I know, I know, it’s Friday – which normally means Friday Flashback and normally means I reveal some hilarious or stupid or touching thing that’s happened to me in the past. And I know, last week I put you all through a ridiculously depressing discussion about child abuse. But bear with me, as I’m about to veer off my normal path again…because this is REALLY important.

11 months ago, this adorable little girl named Penelope was born:

A few weeks ago, Penny bumped her head. Not a huge deal, kids tend to bump their head now and then. But then Penelope’s eyes turned black.

Concerned, her parents took her to the hospital and hours later, scans revealed that she has Stage 4 Neuroblastoma. What had been a normal, happy day changed this family’s path, thrusting them into a world of heartbreak paved with unfamiliar and expensive medical terms: chemotherapy, anesthesia, CT scans (at $4,000 each), biopsies, transfusions. Penny’s father was recently laid off, and the insurance policy they have for Penny covers only 60% of the costs - not to mention endless rounds of medication that aren’t covered at all (like $1,500 10-week treatment cycles of GCS-F shots).

In today’s world, we hear horror stories every day. We see sadness and sickness and we’re numb to it. I know; I’ve done my absolute best to shut it out many times because I’m too busy, too stressed, too frustrated to think about it because I feel helpless. But this story made me stop and think because it came to me from a friend, pleaing for help. Penny is the relative of a fellow blogger in my community, a community that has come together over Twitter, Facebook, and even local meetups. We have a powerful group of connected people who truly care about one another, and I believe that we can make a difference.

So here’s what I’m asking: please do your best to get the word out. Penny’s family is having an auction to fundraise for Penny and has created Pennies4Penny to leverage our social media and word of mouth circles to do some good. If you tweet, follow @pennies4penny and let your followers know. If you blog, post and link up to www.pennies4penny.org. If you Facebook, do your thing over there. If you’re just one of those people who talks a lot to your neighbors/friends/family, bring it up. And if you own a business or know anyone who works with a company that can donate products for their fundraiser, that would be a huge help. Thank you.