Fundraising Stars
Co-founder & President,
The Sydney & Alexandria Cohen Foundation
Jennifer Cohen's nomination, made by her husband, Brian, is a little different from most of the others received for this year's awards.
Jennifer and Brian head up an organization they started when their twin daughters, Alexandria and Sydney, were born 10 weeks early at 2 pounds, 14 ounces and 3 pounds, 3 ounces, respectively. The girls spent five agonizingly long weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Memorial Hospital West in Florida, but now are happy and healthy.
Jennifer and Brian felt compelled to do something to help give back to the community to show their appreciation for their healthy daughters. So they founded The Sydney & Alexandria Cohen Foundation with the goal of raising $60,000 for two GE state-of-the-art Omnibed Giraffe incubators, which they plan to donate to the NICU at Memorial Hospital West.
Brian writes that Jennifer has held several fundraisers and galas but wanted to find a way to create an ongoing stream of revenue that was not limited to just one night. The girls love nail polish, and with their input, Jennifer created twin gift sets of nail polish called Polish for Preemies to sell through boutiques and the hospital gift shop.
"Jennifer is thankful every day for our healthy daughters," Brian writes. "Things could have gone very differently for us, and this is Jennifer's way of paying it forward. She could not think of a better way to celebrate and honor our daughters than by donating technology that will help thousands of premature babies year after year."
The Cohens have received many accolades for their efforts, and we feel that Jennifer qualifies as a Fundraising Star for her vision in recognizing that stand-alone events aren't the most efficient way to raise funds over the long haul. So many well-intentioned organizations spring up around personal crises, and the first thought is to have a gala event. But they don't grow from there because organizers fail to see they need a more steady stream of income to continue their good work. Kudos to Jennifer for realizing that early on and taking steps to do just that.
