Well 2009 has finally arrived and we at Brady's Smile decided it was probably a good time to change the format of our Brady's Smile Community.  Although we originally contemplated the Community as a place where recipients, supporters and administrators could come together, share and interact, it quickly became apparent that the majority of content and participation came from yours truly. 

And that's OK.  Perhaps one day we'll revisit some sort of online interactive community sometime in the future.  For the time being though, I figured we would try this new blogging format.  I think it adds a level of simplicity and will allow recipients and supporters to respond to blogging entries with comments without having to go through a rigorous registration process that inevitably limited the effectiveness of our prior format.  That said, I plan on keeping the original format in tact for some time and you can always read through all of our postings by simply visiting http://apps.bradyssmile.org/forum - I think it tells a good story about what 2008 meant to Brady's Smile.

But as I said earlier, it is now 2009 and it's time to get started.  Although the close of one year and beginning of another often brings with it a little bit of down time, things couldn't be more crazy in our little office in Fairfield.  In addition to closing our books for 2008, and we are actively planning our next fundraising event on February 28, 2009, "Symphony of Smiles."  Feel free to visit our temporary website page (http://www.bradyssmile.org/sos.htm) more information.  We will be continually updating that page as we finalize details and will be sending out an email to all of our email newsletter recipients.  If you do not receive these newsletters but want to going forward, please email us at info@bradyssmile.org and we will include you on next distribution.

I just want to take a second to say thank you to all of our supporters and tell you that we are completely and utterly blown away by the support you have shown in our first year of business.  Your support crushed every single budget estimate and expectation that we created back in May and we are well positioned to support our current programs in 2009.  It blows our mind that we are able to connect with people despite having no celebrity spokesperson or clever and quirky commercial.  It effectively validates the simple concept the people are inherently good. 

In closing, as we begin 2009, It is our hope to expand the breadth and depth of our programs by increasing deliveries to current hospitals and forming new partnerships with additional children's hospitals.  We know we can't do any of this without you and we look forward to telling you about all of our plans as this year unfolds.  We hope that you are as excited about all the possibilities out there this year and are beginning to see how small gestures of kindness result in huge impacts to children in need and their families.  Thank you for making a difference.