The Light A Star Network

"Together, the Possibilities are Endless!"

Along with many of you, I'm sure, I have been deeply touched and greatly moved by the courage and strength that Christopher Reeve has shown after the riding accident that left him so gravely injured three years ago. His determination in the face of life's challenges - like that of so many thousands of others in his situation - has been an inspiration to us all! And now - in focusing his energy toward public awareness of the need for medical research - he is turning what could have been a personal tragedy into the miracle of real hope for all of humanity.

Christopher tells us that the doctors already know where the research needs to go. Already we've progressed from a belief (generally held in the medical profession at the time of Christopher's accident) that nerves would not regenerate to the point of actually bridging severed spinal chords and restoring some function in lab animals. The research encompasses all types of neurological disorders, and is already making major strides in other areas. There is hope for testing soon on a new drug in the treatment of Alzheimer's and strokes.

You may well wonder why I should draw your attention to all of these concerns, if you would be kind enough to bear with me one moment longer, I can easily explain.

Christopher believes that neurological disorder touches all of us in some way. Almost everyone has had a family member or a friend, if not himself, who has been touched by some type of neurological problem. I have cerebral palsy. My husband and all four of our children are attention deficit disordered. I not only feel a great debt of gratitude to Christopher for the strength that his courage lends to my daily life, but I am vividly aware that his work may well prevent or help minimize problems like ours in the next generation's children.

My cerebral palsy limits my ability to do physical things, but I have been blessed with family members who have taught me a life-long love of all types of needlecrafting. In some small effort to repay the debt I feel so strongly to Christopher, I had been searching for a way to put these needleworking skills to his aid in the fund raising effort. The result is called the Light a Star Network, an organization which I have founded to make Christmas ornaments as gifts for those who choose to donate to the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation in support of medical research.

I need people who share my love of crafting to donate their skills in helping to make the ornaments through the year. I would like to see chapters of the Network formed all over the country, in the hope that we can make enough ornaments to eventually offer them on the net. The ornaments that I am making this year are worked on 7 mesh plastic canvas. I have sent them to Christopher and his staff along with complete details on the Network organization and what I am doing. The ornaments are simple enough for children to do, yet are surprisingly effective. They work up very quickly, and have the added advantage of using the small scraps of canvas from your other projects that might normally be thrown away. (You might also want to make a few for yourself or for your family and friends this Christmas.)

I am also looking for especially nice ornament patterns that are fairly inexpensive and quick to make, for new additions to the Network line each year. If you have any to offer, I would be more than glad to pay printing and mailing cost, if you will e-mail and tell me about them first. If any of you are into other areas of crafting - many crafters are bitten by more than one bug - I will consider patterns in crochet, cross stitch and tatting as well as plastic canvas. I'm looking primarily for star and snowflake designs, but if you know of anything you especially like in any style or crafting technique, I would like to hear about it! Nothing like an opportunity to learn new skills!

Lastly, I would like an honest appraisal of any ornaments under consideration for addition to the Network, to help me get a feel for what the public would be most likely to respond to. If you would like to be on the list of people to have these new ornaments so that you can offer your opinion of them, please let me know!

Christopher is raising money in large figures, but there still is not enough. The government does what it can, but we can't expect the government to do everything. If many of you are much like my family, we can't afford to give large amounts of money, much as we might like to. But most of us can afford a few pennies and a little time-particularly when some of the pennies have already been spent (remember the scraps of canvas?) and the time is spent in doing something that we already love! If enough of us work together, a very little goes an awfully long way, and every single penny brings us a minute closer to the answers! As Christopher says, "Together, the possibilities are endless!"

If you would like to become a part of the Light a Star Network by your choice of any or all of the following:

1. Receiving details on how the organization works
2. Receiving patterns for the ornaments that I an now offering so that you can help us make the ornaments.
3. Receiving a finished ornament for your evaluation.
4. Submitting patterns for submission to the Network line.

Thanks so very much for a few minutes of your time! We have a busy year ahead, and I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

Love and appreciation,

Linda Lambert