The Dear Jack Foundation and 11:11 A.M. have teamed up once again to head out on Warped Tour this summer.  This will be our 2nd year traveling the US actively engaging fans to join us in the fight against young adult cancers.

We’re proud to be represented on the road by the amazing duo of Adam and Leah from11:11am.  But as many of you know the Warped Tour is a grueling summer! So we need your help… we need volunteers!

Here are the details! Please read carefully, as we get a significant amount of applications for each date, so all applications must be filled out per instructions below. Only apply if you are 100% sure you can make the show you request.

Submission Deadline is June 5.

If you are chosen you will be contacted on June 15th.

Two (2) individuals per tour date will be chosen to help us out in the tent during the day at Warped Tour.  You are allowed to sign up for a maximum of two dates.  Individuals will be chosen based on their involvement with either the Dear Jack Foundation or 11:11 A.M., or any other organization that helps better the community.

Some duties will include:

Arriving promptly at the venue at least 1 hour before doors open,

Explaining the cause and the importance to attendees,

Passing out literature,

Selling merchandise,

Taking photos, and

Promoting the organizations to attendees visiting the tent,

Optional but extremely helpful: bring food for Leah and Adam so they can save money and donate more! (explained more if chosen to volunteer).

Guidelines:

You must be 16 years of age or older on or by the date you sign up for. Additionally, by signing up for the volunteer program, you agree to assist our tent for a large part of the day.  Should you be chosen to be a volunteer, you will receive a wristband at the venue.  The volunteer wristband is not to be used to get backstage or side stage access, to cut lines, or to behave in a manner that may reflect poorly on each organization.  Breaking any of these rules will result in your volunteer status being revoked and your wristband being taken away.

If you are interested in helping us out, please send an email to:  1111amvolunteerwarpedtour@gmail.com.

In the subject line, please specify: your full name, tour date, and city of the tour date.

For example:  John Doe, 7/6/10, San Diego

In the body of the email please include the following information:

Name:

Tour Date(s): (limit 2)

City:

Cell Phone:

Please write a paragraph response to the following questions:

How have you been involved with the Dear Jack Foundation or 11:11 A.M. in the past and why do you want to volunteer? Explain. If you have not been involved with either organization, what volunteer activities have you participated in to help better your community?  Explain.

If you are chosen as a volunteer, we will reply via email with directions to follow for your tour date(s).  Volunteer positions are available based on the information you give us and the paragraph you provide.

Disclaimer:  Neither 11:11 A.M. nor the Dear Jack Foundation is responsible for transportation of volunteers to and from the event.  Volunteers should arrange for their own transportation to and from the venue.  Additionally, volunteers are responsible for their own parking, food, and water.  We reserve the right to cancel the volunteer opportunity at any moment.

11:11 A.M. & GLAMOUR KILLS

We are very excited to announce our new collaboration shirt with Glamour Kills! We wanted to make a shirt geared towards summer, where everything is in bloom and full of life. 11:11 A.M. staff member Marissa Mullen coined the saying “Life is Beautiful, Save It”, and with Glamour Kill’s amazing style, vision and design, we bring you this new shirt!

BUY Men’s (Sizes XS-XXL)
BUY Women’s (Sizes XS- XXL)

- 11:11 A.M.

We will be on The Vans Warped Tour 2011 this summer!

Adam and Leah from 11:11 A.M. will be traveling with The Dear Jack Foundation. More information will be announced soon regarding volunteer opportunities!

We hope you’re as excited as we are, see you this summer

- 11:11 A.M.

Meet Cecilia Esteves, a good friend of mine who I met through the Jack’s Mannequin community. After graduating from college, she got a job offer at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. Cece works in the cytogenetics lab and deals with studies regarding different forms of cancer. I feel like it’s really important to not only get involved with raising awareness, but also learning about why cancer research is so important. We asked her a few questions to answer, so take a look!

- Marissa

Q: Where do you work?

A: I work as a cytogenetic technologist in a clinical cytogenetics laboratory at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. Cytogenetics is a specialized field that focuses on the study of normal and abnormal chromosomes and how they relate to human development and disease. The cancer section of our lab works with both hematological (blood, bone marrow, lymph node) cancers and solid tumors (lung cancer, breast cancer, etc). Chromosome changes in cancer are highly variable and there are literally thousands of chromosomal abnormalities associated with cancer.

Q: What does your typical day of work entail?

A: One of my main responsibilities is performing FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) on blood and bone marrow specimens. FISH is a technique that allows us to detect the presence or absence of certain DNA sequences using fluorescent probes. If possible, we first karyotype (examine chromosomes) each sample we receive to identify any structural or numerical abnormalities present. We then perform FISH to confirm abnormalities seen by karyotype or to look for abnormalities that are not visible by karyotype but are characteristic of that particular cancer. We work together with oncologists and play an important role in the workup of cancer patients. The testing we do can help to diagnose cancer, determine which treatments will work best, monitor response to treatment, and detect signs of relapse. Not all cases are straightforward and some days can be really frustrating. At times like these, I think of Andrew McMahon and his battle with leukemia and remember how important our work is and that we owe it to the patient to do our best.

