Hands

My hands are small I know,

but they’re not yours, they are my own.

No, they’re not yours,

they are my own –

and I am never broken.

-Jewel

8 year old Victoria Petrucelly has small hands.

I recently wrote about Victoria and her fundraising efforts for the MD Anderson Cancer Center

here

After her mother’s untimely death, Victoria bravely made the decision to spend last weekend selling pink lemonade in her honor and donating the proceeds to MD Anderson, where her mother had been a patient, in order to help other cancer victims.

Prior to the sale, a local reporter asked Victoria how many cups of lemonade she was hoping to sell.

“Maybe 50!” She said, with all the wide-eyed wonder of a child.

Her story captured the hearts of many who spread Victoria’s message far and wide. Author Patti Digh wrote about it on her

blog

and set up a donation site for Victoria for out of town donors. Area businesses got on board and donated a percentage of their sales to the cause.

Today at 4pm, 8 year old Victoria Petrucelly presented the MD Anderson Cancer Center with a check for $23, 856.72.

Her good friend Jesse Theobald, who helped man the stand with her and serve over 1500 cups of lemonade, was pleased with the success of their endeavor. "I'm just happy it happened." she says. "When you're a kid, things usually don't happen.

My deepest thanks and respect go to each of you who allowed this to happen for Jesse and Victoria- and for the patients at MD Anderson and their families. Victoria's message of hope and healing was spread far and wide by each of you who wrote about it, blogged about it, Twittered about it and took the time to share it.

Never underestimate the power of social media.

And never underestimate the power of human hands, no matter how small they may be.

Think Pink Lemonade

This weekend I will purchase pink lemonade from a stand run by 8 yr old Victoria Petrucelly.

The lemonade will be pink in honor of Victoria’s mother, Angela, who died at impossibly young age of 40 on Valentine’s Day of this year from a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer. Angela left behind her husband, little Victoria and a 4 yr old son named Vincent.

All of the money raised from Victoria’s lemonade stand will go to MD Anderson Cancer Center-Orlando where her mother was treated. It’s Victoria’s way of spreading the message of how much she loved her mommy and how important it is that we help other little girls from losing their mommies, too.

As a mother, this tragic event is too horrific, too incomprehensibly painful to consider...and quite frankly, it terrifies me. But I have made it my business to learn how to use social media and Internet marketing effectively to spread a variety of messages. So starting now and continuing through Sunday, I will put my own selfish fear aside and pull out every tool in my Internet Marketing toolbox to support little Victoria and her cause. Won’t you please consider doing the same?

The Pink Lemonade Stand will be March 21st from 9-5 and March 22nd from 11-5 at 1810 Nebraska Street (across from Leu Gardens). If you do not reside in the Orlando area but would still like to donate, please contact the Petrucelly family’s friend Dana Loncar at 407-808-3441.

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