Hi everyone. My name is Jean. I do the Proud Of Our Troops drive where Taylor Hicks CD's are sent to the troops. There is a wonderful charity called the Dream Foundation which is the first national organization that grants dreams to terminally ill adults. When I first read about this organization, there was one person who had a dream that really stood out. Her name is Debra. She had a dream to go to an American Idol concert. You can read about Debra here. http://www.dreamfoundation.org/content.asp...ream&id=425 Something as simple to some of us as going to a concert was someone else's dream that could not be obtained without help. It really touched my heart.

I emailed the Dream Foundation and told them that although I could not send Debra to an American Idol concert, I could send her some things from my own American Idol collection. I was told to call the Dream Foundation. When I called, I found out that Debra recently took a turn for the worse and could not attend an American Idol concert. I also found out that Debra loves everything relating to American Idol. She loved all the contestants, she watched the seasons with her son, and she does not have anything relating to the AI contestants. Her family was contacted, and they said that Debra would love anything and everything relating to American Idol and the AI contestants. So I decided to do a drive and get all the AI contestant fan boards involved. Since Debra cannot attend an AI concert, we can bring AI to her!

Debra spends a lot of her days in bed, so music and other items would be awesome to keep her feeling upbeat. I am asking if you would all like to donate items from your own collection. Items include CD's from the Idol contestants, DVD's of AI performances, DVD's of concert performances, pictures, shirts, autographs, memorabilia, and anything else you can think of that would lift Debra's spirits. If you have anything you would like to donate, please email me at jewelrysprout@aol.com and let me know what you will commit to sending. I will reply back to you and give you the address of the woman at the Dream Foundation who is handling the items for us. The Dream Foundation is going to put everything into nicely decorated baskets and hand deliver the items to Debra. The Dream Foundation is very excited about this drive and is looking forward to all the goodies that Debra will receive.

Please first go to The Taylor Hicks Community to view the list of items collected so far. http://www.thetaylorhickscommunity.com/news.html The Taylor Hicks Community has been kind enough to keep an updated list for all to view so Debra doesn't receive any doubles. If it's not already on the list, then email me and let me know what you are committing to send to the Dream Foundation. I will add your items to the list and send you the address. All items need to be mailed by Tuesday, July 1. I know it isn't much time to get things ready, but I was told that time is of the essence.

If you don't have any items to send, you can still give Debra a card or letter. Please email me for the address and your cards and letters will also go into the gift baskets. If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to email me. Again, my email address is jewelrysprout@aol.com Thank you all for taking the time to read this post. I appreciate it very much.