Q: What did you major in at Uconn?

A: I majored in Diagnostic Genetic Sciences. There are about seven or eight accredited university programs at the United States. All of the programs are really great because they include a clinical rotation, which is basically six months of real life work experience before you graduate.

Q: Why did you choose to go into this profession?

A: I have been interested in genetics ever since I participated in a mock court trial in my eighth grade science class. I remember my case was based on DNA evidence. Genetics seemed like the coolest type of science, much cooler than chemistry and physics (an idea I still agree with!!) and it stayed in the back of my mind for a while. When I first started college, I was a pre-pharmacy major, mostly because I did not know what else to do. This lasted about a week and as soon as I found out there was a genetics program I switched majors without a second thought. The program matched my interests and was very practical—they have a 100% employment rate after graduation.

Q: Why is young adult cancer research important?

A: Young adult cancer research is SO important. Historically, most cancer research has focused on childhood or adult cancers. Unlike other cancers and diseases, young adult cancer has seen virtually no increase in survival rates over the past few decades! It is crucial to find the distinguishing biological factors in young adult cancers in order to develop better, more effective treatments.

Q: Any advice for people looking to work in Cytogenetics?

A: Pursuing a career in science can be challenging but is always rewarding. Any student that is interested in science should definitely consider working in genetics. It is such an exciting field and will continue to change and grow for years to come. I have only talked about cytogenetics but in reality there are so many different aspects of genetics. If you are interested in a career in genetics, talk with your science teachers and try to learn as much about genes and biology as possible. ASHG (http://www.ashg.org/education/careers.shtml) has a great section on their website about careers in human genetics. Good luck!

If you have any more questions for Cecilia, you can ask her on Twitter!

11:11 A.M.’s Photo Contest: Second Edition! 

Since last year’s photography contest was such a success, we decided to create another one for everyone to participate in! 

The theme for the contest is “What makes life beautiful?”

4 EASY STEPS!
1. Take a picture that illustrates something that makes your life beautiful.
2. Email your photo as an attachment to pics1111am@yahoo.com and be sure to include your full name, where you’re from and a brief description on why you chose to take this photo and what it means to you. NOTE: You may only enter ONE photo!
3. Look for your photo posted on our Flickr page.
4. Donate any dollar amount for your submission by clicking here if you’d like, but don’t worry! If you can’t afford donating anything, you can still enter. (We will randomly choose 5 people who donate to win 11:11 A.M. prize packs!!)

The deadline for this contest is March 1st, 2010! That gives you a month to plan, create and enter.

Remember, you can only enter one photo, so make it good! Any other photos will be disqualified.

Prizes:

1st place: New (TBA) 11:11 A.M. collab shirt
2nd place: 11:11 A.M. “Hope” poster and prize pack (buttons, stickers and a bracelet)
3rd place: 11:11 A.M. prize pack (buttons, stickers and a bracelet)

Any questions or concern, feel free to contact us at 1111aminfo@gmail.com, blog or twitter! You can also look at our Flickr page for examples. 

Good luck
- Marissa & 11:11 A.M.

Marissa Mullen, our social networking director, brings you our winter 2010 video update! Learn about our most recent projects and collaborations.

Happy Holidays!
- 11:11 A.M.

A friend of 11:11 A.M.’s, Kerry, recently received a successful bone marrow transplant. But in the past couple days, a complication occurred and she is back in the hospital. We wanted to do something special for her during this time.  In the past, we did something similar for our friend Matt and everyone did an amazing job by helping out. We would like to do the same for Kerry.

11:11 A.M. would like to start “Cards for Kerry”. If everyone who follows us could make/buy/design a Holiday or a get well card for her while she recovers in the hospital, it would be the best gift! We have thousands of followers, so could you imagine if everyone sent one card?

Below is the address for where to send your card:

Kerry Kelemen
PO Box 166
Thiells, NY 10984

Once you have your card, please send us a picture of you with the card to: 1111ambracelets@gmail.com and we will post them on our flickr and tumblr.

Thank you everyone for your support with this project and let’s put a smile on Kerry’s face

Best Wishes,
Adam and the 11:11 A.M. team

PS. Please help out by reblogging this.

We are proud to announce our brand new collaboration T-Shirt with workisnotajob! We are very excited because this is our first international collab, so spread the word! 

The price of the shirt is 25 Euros, which converts to about $31 USD. Head over to the online store to get yours today!! 

Be sure to follow their blog as well! 

“Dear future, I am ready now.”

 - 11:11 A.M. 

Hey Everyone!

Second video update on the road!

- 11:11 A.M.