A fundraiser for a young man hospitalized after he was attacked leaving work one night has brought together the New Rochelle community.

Stabbed in the neck during what police say was an unprovoked attack, 32-year old Rolando Alvarez is now facing a long road to recovery but thanks to the support of his family and community, he is healing.

According to Rolando’s cousin, Susan “Rolo had his family by his beside in the days following the attack and we were amazed at how positive his spirits remained and how he was telling jokes and making everyone laugh.  He has truly been an example and an inspiration to everyone around him during this trial.”

Doctors say Rolando was lucky he was not paralyzed or killed during the attack but with no insurance, Rolando and his wife are facing over $90,000 in medical bills.  In order to help Rolo focus on healing, Susan has set up a GiveForward page to allow people to donate and help defray the costs of care.

We hope you’ll join everyone here at GiveForward in sending Rolo and his family lots of good vibes and hopes of a speedy recovery!

We want to give you a free iPad this August.

All you have to do is follow 3 easy steps and the iPad could be yours!

Ready?

1. First, “Like” the GiveForward company page on Facebook. It is important to like this particular page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/GiveForward/157801610956395?ref=ts) because that is the only page we will be monitoring so make sure it is not one of the other pages that GiveForward is affiliated with, such as Give Forward and GiveForward.org.

2. Next, in a status update, let us know what Giving Forward means to you. It could be as small as sharing food with your friends or as big as a generous donation to your favorite fundraiser on our site. We want to hear it all!

3. And finally, tag the GiveForward company page that you just “liked” somewhere in the status. Here is an example: “To me, giving forward means doing a random act of kindness once a day. @GiveForward.” By tagging us, we will know to give you credit for your brilliant answer and enter you in the raffle.

And don’t think that this is a one in a million chance– you can enter as many times as you want! Each time you give us a definition and tag us in the post, you will be entered in the raffle again. It’s as simple as that!

The winner will be notified at the end of the month, and we will be compiling some of our favorite answers to be featured on our site.

So tell your friends, neighbors, and everyone you know– everyone is eligible! Please help us GiveForward a new iPad this August, and of course, thank you so much for all of your support.

Sending endless hugs,

The GiveForward Team

TechWeek 2011 is launching in just 24 short hours and soon Chicago will be filled with event-goers in town for the week-long festival, conference and expo celebrating technology, web and interactive communities.

Among those joining the discussion are GiveForward’s co-founders, Desiree Vargas Wrigley and Ethan Austin who will both be hosting discussions about major shifts in the world due to the emergence of crowdfunding technology.

In addition to speaking, Desiree was honored to be named one of the TechWeek 100.  The TechWeek 100 is a gathering of individuals who are impacting the business and technology landscape on a global scale.

As part of the impact GiveForward is having, both Desiree and Ethan are tackling major topics during TechWeek about how crowdfunding is changing the face of many industries.  ”Crowdfunding” is a word used to describe people who use the internet to tap into networks to gather funding.

During  “Transformations in Healthcare Technology” on July 23^rd, Desiree Vargas Wrigley will discuss how Health 2.0 companies, like GiveForward, are transforming the healthcare industry.  Desiree, who will be discussing “Crowdfunding Patient Care”, joins Chirag Patel, Founder of Chicago Health 2.0, who is tackling “The Gamification of Health” while Subbu Arumugam, Co-Founder of SugarSnap discusses “How Smart Is Your Doctor?”.

Later that afternoon,  Ethan Austin will be moderating the “Crowd Funding” panel, discussing the overall concept of crowdfunding and how it will disrupt the funding landscape for years to come.  Panelists include Rob Wu, Founder of CauseVox, Josh Terick, CEO and Founder of 33needs, Erica Labovitz, Director of Marketing of IndieGoGo and Nate St. Pierre, Founder of LoveDrop.

Come Monday, Desiree will address the changing world of funding with the addition of crowdfunding and how companies can benefit from additional capital during her “SPARK Women: Funding Basics – What options are available? Is it right for you?” panel.

If you can’t make these sessions, weigh in now!  Have you used crowdfunding?  Do you think it has changed the way we fund things?  Will it have a broader impact on the way we view giving in general?

One of the core philosophies at GiveForward is that it is OK to turn to others for help when you are in need.  We want to let you know that at GiveForward we not only talk the talk but we walk the walk too.

This piece by MSN featuring GiveForward’s CEO Desiree Vargas Wrigley, talks a little about how small business owners do exactly what our users are doing – turning to each other when they need a little extra help.  Oh and in case you were wondering who that beautiful baby is in the video they featured, that is Hannah and here is her fundraiser: Help Hannah Breathe.

GiveForward is excited to announce that we have been added as an action source to Social Actions.

