Clay Aiken Fans Campaign for $50k Inclusion Grant

They are voting. Are you?

In Pepsi Refresh Challenge

Inclusion Project Moves to #22

At camp, my son does not have Down Syndrome, wear hearing aids, or have difficulty with his speech. He is simply a camper. - A mother

Tweaked voting strategies are beginning to pay off as the National Inclusion Project has inched up to #22 in this month's campaign to secure a $50,000 grant through the Pepsi Refresh Challenge.

In a special edition of The Voice newsletter this weekend, Inclusion Project supporters were encouraged to enlist additional daily voters and provided tools with which to help the charity place in the all-important top 10:

We need your help to spread the word so we can bring Let's ALL Play training to more programs across the nation and open doors for ALL children to participate in all that life has to offer!

Here's where you can point people:

1. Home Page Splash: Check out all the ways you can vote by visiting the National Inclusion Project home page!

2. Daily Reminders: Sign up to receive a daily email reminder and become eligible to win a free iPad if we finish in the top 10 and win $50,000! Sign up here: Inclusion Project/Pepsi Challenge.

3. Facebook/Twitter Updates: Join us on Facebook and Twitter!

If you received The Voice, forward the newsletter to family, friends, associates. Post a link for the newsletter on Facebook and Twitter.

The National Inclusion Project was founded in 2003 by singer Clay Aiken and Diane Bubel, mother of a son with autism.

Originally the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, the charity, which is based in Raleigh, NC, changed its name in 2009 to better describe the organization's mission and programs.

Foundation Forms Voting Alliances

The National Inclusion Project has established a voting alliance with other participants in the Pepsi Challenge. Besides offering opportunities to garner more votes, this also helps build awareness of the foundation's mission.

In reality, each person has 30 votes to use daily via text, Facebook, and email. Below is the current NIP voting alliance list:

National Inclusion Project - Text 102308 to 73774 (Pepsi)
RETT Syndrome - Text 100842 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Safe Places To Play (Cal Ripken) - Text 102661 to 73774 (Pepsi)
BRIDGES - Text 101364 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Blind Cat Rescue - Text 102422 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Children's Rare Disease Network - Text 102614 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Congenital CMV Foundation (childhood disability) - Text 101692 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Courageous Disabled Kids - Text 100058 to 73774 (Pepsi)
1p36 Deletion Syndrome - Text 101439 to 73774 (Pepsi)
Lake Reba Playground (handicapped) - Text 102102 to 73774 (Pepsi)

Be sure to copy/paste a message similar to the one below so the organizations will know the Inclusion Project is supporting their cause:

A vote from the National Inclusion Project! Help us help kids with disabilities experience life with their peers. We're going for $50K. http://www.refresheverything.com/nationalinclusionproject. Text 102308. Thank you for your support!

The National Inclusion Project serves to bridge the gap between young people with disabilities and the world around them.

Plan Pepsi Refresh Group Text

Need more ideas? Below are other suggestions for supporters from the Inclusion Project.

Are you doing a live event in the next two weeks? Do a group text! Have the attendees turn their cell phone sounds on and walk them all through sending a text together! When Pepsi texts back, the feedback will be amazing!

We are currently advertising online with NC State University's Technician, Duke University's Chronicle, and UNC-Chapel Hill's Daily Tar Heel. If you have connections with a local university where a free iPad might be an excellent incentive, feel free to put our information up!

A $50,000 Pepsi Refresh win by the National Inclusion Project would fund the following programs: train staff across the country on best practice inclusion techniques; provide training supplies; give scholarships to children unable to afford programs.

September is more than half over. It's time to move into the Top 10!

To order a 2011 Clay Aiken Calendar, also an Inclusion Project fundraiser, scroll down to the 9/15 Carolina entry.

Have an awesome week, Clay Nation!

Caro

Thank you for your birthday wishes for grandson Kai in the previous entry and for your comments in all blogs. To leave a remark, scroll to the bottom, click on the "Post a Comment" link, and write in the box provided. Many thnx for stopping by today! - Caro

Clay Aiken, Linda Eder Dream Duet

Sprain Alters Blogging Routine

You would think with the sudden 24-7 free time I have that writing a blog about the latest agenda of Clay Aiken and his newly-released Tried & True CD would be a snap, but my brain can't seem to get past a throbbing, badly-sprained left ankle.

An unexpected fall in the bathtub Tuesday morning not only put an afternoon of music lessons on hold but assured that my ankle and I would spend the better part of the day being x-rayed, diagnosed, wrapped, and iced down.

Mapping maneuverability in my house suddenly became a major concern. My den, where I am headquartered with a laptop and a TV with lots of recorded movies, looks like a retirement home with a walker, my late mother's cane, and a wheel chair from my brother-in-law's church. The latter really comes in handy for carting meals/dishes to and from the kitchen.

Frozen Corn Takes Aim at Swelling

My sister chauffeured me to the doctor's office where I was told be to sure to ice the ankle. The cashier at my neighborhood market is the mother of a dancer, and her daughter and friends prefer packages of frozen peas. The store was out of peas, but frozen corn molds around ankles, too.

Several times a day I apply packages of corn to my ankle and knee. Blue and purple are the predominant color schemes all the way down my left side, and they seem to be much more dominant today than yesterday. Parents of my students have offered their assistance and medical advice, i.e., take lots of Vitamin C to heal.

Sleep, which evaded me through the night, has come easily all day long. All I have to do is press "play" for a movie and I am off to la-la land. So I'll make this quick ...

DREAM DUET: Linda Eder and Clay Aiken

If I were going to write a blog about Clay Aiken, I would spotlight The Voice, Linda Eder's official fan newsletter which focuses on "Crying" -- the Dream Duet -- by the two singers on the Tried & True CD and the PBS Special. Besides printed interviews, there are some wonderful comments in this issue.

There is also a new Artisan News video out in which Clay talks candidly about American Idol.

Clay Aiken talks about American Idol with Artisan News.

Decca Records has posted a video Clay's of "Unchained Melody" performance from The View on the label's website. So far, there have been 150 views and 30 comments.

Clay and Lauren Kennedy join News 14 Carolina's Tracy Early for a discussion of Bringing Broadway Home, star-studded event set for 8 p.m. at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't pass along Fountaindawg's latest compilations from recent activities. The clickables below include the the Artisan News video with screen caps by Hope, 1; the June 12 debut telecast of Tried & True - LIVE! on WTTW-11 in Chicago, 2; another Artisan News graphic with caps by Artquest and deemer, 3; and Clay's CNN interview with screen caps by Cotton, 4.

It's time for more corn. Have a great week, Clay Nation!

Caro