The mysterious birth defect, Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, harms 1600 babies each year in the U.S. and takes the lives of 800 of these children. Actor Charlie Sheen has stepped in, vowing to help these children by using his social media celebrity to acquire over 25,000 votes in an on-line contest for $250,000.

RALEIGH, N.C., July 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- July 13, 2011 started out like most days for Dawn Williamson. She grabbed a cup of coffee, sat down in front to the computer and started her work for local charity, CHERUBS. Trying to gather votes to win a contest for $250,000, she's been contacting people on Facebook and Twitter and asking them to vote.

This morning however was different when she noticed actor Charlie Sheen's tweets popped up on her screen and she took a chance to tweet to him "@charliesheen kind celeb who will take the challenge to get sick babies 25k votes in 1 month for $250k for research? http://www.voteforcherubs.org"

Her efforts paid off and Mr. Sheen accepted the challenge. Tweeting and retweeting for the charity this morning, Mr. Sheen has made it a personal quest to help CHERUBS; "I'm down with Dawn!! @ncdawn RT @cherubs Help critically ill babies with CDH. Take Charlie's challenge to vote! http://bit.ly/odjNUy"

Currently at 3rd place, CHERUBS is a regional finalist in the 2011 Vivint Gives Back Project, a national online campaign that will award $250,000 to the winning non-profit organization, and $100,000 to five regional charities throughout the United States and Canada. Vivint, one of the largest home automation companies in North America, is hosting the second annual campaign, which lets voters nominate, endorse and donate to their favorite local causes.

For the "little charity that could" with an average annual budget of just $35,000, winning $250,000 will go a long way. "50% of money won will go to genetic research of CDH through Mass General's CDH Research Study. The other 50% will go family support services such as care packages, financial help for families in the hospital and more," says Williamson.

Mrs. Williamson is the Founder and President of CHERUBS, created after the birth of her son, Shane, who was born with CDH. Shane passed away in 1999, at the age of 6 years old.

Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) is a birth defect that occurs when the diaphragm fails to fully form, allowing the organs to enter the chest cavity and preventing lung growth. Babies born with CDH endure surgeries and long hospitalizations; 50% of babies born with CDH do not survive. CDH affects 1600 babies every year in the United States. The cause is not known.

Voting continues until August 27th. Vote on-line at http://www.voteforcherubs.org

SOURCE CHERUBS

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http://www.voteforcherubs.org