Social Actions API is an open database of opportunities to make a difference.  The site has provided over 100,000 opportunities to make a difference in the world through volunteering, donation and job openings.

GiveForward is honored to join 60 other organizations in the Social Action community that provide ways for users to make a positive impact on the world.

Those that know Megan Caper say they would describe her as kind, generous, and always willing to help others in need. But now, she needs the help of her community.

Four years ago at age 33, Megan was diagnosed with Stage IIIb colon cancer.   Unfortunately, having a job, health insurance, and savings was no match when it came to the medical bills that have accumulated throughout the past years.

After battling the cancer for years, Megan is now healing and completing a master’s program in Occupational Therapy so she can help others going through medical problems. However Megan has struggled to pay for school, treatment co-pays and monthly insurance premiums that have increased seven-fold since her diagnosis.

Knowing all this, Megan’s family and friends, stepped up to get Megan the help she needs to finally pay off those medical bills.  They started a GiveForward fundraising page on her behalf and are already gaining momentum.

Everyone here are GiveForward is proud to give love and encouragement, and of course send out lots hugs to Megan and her friends.

What started as a trip to the hospital for meningitis turned into a life-saving serious of MRIs and CAT scans.  Doctors say 17-year old Sarah Reynolds was lucky to have caught the tumor in her jaw as early as she did.

As it was, the ameloblastoma in Sarah’s lower right jaw bone had already done significant damage, without her feeling any pain.  When doctors found the tumor she went in for immediate surgery and they had to remove an entire portion of her lower right jaw.

While the surgery stopped the tumor, it also left Sarah with a fragile titanium plate in her jaw and due to extensive nerve damage, she no longer has full mobility in her mouth.  Doctors say a series of three reconstructive surgeries will help stabilize Sarah’s jaw and allow her to once again smile easily.

Sarah’s loved ones have now come together to help her cover the expenses of these additional surgeries and “help her regain her confident smile” through their GiveForward fundraiser “The Smile of A Child”.  To learn more about Sarah and her fight against ameloblastoma, check out here fundraising page here.

We want to send the whole Reynolds family lots of hug and high fives as they and their community rally together to help Sarah smile again.

Bella is a beautiful three year old girl who was diagnosed with a childhood cancer called Neuroblastoma.  At just three years old, she has already undergone six rounds of Chemo, surgery to remove a tumor, bone marrow transplants and twelve cycles of radiation.

Despite handling more in her young life than most people do as adults, Bella’s only request is one you would likely hear from any three year old – to go to Disneyworld.

To help her get to the happiest place on earth, her family started a fundraiser to cover the cost of the trip.  They managed to raise just over $6,500 on GiveForward and are getting ready for their trip!

In the meantime, the unbelievable outpouring of support from Bella’s community has truly matched her fighting spirit.  Take one look at her website and you can see offers from people to hold bake sales, put out donation jars and even run 50 miles to help fundraise to cover the costs of Bella’s treatments.

The GiveForward team is honored to have been a part of this momentous wave of love and support and we want to send lots of hugs and high fives to Bella, her family and her whole community for being awesome.

Excelerate Labs is offering entrepreneurs 50,000 reasons to get started on turning their dreams into reality.

The Chicago incubator is offering its entrepreneurs $50,000 in convertible debt, with no discount or cap, from New World Ventures, one of the Midwest’s largest early stage funds.

The money is available to Excelerate’s 2011 class of ten startup companies.  This offering allows these companies access to capital without locking in valuation terms today. As TechCrunch says, the “offering is bound to be popular amongst the startups in Excelerate’s program”.

To be fair, we might be a little biased because GiveForward is an Excelerate Labs startup with investment from New World Ventures, but we are excited to welcome what is sure to be an amazing new class of companies to the Chicago startup scene!

Philanthropy U welcomed GiveForward’s co-founders Ethan and Desiree as guest speakers to their special Philanthropy In Action teleconference this past Monday.  Philanthropy U is a project hosted by the Purposeful Planning Institute and brings together planned giving professionals, community foundation leaders, philanthropic consultants and other advisors who are dedicated to philanthropy for monthly teleconferences and webinars.

During this month’s discussion, Ethan & Desiree spoke about how crowdfunding is empowering small-scale donors to find new meaning in giving.  They explored the recent increase in online giving and the role that crowdfunding sites played in allowing individuals to promote a cause or project and allow a greater sense of connection between donors and recipients.

Most importantly, the GiveForward co-founders highlighted the way that crowdfunding sites are empowering donors because they allow people to give directly to the cause they care about, allowing donors to gain a greater sense of impact from their gifts as well as giving them a sense of connection the project, prompting them to share this cause with their network.

Want to learn more about the call, including how crowdfunding sites satisfy three major desires for donors? Click here to download the call and listen in!