posted by:undomesticdiva

I just want to personally convey how amazing networks on the internet can be; how powerful internet communities – especially among mothers – really are.

A friend of mine, who is also a blogger, lost her 17 month old daughter to respiratory failure unexpectedly on Tuesday night. We, in the blogging world, were completely shocked by little Maddie’s death as she had seemingly overcome all odds. Born at 28 weeks premature, Madeline’s first few months of life were touch-and-go. But she was a fighter and her parents, Heather and Mike, were also fighters and Maddie became the miracle baby who could.

Just two weeks ago I held Maddie in my arms as she laughed – her energy and happiness infectious and overwhelming. You loved her instantly even though she wasn’t your own and you knew why the whole world – a huge chunk of the internet – had become so smitten with this tiny little girl. Even Matt Lauer of The Today Show was not immune to her and when hearing of her passing, The Today Show made mention of it on their blog as well.

Heather, Mike and Maddie had been fundraising and planning to walk in the April 25 March for Babies walk in Los Angeles for the March of Dimes. Last year, Maddie was too sick to go with her mom (she was prone to lung infections) so they were exceptionally excited to have her along for the march this year. As of Tuesday afternoon, the family was at $2,400 in donations, just shy of their $3,000 goal. When word spread on Twitter that Maddie had left us, donations poured in. Today, friends and total strangers, companies and unknown contributors have donated almost $20,000 to March of Dimes in Maddie’s name.

In addition, we’ve managed to round up almost three dozen Southern CA bloggers to walk in her memory in their place on April 25. Through the internet, we’ve organized grocery deliveries, meals to be brought in, raised money for the burial costs, had a reception location and food donated, organized a P.O. Box, ruined the reputation of Blue Host who had hosted the family’s blog up until the traffic overwhelmed it – at which point they kicked them off their servers – and had their blog moved to its own dedicated server.  For those who live outside of Los Angeles, we’ve arranged teams in Maddie’s name in over a dozen major cities in the U.S. to walk in her honor. We’ve had t-shirts, sweatshirts and buttons designed for the marches… The list goes on.

And we’ve done this all through the internet… through Twitter and Facebook and email. And you know what? I have never seen such generosity amongst (in most cases) total strangers in my life. Most of these people I am working so closely with to help this grief-stricken family, I have never met in real life and probably never will.

If you want to read more about Maddie: http://undomesticdiva.typepad.com/undomestic_diva/

I just want you to know how powerful the internet is and how incredibly real friendships on the internet can be – even amongst people you’ve never seen face to face.

-- Megan