received blood, you or someone very dear to you has probably benefited by a volunteer who stepped up and overcame their fear of the needle.

By giving blood, we offer an hour of our slight fear and discomfort so that others in very difficult situations feel a lot better in their hours, months, or years of fear and discomfort. To me this is a no-brainer, perhaps because it hit so close to home when my sister was diagnosed. To you it should mean a little peace in your day knowing that you saved someone’s life in less than an hour.

If you go to the Blood Drive Tweetup, I guarantee you my support. I guarantee I will be by you if you are scared or not feeling well. I do this because I value the 38 people who saved my sister’s life and the countless others who selflessly value the people in desperate, life and death situations. The right thing to do is often scary, but it is also the most fulfilling.

Book your spot at the Blood and Tissue Center’s website and then RSVP on the Facebook page. If you can’t donate for health reasons or you went to a weird country, swing by and offer support to those who are. You will be literally responsible for saving a person’s life.

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Mar 10

Frank Warren SxSW Keynote Leaves Me in Tears…and On Camera (crap)

March 10, 2008 • View Comments • South by Southwest Interactive

So I cried in front of a thousand people at Frank Warren’s keynote at SxSW. I hate crying in public but inevitably do it. I was feeling the love in the room and felt I could make something happen at that time.  My sister is very ill and it just doesn’t feel good when you are at a social media/technology conference and you are related to a blogger who should be there but seriously might die because people don’t know about host vs. graft disease. So I felt compelled to bring her message to this audience.

If you want to show a little comment love to someone seriously in need of it, please go to www.debutaunt.com.

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Feb 20

Send a Little Love to a Blog Queen

February 20, 2008 • View Comments • Blogs

My sister just reported that she has a 102 fever. That’s very discouraging. She has been battling not fun symptoms for quite some time after undergoing a stem cell transplant to battle leukemia. As much as my parents paid to send me to college to make me articulate, I cannot express how hard it is to see your sister undergo such harsh treatments, and how much we need to find a cure for this disease.

Please show a blogger support by dropping a supportive comment her way at www.debutaunt.com. She is a real sweatheart, and I really want to see her well this weekend.

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