Education Marketer finds partner in ARCA/NASCAR in help to fight MDS and Leukemia

July 13, 2010 - PRLog -- Earlier this year, Jason Shatzkamer and Daniel Haim were just starting a new business.  With a background over the last few years working in online cost per lead and cost per application education marketing they were looking for a new angle.   (Clients have included the University of Phoenix, Colorado Technical University, Devry, Kaplan and all institutions in between)

Both partners agreed to meet up at Daytona Speedway with Chase Mattioli to learn more about the sport.  Once there, the partners knew that NASCAR would be a great outlet for their partner colleges to reach the audience they were looking for and help people make the right choices about school.  

After leaving Daytona, Dan knew that NASCAR was the right fit, especially with such a young, energetic, professional and charismatic driver for his clients.   What he did not know was that the partnership would take a whole different turn.

Upon returning to New York, Dan found out that his mother was diagnosed with MDS or Myelodysplastic Syndrome.   With no knowledge of the disease itself he reached out to many organizations and found the answers with http://www.aamds.org.  

MDS is a group of disorders where your bone marrow does not work well, and the blood-forming stem cells in your bone marrow fail to make enough healthy blood cells. People with MDS can lack the right amount of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets (the small cells that help blood to clot).

The disease happens because the bone marrow cells do not develop into mature blood cells. Instead, these blood cells stay within the bone marrow in an immature state. The symptoms and the course of MDS may vary greatly from person to person. These differences depend on which blood cells are affected.

There currently is no cure for MDS other than bone marrow transplants and the list of those in need is quite long.   All other treatments for this disease are in one way or another a form of triage.    

Treatment was to begin immediately at one of the top cancer hospitals in the country, Memorial Sloan Kettering and under the care of one of the top doctors in the field, spirits were up.

Only months later another bombshell was to hit.   The MDS has grown and was now considered AML (otherwise known as Leukemia).

After getting an understanding of the new situation, Dan reflected on the last few months.  After receiving a lot of information and support from AAMDS he and his family felt it was time to give back.  

The Haim's have now partnered with AAMDS and Chase Mattioli to sponsor him at Pocono Raceway as he continues on with a strong year.  

Even with GREAT support from Chase and his race team, sponsorship is not easy and the Haim's are actively seeking donations to help get the "car on the road".  You can help the cause by making a donation at http://www.firstgiving.com/nascar or get in touch with Dan directly through http://www.edideas.com

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Ed Ideas will help your school identify opportunities and implement strategies to increase enrollment, improve retention, and graduate more students. Ed Ideas is a performance improvement company. Combining 50 years of higher education experience, our principals can help:
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