Marie Pizano-Firtik, new board member spurs ICHF special events
Thursday July 19, 2007 10:54:41 PM 
When Marie enters a room, her energy and can do spirit excite everyone. She turns a gloomy day into sunshine and fresh air. This positive, enthusiastic go-getter has spent most of her adult life promoting and supporting children's causes. In March, 2007, ICHF got lucky when Marie joined the ICHF board and accepted the activist role of Vice President of Special Events and Public Relations Director .
Her passion for addressing children's issues began when her mother became president of Child Find, Inc. in Chicago. When Marie and her family moved to Memphis in 1999, she became involved in the Memphis community by helping organizations such as New Neighbors of Germantown, Memphis Symphony, St. Jude, COMEC, and American Heart Association. Marie is a seasoned marketing and fund raising professional with particular expertise in special events. She brings to ICHF a vast network of local and national contacts in community organizations, entertainment and journalism. Her goal is to significantly increase ICHF fund raising and recognition through events and publicity.
"The International Children's Heart Foundation is a wonderful organization that has not yet been recognized as it should. My role is to stimulate that recognition by using my creativity, my connections and my energy to get it done and get it done right!"
Marie believes in connecting organizations with "like minds and missions". For example, the southern women's group, the Tiara Tea Society, raises money to help girls and young women. In 2008, the Tiara Tea will devote its fund raising efforts to sponsor an ICHF operation for a little girl in a developing country. "If we do it right, we'll be able to help more than one!" declares Marie. Marie is also on the board of the Women's Foundation for Great Memphis. Her website is www.MariesMission.com.
Marie is a visionary and to complement that she is also a doer. "I see a future that when people think of helping children internationally, they think first of the International Children's Heart Foundation. To make that happen, we need not only a plan, but I will pick up the phone to get the right commitments and lead the effort to make it happen."
Donors and sponsors should especially appreciate Marie's ability to get people to volunteer their time, services, products and talents. She knows how to negotiate win-win situations for everyone involved. Be it food, entertainment, celebrity appearances or guest performances, Marie can lower event costs while increasing the quality, vitality and excitement of events. The bottom line is an increased return on the investment to raise funds. As Marie likes to say, "Let's put ICHF on the map in new ways."
