Sunday, October 12, 2008

Mary's EagleEyes Fundraiser Challenge!!!

We recently came across an amazing technology that helps people with severe physical disabilities have full access to computers. It is called EagleEyes and it was first developed by Boston College almost 10 years ago.

The Opportunity Foundation of America (www.ofoa.net) is a non-profit organization that was developed to improve the quality of life for children and adults with severe physical challenges. They are an amazing organization who are dedicated to building EagleEyes systems and providing them to children around the country who need them.


Mary and EagleEyes, how did this come about?
Mary loves using the computer and it is a great learning tool for her, but we've had a hard time trying to figure out an interface that is right for her. She can move a standard mouse, but she does not have very good control and she is not able to "click" the mouse buttons. A touch pad doesn't really work for Mary either. We've also tried Camera Mouse, which would work great in theory, but Mary doesn't have enough head movement to control that mouse either. So we stumbled upon EagleEyes and it seems to be the perfect solution for children with SMA, and other severe physical disabilities (and even visual disibilities).


We are trying to raise money for the Opportunity Foundation so that they can continue to manufacture these EagleEyes systems and provide them to families at low (or no) cost. Our minumum goal is $1200, but I think we can raise much more than that. There are two ways you can make a tax deductable donation:

1. Go directly to the Opportunity Foundation Of America website (www.ofoa.net) and click on donate now! PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU SELECT "Sponsor and EagleEyes System" AND PUT "For the Benefit of Mary N. (miracleformary.com)" IN THE COMMENTS BLOCK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE DONATION PAGE.

2. Mail Donations to: (again put "For the Benefit of Mary N_____." on the check.)
OFOA\EagleEyes
atten: Debbie Inkley
7166 Villandrie Lane
Salt Lake City, Utah 84121

Tax ID# 87-0626778

Thanks to everyone for your continued support of Mary and our family and thank you for supporting this great cause. God Bless you all!

1 comment:

Jane and Bill said...

Hi Mary Grace!

Boy, we hadn’t realized how long it’s been since we had written you, and your Mom and Dad and little brother, ‘til we checked out the ol’ blog and saw all the new posts and the great pictures! You all sure are busy! And you certainly are growing up fast!

We hope you all are enjoying the beautiful transition from Summer to Fall up there in Charlottesville, so close to the Shenandoah Valley and the Blue Ridge – we’d like to get up into the mountains here in North Carolina ourselves, but boy dies it get crowded this time of year!

Please tell your Mom & Dad and Ryan and Sam and Copper and everybody else there hi from us, and to take care – we’ll be thinkin’ ‘bout y’all, and we’ll try to keep up a little better in future!

Love, Jane and Bill