To date, Trouble is in the hands of over 3500 children in locations as far away as Iraq and Mali, Africa. In addition, Trouble has donated over $16,000 to charities working with children and animals in need such as St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Children’s Miracle Network, CancerCare, the SPCA of TN, NEADS (Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans) the Northeast Animal Shelter and the Mosby Foundation to name just a few.
Preliminary "word of mouth" testing has overwhelmingly shown that "TROUBLE" does elicit hope and joy in children and adults. As a result, there is now a survey underway to capture the "magic" of "TROUBLE".
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Meet six year old, Julia Bialogorski. She lives in Poland and loves Trouble the dog. It was her dad who turned Trouble, Luigi and that evil Nigglenat creature into a wonderful cartoon (see our Home Page).
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Thank you to all the students at The Winthrop Middle School who collected $464.85 in donations and sales for our "Trouble Mission" with the help of Ms. Melody Allen.
Trouble, Sheila and Luigi visited The Winthrop Middle School in April and were wonderfully surprised by this outstanding show of support! Funds such as this allow us to continue our Mission and keep working towards turning Trouble into a cartoon character which will help children all over the world. In addition, a portion of these funds was sent directly to the SPCA of TN to help save the life of an abandoned dog(s).
So to all of you who donated lunch money, spare change or purchased a plush Trouble or a children's book ... we thank you!!!
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Trouble and friend at In Full Force's South of Boston event.
Photo by Elena Gormley Photography
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Trouble and a very special friend at L.A. Children's Hospital
Photo by Keats Elliott Photography
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Trouble and a brand new friend at the CancerCare for Kids
Book Club in New York City
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Kendra and Sheila signing a Trouble book for a new friend at
the CancerCare for Kids Book Club in New York City
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SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER, 2008
For the month of December, Trouble will be highlighted in CancerCare for Kids donor newsletter as well as throughout their National offices.
Two new Trouble products have arrived, a Trouble "back-sack" that kids love; as well as a "Trouble On The Moon" bedtime story CD. The voice of Trouble is done by Katie Semine, and is excellent. Annette Nicolas, our incredible illustrator, did the illustration for us.
Trouble has been busy, as usual. He has been presented to two different parties in Los Angeles; and will be introduced to a New York television station this month.
Locally, a reading of Trouble's children's book was auctioned off to benefit children at an event held at Fenway Park.
AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER, 2008
Trouble has been "on the road" lately ... first stop, Los Angeles, to participate in the annual Radiothon at the L.A. Children's Hospital. It was a wonderful event, beautifully orchestrated by the Children's Miracle Network, and sponsored by Forester's Insurance of Toronto. Please see our Photo Gallery for more wonderful pictures of the amazing children we met.
Next stop, New York City. Trouble was invited to kick off the very first book club for the families of CancerCare ... again, it was wonderful and heartwarming to meet these children and their families. Here's a picture of our reading ... with more in our Photo Gallery.
Last, but hardly least, Trouble appeared at a fabulous event put on by In Full Force on the South Shore ... www.infullforce.com ...and met new friends as you can see above!
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SPRING and SUMMER OF 2008
Here are three wonderful, magical stories that just recently came to light about Trouble and adults:
A very well known athlete here in Boston has a wife who is ill. Trouble sleeps between them nightly.
A 50 year old man, recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, also sleeps with Trouble.
Just this past weekend, a teen who had lost a best friend to suicide, asked to keep a Trouble dog that had been given to someone else in his family.
Trouble is, very simply, soothing to people in need. A hug at the end of the day.
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Each month, Trouble and I take a trip to Rhode Island to visit Hasbro Children's Hospital. My most recent visit was particularly special. During a visit last year, I was introduced to a young girl who had been in a terrible car accident. She had many injuries and was confined to a wheelchair... and she could only say "hi".
I gave her a Trouble dog and she kept saying "hi,hi,hi" so I knew he made her feel better.
One of her caretakers approached me last week to tell me that she always remembered receiving Trouble ... it gave her hope.
