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Lawn Summer Nights: A CF fundraiser inspired by Eva
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It’s July and Lawn Summer Nights, the swanky lawn bowling fundraiser benefiting Cystic Fibrosis Canada, is in full swing! Or should I say roll?
Inspired by Eva Markvoort (aka 65_RedRoses), this annual fundraising event was started in Vancouver four years ago by friends Duncan Gillespie, Andrew Dalik, Graham Dalik and director Philip Lyall.
This year, the event expanded to Toronto giving even more people a chance to join in the fundraising fun.
Since 2009, Lawn Summer Nights has raised over $105,000 for CF research. Congratulations to all of the teams for this outstanding achievement!
We’re not the only ones excited about Lawn Summer Nights. Check out some of the praise it’s received so far… (more…)
65_RedRoses US home DVD Ships today!
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NEWSFLASH: SALE ON OUR ONLINE STORE! USE promo code heart10 until July 15!
Tweet this: US #4Eva Fans, 10% off everything in our @65_RedRoses HCW store! Heart shirts, DVDs + more! http://bit.ly/IWxSVi Use the promo code: heart10
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Hi US fans who have been eagerly awaiting the DVD since the May 3 launch on OWN, Today’s the day! If you buy the DVD from us, it supports our #4Eva Campaign for organ donation and CF Awareness, and they will ship out right away. We also have lowered the prices on our #4Eva T-shirts.
Are you interested in helping us spread the love? We’re happy to discuss bulk orders for all our campaign materials so you can use them for fundraisers or to spread the world. Contact us if you are interested in being a #4Eva campaign ambassador! outreach@65RedRoses.com.
Read more about how our campaign was inspired by Eva herself and the design project she and Cyrus collaborated on. Love, love, love.
~ the outreach team <3
Love, Love, Love! It started with a heart…
Wear your support #4Eva and her campaign!
Eva Markvoort was a young woman who inspired millions with her love. Her story was captured on film in the documentary 65_RedRoses. At only 23, struggling with cystic fibrosis, Eva started blogging on LiveJournal as she waited on the list for a double lung transplant. After her transplant, Eva and then medical student and photographer Cyrus McEachern, collaborated on an image for a heart-themed photo contest his cardiology professor was hosting. These stunning images, born from Eva’s artwork (with herself as the canvas) and Cyrus’ photos, are the heart of our campaign.Through her story and her art, Eva’s campaign continues, #4Eva. (Which means forever in Twitterverse!)
This first photo series also inspired a further collaboration with BC Transplant commissioning the pair to do a “Live Life. Pass it On” photo series – Eva with her lungs, and other transplant recipients with the organs they had received painted on their bodies. This entire beautiful series of work can be viewed on their website. We also collaborated with BC Transplant to create their 2012 Live Life Pass It On PSA using footage from the film. Please share our campaign, #4Eva!
Now you can buy our Eva heart images as art cards in the USA & Canada! The cards are 5 x7 and printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. Photos of Eva by Cyrus McEachern. We’ve also use the heart motif for tee shirts and pendants. The home DVD (which is out now in Canada) the extra features include an interview with Cyrus along with filmmakers Nimisha Mukerji and Philip Lyall, talking about their friend Eva and the photo series. Proceeds from all DVD sales and campaign materials go to spreading the word about Eva’s campaign, including the FREE #4Eva organ donation app we will be launching in May to make it easy to register as an organ donor anywhere in North America, and to share the campaign via social media networks.
Volunteer Profile: Mandy Goble
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With our Edmonton screening coming up this Sunday May 27th, a few dedicated volunteers have been promoting the event. We are extremely grateful for their hard work!
Last week we profiled Michelle Root. Today we’d like to introduce you to Mandy Goble, who along with Michelle spent a good part of her May long weekend putting up 65_RedRoses posters around the city and U of A campus. If you see any of the posters in your neighbourhood, please snap a photo and post it to our Facebook Page or email it to outreach@65RedRoses.com and we’ll add it to our album.
And now for our interview with Mandy Goble aka @missmandygoble . . . (more…)
65_RedRoses Comes to Edmonton! An Interview with Campaign Volunteer Michelle
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On May 27th, Edmonton will host a special screening of 65_RedRoses, the last Canadian screening of the film during May CF Month! Attendees will be able to purchase DVDs and other great campaign awareness materials, such as t-shirts, necklaces and art cards, so don’t miss it!
In preparation for the event, we thought we would interview one of our keen Edmonton volunteers, Michelle. Michelle has been a longtime supporter of the film and campaign in her local community as well as online, and has been instrumental in supporting our outreach efforts in Edmonton. We asked Michelle to share her story about Eva with our blog readers.
I first read about Eva’s journey in late 2009 when I was going through a particularly rough patch in my life. My grandfather had just passed away and I was having a lot of issues with my own health. I didn’t get the chance or opportunity to meet her personally, but I felt a connection to her struggle with her own health even though each of our battles was very much different. I could understand her frustration but was amazed by the positive energy that she gave off despite her struggles with an incurable condition. Her ability to accept her own circumstances and bring about positive change because of it helped me slowly learn to accept my own struggles and help change the way I dealt with them.
Apps for Organ Donation! Our #4Eva App Is Here!
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We’re so excited to follow up the huge success of our 65_RedRoses US premiere on OWN with the arrival of our free #4Eva mobile app! So many of you tweeted or wrote on our Facebook wall about how Eva’s story motivated you to become an organ donor, or encouraged you to talk to the people in your life about registering as organ donors. So we’ve made it easy- just download our app, share your status as a donor, and watch the love grow!
