I Choose Indy!

I Choose Indy to begin promoting www.WhatFriendsDo.com, because Indy is where the site was born.

The story started in 1985 at IPS # 70 when my five-year-old daughter, Stephanie, started kindergarten. Stephanie formed an instant friendship with a cute little blond haired girl named Laura. Laura soon started coming to our house to play and spend the night. The girls were inseparable as they went to school together through eighth grade. Even though they attended different schools in high school and college, they remained best friends. Laura was like family.

In September 2005, 25-year-old Laura was diagnosed with brain cancer. As all of Laura’s friends and her family’s friends wanted to help, Stephanie and I coordinated meals, errands, other help – as friends always do. We communicated updates about Laura’s health via emails, and we created a website to allow friends to share their support for Laura.

What we also did was create an amazing cheer network, which became known as “Laura’s Team,” that brought great joy to Laura and her family, and helped them through the dark, difficult situation they were facing. The unique cheer we implemented also transformed all of Laura’s Team; friends did not drift away as they often do during uncomfortable situations. We “celebrated” special days: popcorn day, cherry pie day, random acts of kindness day, plant a flower day. We left surprises on Laura’s doorstep, held special parties, sent themed items in the mail.

Through the cheer patrol we organized, nobody was ‘doing it all’ and over 200 people were involved in various ways. As a result of the amazing impact this had on Laura, her family, and everyone on Laura’s Team, we created a very unique website to help friends help friends. www.WhatFriendsDo.com, which is free to use, allows users to create their own custom team site that includes a home page, blog, guestbook, photo collage. It also includes a page for friends to list their names as a show of support.

Another component is the Help Schedule – a calendar to coordinate who is bringing meals on which day, who is helping with errands, transportation, pet care, whatever needs to be done. The site assists with creative cheer ideas to help people stay connected, even in difficult or uncomfortable situations. It offers guidance about how to respond with care and grace in action and word, and has unique gifts that are practical, meaningful and often just plain fun.

Laura lost her battle in August 2006. She is greatly missed, but her legacy lives on by helping provide cheer to others on www.WhatFriendsDo.com, which went live in June 2007. More about the story is on the About Us section of the site. We encourage visitors to share a link to the site with friends, neighbors, co-workers, places of worship… because helping friends when it’s needed most is exactly what friends do!