She is now out of the hospital and walking and talking. Neither of which she could do last year. It is thanks to the good work at Hasbro Children's ... and maybe just a little bit of Trouble for encouragement.
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FALL OF 2008
Trouble and I had the pleasure of visiting the Manchester Memorial Elementary School recently; and it was a huge sucess!!!
Some of the comments from the Guidance Counselor, Katie Marsh, are:
"Because Trouble, Luigi and Roxy are the sort of playful characters that children can easily relate to, Trouble is able to provide them with a source of comfort that feels very natural and familiar."
"Trouble represents a cause this is greater than many of our younger students understand; but because the story and the character are on their level, they are able to consider what it might be like to experience a significant loss or a death in a safe and supportive way".
"The Trouble Revolution demonstrates that a difference can be made one step at a time and for elementary aged children, this is something they can understand and possibly even imagine doing themselves someday".
And then from a Third Grade Gal: "I love him, he's so soft. He makes me feel better when Daddy goes off to work."
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WINTER OF 2008
Due to our affiliation with the SPCA of TN, this past Sunday, December 9th, Kendra and I had the pleasure of meeting our new rescue dog, Star. She was a stray who was about to be put to sleep when we heard about her through the SPCA. The President of the SPCA, Celina, drove an hour and a half to the shelter to pull Star who was due to be euthanized in two days.
Star was then transported - through the generosity of 21 people driving different legs throughout the journey - and she is now safe and sound with us until we find her the perfect forever home.
She is probably a year old, has never had a home, is a combination of Black Lab and Golden Retriever, incredibly sweet and smart and we've already fallen in love with her.
This is the third dog we've rescued and we intend to keep doing it to the best of our ability.
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The Kids Pan Mass Challenge was a great sucess ... and we'd like to thank Steve Webster of Marblehead for shooting what looks to be a spectacular video tape...we'll keep you posted!
Trouble will be "appearing" at a Kids Pan Mass Challenge on October 13th to raise money for cancer. At that time, filming will begin for a short clip that will be appearing on U-Tube in the very near future, telling people about Trouble's mission to help children and animals in need ... we're calling it the "Trouble Revolution" ... paying it forward ... for every Trouble product purchased 20% of the proceeds will be donated back to a charity which will benefit children or animals. We're hoping U-Tube will send this message right around the world.
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Kendra has decided to donate a portion of proceeds to Save A Sato through the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem, MA. ... this is the organization that rescued her dog, Luigi, from the streets of Puerto Rico.
We also have begun a wonderful CHAIN OF LOVE with the SPCA of Tennessee. For each Trouble item purchased with the indication that it came because someone heard about Trouble through the SPCA of TN, we will donate a portion of our proceeds back to save the animals in need in Tennessee. This Chain of Love means that someone will buy a Trouble for a child, and then money will go directly to save the life of a dog in Tennessee. This great idea came directly from Celina, the President of the SPCA of Tennessee. It's all about helping children and animals.
Sheila and "Trouble" were honored to be asked to speak at an April service at the Wesley United Methodist Church in Salem, MA. The reception received was really wonderful; not only to introduce people to "Trouble" but also to be able to sell "Trouble" products after the service and donate a portion of proceeds back to the church. One hand helping another.
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We are honored to have Trouble chosen by Hasbro Children's Hospital in Rhode Island to be handed out to children as they are first diagnosed with cancer (our jewelry line). Trouble will be used as a coping mechanism, reminding them that there is a little girl out there saying "Where There's Trouble ... There's Hope".
We would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the newest memeber of the Duncan family ... Luigi. Kendra adopted Luigi from the Northeast Animal Shelter through the Save a Sato program (a Sato is a stray dog in Puerto Rico).
Luigi was living as a stray on the grounds of a factory before he was rescued and brought to New England. We believe he is a mix of Corgi and Jack Russell; and he immediately fit in perfectly with our family. He loves to sleep with his head on the pillow and is now one of the stars in our "Here's Trouble" children's book.
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