We’re not the only ones with this brilliant idea- last week, Facebook launched a tool in partnership with Donate Life America to encourage people to share their organ donor status and encourage their friends to register! The response was incredible, with more than 100,000 people registering their organ donor status within 24 hours. We hope that everyone who was thrilled about the Facebook initative will also share their status with our #4Eva app, and that the folks in Canada who can’t use the Facebook app yet will enjoy hopping on the awareness train by downloading ours! Plus, our app has a few special features that make it unique.
Our OWN moment has arrived! Love Love Love! #4Eva
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May 3rd was our biggest launch yet when 65_RedRoses premiered on OWN Documentary Club! We’ve are thrilled with the support so far on Facebook and Twitter not to mention the rave review of the film in the NY Times. Join us on Twitter and Facebook to talk about the film. Our grassroots team and the directors Nimisha Mukerji and Philip Lyall (featured in the photo with Eva) were online too!
Let’s keep tweeting Oprah Winfrey It’s not only a movie, it’s a movement! Show your love! Tweet this: @Oprah We loved the film on @OWNTV Support @65_RedRoses movement for Organ Donation & CF Awareness! http://www.65RedRoses.com Pls RT! <3 or:
So excited @OWNTV aired our Campaign PSA! @Oprah please support the #4Eva Movement! www.65RedRoses.com
Watch the love spread across North America with your support for our campaign! Register with our organ donation web app. By sharing that you are an organ donor in North America, you can actually watch the love grow on the map, with a tally of potential lives saved! (PS. our mobile version will be available on iPhone and Android soon! Stay tuned…) Wear your love with our #4Eva tee shirts and pendants, with the heart motif designed by Eva! T’s, pendants, art cards all available now! + DVD pre-sales (they ship on June 19). (more…)
US Premiere of 65_RedRoses on OWN tonight! Show Your Support!
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It’s finally here! Tonight at 9/8c, 65_RedRoses will premiere on OWN Documentary Club! We’re so excited to finally share the film with our American audiences who have been waiting to see the film! Judging by this rave review of the film in the NY Times, we think you won’t be disappointed.
Want to show your support for this great film and movement? We have five easy ways!
Register with our organ donation app. By sharing that you are an organ donor in North America, you can actually watch the love grow on the map, with a tally of potential lives saved! (PS. our mobile version will be available on iPhone and Android soon! Stay tuned…)
Tweet at your favourite celeb about the broadcast. We’re tweeting @Oprah, @JustinBieber, and @TheEllenShow, hoping that they’ll RT the film and show their support for organ donation and CF awareness!
65_RedRoses Premiere on OWN May 3! Help us spread the word!
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We can hardly contain our excitement about the US premiere of 65_RedRoses, happening TODAY! We need your help to get the word out.
Here are three easy actions you can take to encourage your community to watch the film on Thursday, May 3rd at 9/8C on OWN!
1. Share the trailer on your Facebook wall. You can find and share it easily from Vimeo. Please post with the time and date so your Facebook friends know when to tune in, and share your reason for wanting to see the film.
2. Send out a tweet to your followers: “US premier @65_RedRoses Thur May3 9/8c @OWNTV! Trailer http://bit.ly/JZPVv2 Join the movement #4Eva Plz RT!”
3. Check out our press kit! After signing up, you can access great information and images about the 65_RedRoses #4Eva campaign that you can share with friends and family! (more…)
Update on the Girls of 65_RedRoses: Meg and Kina
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One of the most common questions after a screening is, how are Meg and Kina doing? The film tells the rest of Eva’s story, but moviegoers aren’t sure what happens to her closest online friends. At the end of the film, Kina is doing well but still struggling with chronic rejection, and Meg is trying to get into a treatment program to address her substance use and improve her health.
Well, we checked in with both girls recently and are pleased to share that they both have wonderful news. In February, Meg gave birth to a health baby boy named Aven. She’s moved back to Idaho to be near her family, and is seven months sober. While her health still has ups and downs she was able to carry her pregnancy to term, and Aven is a beautiful baby boy (as you can see on her Livejournal!)
Kina has good news to share as well: she and her girlfriend Abby are expecting a baby boy in August! While she has still been experiencing some post-transplant health struggles, she’s looking forward to being a mom this summer. We borrowed this photo of Abby’s sonogram from her Livejournal, Spirit of Kina. (more…)
Cyrus and Eva: A Partnership that Launched a Movement #4Eva
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The photos that Cyrus McEachern and Eva Markvoort created together sparked BC Transplant’s “Live Life. Pass It On.” Campaign, and have inspired and captivated thousands of people around the province since their creation. Today on the blog, we share the story of their friendship and the creation of those life-changing photos.
Cyrus and Eva met through co-director Phil Lyall during the filming of 65_RedRoses when the three of them all went to the beach just a few months before Eva’s pager would go off.
“I didn’t know how sick she was, but I had heard about her and the film,” Cyrus remembers, “And then going back up the stairs [from the beach] to the car, she needed like half an hour to catch her breath. I thought, Wow, this poor girl really needs new lungs.”
After Eva received her transplant, she began attending UBC, where Cyrus was in his first year of medical school. “We met for lunches and just kind of connected. She was an awesome person. We’d get together and talk about life.”
“One of my professors organizes a yearly photography contest based around the heart—she’s a cardiology professor. I think it’s called “Heartfelt Images.” And some of my friends knew I was really into photography, and were really pressuring me to win it and put a lot of effort in. I had a few ideas, but I didn’t really have a person to take a photo of.” When he mentioned it, Eva eagerly agreed to be his model.
Watch this exclusive teaser from the DVD Extras of Cyrus talking about creating the first images: (more…)
