SmileLines

How do you test the resolve of the hundreds of friends and family that support your cause? Easy… throw a golf tournament on the rainiest day of the season and have them stand out in the weather for 5 1/2 hours!

I will never be able to thank the nearly 200 folks that came out in the pouring rain to support the “2nd Annual Tee Off For The Twins” Golf Tournament and Clambake held this past Saturday at the Foxfire Golf Club in Baldwinsville. Your resilience and commitment to this fight is unwavering and on behalf of Alison and the boys, I thank you.

As a result of your efforts we raised over $18,000 for treatment research while avoiding any possibility of sunburn on a day that will live as the benchmark for the true grit of Two Smile’s supporters.

Thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors for your support in a year that has been riddled with recession and cutbacks. Thanks to all the volunteers that made it all work so well. And most importantly, thank you to the event committee for your ability to create such a successful tournament while struggling with all the unforeseen obstacles. You are truly the “masters” of the game.

I look forward to next year’s tournament and hope you will all join us again to end Duchenne.

Tee Off 2009 Pics

Thank you and continued smiles,
Matt

Registration has begun for this years 2nd annual “Tee Off For The Twins” golf tournament being held Saturday, June 20th at Foxfire Golf Club in Baldwinsville, NY. Last year we raised $20,000.00 with this event and this year promises to be just as big. This year, registration can be handled via the internet by following the link on the TSOH main page. We have room for 36 “first come, first served” foursomes, which last year was filled by the third week in May. We would love to see you golf in our tournamnet, so please don’t delay. Regiter today and make this Father’s Day weekend golf outing a day of support for Two Smiles One Hope.

Click Here for the Two Smile’s Home Page!

Continued smiles,
Matt

Two Smiles is proud to be part of the “One Million DVD’s in One Year” campaign taking place next week in various schools and communities around the Syracuse area. This local campaign is part of the ongoing national effort spawned by the cast and crew of the world renowned Duchenne docuentary “Darius Goes West” The cast and crew come to town on March 24th and will be hosting two evening screenings. The first will be held at Marcellus High School on Wednesday, March 25th at 7 PM. The second will take place at Cazenovia College on Thursday, March 26th at 7 PM. A fundraising party is scheduled for Friday night at the Cicero American Legion and will include food and live entertainment. Tickets for the party are $20.00 presale available through Alison Willis at 315-415-4414 and $25.00 at the door. Come on out and help Two Smiles support this great cause and change DMD.

Continued smiles,
Matt

Most would have laughed off the challenge as a dare, an impossible dream to achieve…

Get a few hundred middle school students to sit down and hand write 25,000 letters in order to support a goal that has no affect on them, their school, families, or daily lives. I did say TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND LETTERS, think about that!

Well, if you’re one of the many who feel this way, it’s safe to say you have yet to meet up with the group of revolutionary students that make up the Jamesville DeWitt Middle School. Thanks to their efforts, lead by their tenacious teachers Melissa Dardaris and Heather Meyers, Two Smiles is happy to announce the return of Darius Weems and the cast and crew of “Darius Goes West” on March 24th, 2009. This time around they will be hosting screenings at Cazenovia College and Marcellus Central Schools and making day trips to several area middle and high schools to make sure that everyone “Knows About It.” This letter writing campaign is part of the ongoing “One Million DVD’s in One Year” campaign. The effort is getting copies of DGW into the hands of educators across the nation and will empower millions with crucial information about DMD. Stay tuned for upcoming screening times and additional information.

With all of my heart, I humbly thank the students involved in this monumental task. You are my heroes and you will save my boys.

Continued Smiles,
Matt

As of Friday, October 24th, New York State took over as the number one state in DVD sales of Darius Goes West. This accomplishment is a direct result of a lot of hard work on behalf of the students and staff of Jamesville-DeWitt Middle School and the envolvment of Two Smiles. All tolled, over 600 people crowded into the main auditorium at JD High School to veiw the screening and to cheer on the cast and crew of this exceptional movie experience. Combined sales bridged the 1900 DVD mark and set new bench marks for most “busses” sold in one evening. The cast and crew have asked us to up-stage our first performance on their return trip coming in Spring of 2009, a challange that all involved have accepted. Please stay tuned for information on how we as Two Smiles supporters will lead the charge in New York to become the first state in the union to reach our sales quota of 20,000 DVD’s sold in one year!

Continued smiles,
Matt

Check out the blog hype!

In collaboration with Jamesville DeWitt Middle School, we are pleased to announce that on Wednesday, October 22nd the cast and crew of the world renowned documentary “Darius Goes West” will be stopping in Syracuse to show the movie and drum up support. Their goal is to sell one million copies of DGW in order to raise money, awareness and to mark Darius’ chapter in history with as many people as possible. It’s an incredible story that takes Darius from his hometown in Athens, GA to the west coast in hopes of getting his wheelchair “pimped” on MTV’s “Pimp My Ride”. We hope you can help us make this event a memorable one. The showing will be at the Jamesville DeWitt High School Auditorium, 6845 Edinger Drive in Fayetteville at 7 PM. Hope to see you there.

Click here to watch the trailer!

Continued Smiles,
Matt

Come join us Saturday August 16th, 2008 at Performance Harley Davidson in Syracuse for the second annual MDA Ride for Life. Join riders from all over the region and help raise money for a great cause. The ride begins at 11 AM with registration starting at 9 AM and will finish at the Syracuse Inner Harbor at the Hottest Chicken Wing Festival. Pre-Registration is available at the link below. Put on your best leathers and polish up your chrome, we’ll see you there!

MDA Ride for Life Info & Registration

Continued Smiles,
Matt

We’re still talleying numbers but in the meantime have a look at all the great photos of the day!

Irish Open Pics

For 32 years the Thomas Dwyer family of Rochester has successfully coordinated one of the longest consecutively run golf tournaments played in western New York. This year the tournament chairs have decided to award the benefits of the Irish Open to Two Smiles One Hope Foundation. The tournament will take place on August 4th, 2008 at Brookwoods Country Club, formerly Ontario Golf Club. The price per player is $125.00 and the format is a 4 man scramble. Contact Patrick Dwyer at murph_brah@yahoo.com for more info. Here’s to another successful year and many to come.

Continued Smiles,
Matt

What an amazing success. Saturday, June 28th we hosted the innaugural “Teeing Off For The Twins” Golf Tournament. Aspirations where high going into the event with the field of 140 golfers being completely sold out three weeks prior to the event, however, the end result blew away anyone’s expectations. The tournament went off without a hitch thanks to impeccable planning on behalf of Reagan Goodnough and EventSmith of Atlanta. Golfers, friends and families from all over he Northeast and Midwest decended on Baldwinsville to join in on the festivities making it one of the premiere charity golf events of the year. Co-creators and best friends, Stephen Goodnough and Ron Bellomio acted as Masters of Ceremonies awarding the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and last place finishes as well as longest drive, closest to the pin, and skins awards. Local music act “Mike and Stan” brought their diverse set of blues and classic rock tunes to keep the party moving well into the evening. After a moving speech by Two Smiles President, Alison Willis, the evening was capped off with the awarding of our grand prize, a 50” plasma television. The end result of the event was a staggering sum of monies raised in order to fund translational research for a treatment or cure of DMD.

As a result of this event we’ve raised over $20,000.00 for the cause and informed hundreds of people about our mission in hopes that they may continue to spread the word. We will change this disease.

Thank you so much to our beloved friends and family for taking the time and making this day so spectacular. With you at our side there is nothing we won’t accomplish.

Tee Off Pics

Continued Smiles,
Matt