Hello everyone! First I just want to apologize for taking so long to get this up. I haven’t had time to actually sit down and write a recap. As many of you know last Wednesday, February 6th, I finally delivered Mariska’s birthday package. I had tried many times before that but she was either off or filming in the studio when I went.

So I got to the set a little after 11:30 and I saw the crew outside around the filming equipment. I walked over and asked if Mariska was there. With my luck, she would have taken a Wednesday off so I wanted to be sure. One of the guys said he had no idea. I saw Danny’s trailer so I figured that had to be a good sign. If he was here Mariska had to be too, right? (BTW they all have their characters names on the trailers, except Mariska). She has a white trailer which really through me off. It was about the same size as the regular trailers (different from the guest stars) so I was kind of hoping that would be hers (turns out it was). I started walking down the block when I walked past Mariska’s driver. I was so relieved. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Now that I knew she was there I could relax a little. They were filming inside a brownstone so I couldn’t see anything. They were also filming right across the street from Stuyvesant Park. So I was sitting in the park for a bit when I see Mariska come out of the brownstone. I quickly walked back over to the trailers but I didn’t see her anymore. I wasn’t sure if she went back inside or was already in her trailer.

Mariska’s trailer was parked right around the corner at the end of the block they were filming on. I was standing at the corner so I could see both the filming and the trailers. By this point it’s around 1:00 and my back was facing the trailers though so I didn’t even see Mariska pass me. But I knew it was her before I even turned around. She was eating something and she says, “MMM MMM MMM.” Quite loudly too! She was so close to me but she was gone in a flash. She was going back to film so I figured I’d catch when she comes back.

Nothing exciting happened for 3 hours. Just me waiting and walking around. I was getting really hungry. I hadn’t eaten since this morning so I decided to stop into a pizzeria and get some lunch. Not even 5 minutes after I finished eating I met her. I walked out of the pizzeria (it was across the street from the trailers) and walked back over to where I was standing. All of the sudden I see Mariska with her bodyguards crossing the street coming towards me. Perfect timing. I know she was in a rush (when is she not!) so I didn’t want to take up too much of her time. I walked up to her and told her I had something for her. She stopped walking and got this huge smile on her face and said, “Okay.” I explained that it was for her birthday. I told her, “I know it’s late but that’s okay we can just pretend it’s your birthday.” That made her laugh. I told her that it was for the Joyful Heart Foundation, that we raised $1325 and everyone that donated was able to send a postcard for her. She said she can’t wait to read them, and when I told her how much money we raised, her eyes got huge. She said, “Oh, WOW. This is unexpected. How wonderful. Thank you so much.” She kept saying, “Wow,” repeatedly. It was funny. I also told her about the video and the wall hanging. She said that she was so overwhelmed and she appreciates everyone’s hard work. She also thanked me for doing this and said she was touched. She grabbed her heart when she said that. She said she couldn’t wait to go through everything later and she’ll cherish it forever. She thanked me a million times and then I left. That was that. It happened all of two minutes but it meant so much to me to be able to give her this gift. Even though she was being rushed she still stopped and gave me her full attention when I approached her. Class act.

This has been an incredible couple of months seeing your participation, and it’s all thanks to you who have been supportive, optimistic and encouraging! I am so proud and blessed to have so many wonderful people become a part of this project to raise awareness for sexual assault and help the Joyful Heart Foundation at the same time. It is because of your generosity and open heart that this project was a success. I couldn’t be more proud to watch this all come together.

Thank you for allowing me to do these projects. Thank you for being so willing to participate. Thank you for being so accepting of this project. Thank you for being so wonderful!

At this time, I would like to thank a few people in particular who has helped me along the way. (This is the part where I get a little sappy)
Hailey- Thank you for being so encouraging the last few months. Whether it was just listening to me ramble or listening to my doubts. You were always there when I needed you and I appreciate that more than you know.
Bridgette- I cannot thank you enough for your generous donation. It was unexpected but definitely appreciated. Thank you for helping me reach my original goal of $500. Also, thanks for continuously tweeting the campaign video! It means so much to me!
Linda Y.- Thank you for participating every year, and especially this year. Having your participating year after year means the world to me! Thank you for everything.
Linda D.- Again, thank you for everything and for support and participation. You are a wonderful person and I’m so happy to know you! I could go on and on how thankful I am.
Ditte- I’m so glad I got the chance to know you. Thank you for being apart of these projects! I can’t thank you enough.
Shannon- Thank you for your donations. You helped put me over the $1000 mark and for that I am forever grateful.

34 video submissions.
47 words for the wall hanging.
25 postcards.
$1325 raised for the Joyful Heart Foundation.

A huge thank you goes out to everyone who has participated. It was greatly appreciated. Every single one of you made these projects so successful! Give yourself a round of applause!

There is no way to keep track of everyone, but I do want to thank each and every person that took the time to promote this project in any way. This would not have been what it was without all of you! I sincerely appreciate your help. I could sit here all day and thank everyone for everything you’ve done for me!

Of course I did take pictures of everything before I gave them to Mariska. They’re in the gallery so be sure to take a look! You can watch the campaign video here.

Birthday Project 2013

You can see a detailed description of the donations here. I sold 50 wristbands and donated that money to the Joyful Heart Foundation. You can see my donations there as proof but your names have been cropped out for privacy. Everything adds up to $1325 so I’m not just making up a number

If you’re still reading, thanks