Legal Happenings At CHERUBS

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to update you on CHERUBS legal happenings….

CHERUBS had a pro bono attorney for the personal restraining order I had to take out against Elizabeth at Breath of Hope in 2006 I believe. Long story, not going into that as that’s not what this post is about.

CHERUBS had 3 pro bono lawyers from 2 law firms helping us on the trademark and a few additional tossing us advice here and there. HUGE help! But 1 law firm doesn’t have the manpower to give us anymore and the other is about to take over a much bigger project for us.

So that leaves me to deal with the trademark issue legal stuff alone. And to be honest, I have no clue what I’m doing. The stress of having 1000’s of people depend on me and CHERUBS to protect Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness is enormous. I don’t want to mess this up. I need help. If you know of a trademark attorney who will help us, please let me know. They can be in any state as this is a federal issue. Please help if you can – these babies deserve to have the best representation to protect their rights. I am not that person to do that job, I am not qualified and I will not post that I am a legal expert or I am so intelligent that I don’t need a lawyer. I am bound to make some mistakes doing this alone (well, not alone – our Board is a huge help!), but we cannot afford to make mistakes. Taking on a trademark is not a small thing at all. This trademark is a huge ordeal, one that has to be stopped.

So that leads me to another notice. I will be taking down the timeline for a while. I will not be posting about any legal issues. I will no longer be keeping you updated on Elizabeth’s attacks or false allegations, slander, filings against CHERUBS with various agencies, etc. If you want updates on the trademark, you can go through the petition site to see the updates at the USPTO. Why, you ask?

For the first 3 years all this was going on, we kept quiet about it. Ignoring it did not help matters, it only enabled her and made her bolder. It got worse, so much worse that the restraining order was filed.

Then we went public, because other CDH parents were now being attacked and Elizabeth was filing accusations to try to have CHERUBS shut down. That was 2 years ago. You all have been pretty updated since.

But now, I am stepping back on the legal stuff and handing it all over to our new 2 pro bono lawyers to deal with. Whatever they deem necessary to do to stop the attacks, they have our blessing. Any court proceedings, filings, government intervention, criminal charges, etc – they have our blessing. 5 years of this is enough. It’s time to deal with this all once and for all and let the CDH community have some peace. We can’t thank our new lawyers enough, they are angels to help the CDH community this way!!!

And we can get back to supporting families dealing with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia and stop dealing with all Elizabeth’s drama and attacks. Too many CDH parents were put under the impression that CHERUBS is only about drama and stopping Elizabeth. That couldn’t be farther from the truth…. our site is drama free, we offer dozens of free services, the most CDH information on the net and with over 2700 families we offer the most support! 🙂 We’ve been here for 14 years with only one goal – helping families affected by CDH.

Now, we still have the trademark issue to deal with!!! I am still working on that video and we will release it this week. At the least, it will raise awareness! But we still need a lawyer! If you know a lawyer or you really want to help and just call lawyers and ask them to help us…. we would appreciate it so much!!!

2009 Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness, Events, Fundraiser and more at CHERUBS

Our latest issue of our newsletter will be out in a few weeks but I wanted to let you know about all the activities we have going on at CHERUBS! 2009 is a very, very busy year here with events going on around the world, including our 2009 International Member Conference in San Antonio, TX in July. I hope to see you all there!

March, 2009

March 16, Texas Bake Sale – Corpus Christi, TX. You can reach Melissa at 361-288-4698. http://txcherubs.wordpress.com/

March 28, Oakland Academy in Portage, MI Spring Carnival fundraiser. You can reach Amy at ame_amers@hotmail.com

Friends of Faith Book Drive – Michigan (but you can participate from anywhere). You can reach Amy at ame_amers@hotmail.com

April, 2009

Michigan JayCee’s Event – Contact Darcy for more info or Barb at bwagner@cherubs-cdh.org

CHERUBS UK Pub Crawl – April 11, Melanie Parsons http://www.facebook.com/event.php?sid=5b487216f38310cadf3be1f4321ad462&eid=71341216080

North Carolina Get-Together – in Raleigh, NC. Informal Chuck E. Cheese get-together for local NC families and to help plan the various NC events we have going on! You can reach Dawn at dawn.williamson@cherubs-cdh.org or 919-690-0129 http://nccherubs.wordpress.com/

May, 2009

Grayton’s Glory 5K Run – May 9 in Alabama. You can reach Leigh for more information at leigh.creekbaum@ubs.com

Michigan Member Bowl-a-Thon – May 17 in Flint, Michigan. You can reach Barb at bwagner@cherubs-cdh.org or 810-845-8480

Day of Prayer for CDH – May 17 around the world! You can reach Dawn at dawn.williamson@cherubs-cdh.org or 919-690-0129

North Carolina Walk for Cherubs – May 17 in Raleigh, NC. You can reach Dawn at dawn.williamson@cherubs-cdh.org or 919-690-0129. http://nccherubs.wordpress.com/

NC Balloon Release for Cherubs – May 17 in Raleigh, NC. You can reach Dawn at dawn.williamson@cherubs-cdh.org or 919-690-0129. http://nccherubs.wordpress.com/

CHERUBS Ebay Auctions – around the world. You can reach Dawn at dawn.williamson@cherubs-cdh.org or 919-690-0129

June, 2009

2009 UK Conference – in Great Britain. You can reach Brenda at blane@cherubs-cdh.org or 0800 731 6991. http://www.uk-cherubs.org.uk/

Pennsylvania Get-Together – You can reach Kate at kcrawford@cherubs-cdh.org or 412-414-7073. http://pacherubs.wordpress.com/

July, 2009

Shelby’s Summertime CHERUBS Celebration – July 11 in Indiana, contact Stephanie Olivarez at solivarez@cherubs-cdh.org

2009 International Member Conference – July 22-25, San Antonio, Texas! You can reach Dawn at dawn.williamson@cherubs-cdh.org or 919-690-0129. http://www.cherubsconference.org

August, 2009

Ohio Get-Together – in Columbus, OH. You can reach Tara at thall@cherubs-cdh.org or 614-275-0858. http://cherubs-ohio.wordpress.com/

September, 2009

Jeremiah’s Car Show – in Columbus, Ohio. You can reach Sarah at sdeskins@cherubs-cdh.org or 419-512-3446. http://cherubs-ohio.wordpress.com/

October, 2009

2009 Australia Conference – in Australia. You can reach Danielle at dkessner@cherubs-cdh.org or 03 5135 6999. http://www.cdh.org.au/

New England Get-Together – in Salem, Massachusetts. You can reach Corin at cnava@cherubs-cdh.org or 401-524-9182. http://newenglandcherubs.wordpress.com/

Gabe’s Bowl-a-Thon – in Cranston, RI. You can reach Corin at cnava@cherubs-cdh.org or 401-524-9182. http://newenglandcherubs.wordpress.com/

CHERUBS Masquerade Angel Ball – October 30, 2009 at Duke Gardens in Durham, NC. You can reach Dawn at dawn.williamson@cherubs-cdh.org or 919-690-0129. http://www.cherubsangelball.org

December, 2009

National Children’s Memorial Day – December 13, 2009 at 7:00 pm around the world

New England Truffle Sale – in Rhode Island. You can reach Corin at cnava@cherubs-cdh.org or 401-524-9182. http://newenglandcherubs.wordpress.com/

January, 2010

Shannon Crawford CDH Spaghetti Dinner – January 16, 2010 in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. You can reach Kate at kcrawford@cherubs-cdh.org or 412-414-7073. http://pacherubs.wordpress.com/

Blood Drive in Memory of Shane Torrence – January 28, 2010 in Wake Forest, NC. You can reach Dawn at dawn.williamson@cherubs-cdh.org or 919-690-0129. http://nccherubs.wordpress.com/

February, 2010

Valentine’s Day Cherubs Fundraiser – February 14, 2010 around the world. You can reach Dawn at dawn.williamson@cherubs-cdh.org or 919-690-0129

April, 2010

CHERUBS Golf Tournament – Wake Forest, NC. You can reach Dawn at dawn.williamson@cherubs-cdh.org or 919-690-0129. http://www.cherubsgolftournament.org

July, 2010

2010 International Member Conference in San Francisco, California. You can reach Dawn at dawn.williamson@cherubs-cdh.org or 919-690-0129. http://www.cherubsconference.org

October, 2010

CHERUBS Masquerade Angel Ball – October 29, 2009 at Duke Gardens in Durham, NC. You can reach Dawn at dawn.williamson@cherubs-cdh.org or 919-690-0129. http://www.cherubsangelball.org

CHERUBS Angel Ball

Below is just a preview of the videos that we’re working on from the Angel Ball. To see more photos and video check out the Angel Ball site at http://www.cherubsangelball.org

It was an AMAZING night!!!! We’re already planning our 2009 Angel Ball so stay tuned!

CHERUBS 2009 Angel Ball
Masquerade Ball
October 30, 2009
7:00 pm – Midnight
Duke Gardens
Durham, NC