I am SO very excited about a fund raising option that's falling into place!! I'm bursting and can't wait to share it with you, but we're still finalizing details so it's going to have to wait. I'm thinking that I'll be able to share it with you hopefully next week and it will be available shortly after that for fund raising. Suffice it to say, it's perfect! Well, for me anyway.
I had to write a letter to a potential donor this week to explain that all money raised by the 3 Day goes to breast health and breast cancer only. I spent some time doing research at the Komen website,had a conversation with the Field Coordinator that organized the Getting Started Meeting where I registered, and even got input from someone at Komen headquarters. All of the information is available to the public and, although it's a concern that never even crossed my mind, I understand that it might be a concern to others. Perhaps I'll share what I learned in a separate blog post for anyone curious.
A friend on twitter introduced me to Daily Mile which is a social training log. You can track your miles, sync your information with your Facebook and twitter accounts, and even plan and save your routes. I had been looking at other routing websites and thought that this would be a great option since it does that plus so much more. I think it's going to be a fun way of keeping track of my progress and keeping my supporters updated as I go. I've only logged one workout so far and that was simply to get up to date with the miles I've walked so far in my preparation for the 3 Day. Check out my profile on Daily Mile and keep up with my progress!
In addition to planning routes, I was thinking about pedometers, too, for days that I just feel like getting up & going without having to map out my direction. I have a little cheapie pedometer that I bought ages ago and never set up, so I'll have to do that. I was also trying to find a pedometer app for my phone that utilizes the GPS in it. If you know a good one for the S60 5.0 Symbian operating system, please let me know!
Overall, fund raising was a little quiet this week. As I mentioned in last week's update, I think that the majority of the fund raising from the people that I know has happened so I need to start implementing other plans. One is already in the process of happening, I'm planning out others, and I'm still hoping to join a team once official training walks start, so all of that will hopefully help as well.
Training this week was a bit slow as well due to a few days of not feeling well and really horrible weather. On Saturday, however, I planned out a route on Daily Mile for three miles around my neighborhood. It was a really great walk! The weather was gorgeous, albeit a bit warm: it was only about 65 out, but it made me start thinking that the FL summer is going to be BRUTAL for training. I'm also in love with my phone. Whenever I exercise outside, I always have my phone with me for emergencies but my new phone is so much more than that. For this walk I used it to listen to music, be online to keep track of the route I was taking, and take pictures of some wild plants that I want to identify. Talk about handy. Oh and I was very pleased to discover that I walked that three mile route in 45 minutes.
1. Wild Plant #1, 2. Wild Plant #2, 3. Wild Plant #3, 4. Wild Plant #4On Sunday, I went to one of the New Balance stores that's an outfitter for the 3 Day and got fit for a pair of sneakers. The guy that helped me was really great and reminded me that I should get a pair of shoes that are a 1/2 to a full size bigger than normal to allow for how much my feet will expand throughout the course of the event. I got home and tested them out with another three mile walk. In the front they felt fine but the bottom of my heels were hurting. It didn't feel like there was enough shock absorption back there. Also, one of the blisters that I got last week started to pop back up again. I'm honestly not sure if it's simply that my feet aren't used to walking yet or if the shoes don't fit me right.
Mileage to date on training walks: 19
Goal: $2,300
Achieved: $730 or 32%
Remaining: $1,570
If you're enjoying keeping track of my progress, please consider supporting me in my effort to eradicate breast cancer. No amount is too little or too much. Thank you!!
3 comments:
One runs into the occasional person who has heard that "Komen funds abortion" or that "Most of Komen's money goes toward fundraising, with less than half going toward breast cancer". Both statements are false but it's hard to stamp out a falsehood once it's begun circulating.
My parents were particularly vexsome; they felt a need this year to tell me that they wouldn't be donating to Komen (which is fine -- it's their money to do with as they please) because TWO THIRDS of the money goes toward fundraising and overheard. I told them this wasn't so at all and quoted hard numbers from the Komen web page. It turns out that someone had turned them on to the "Smile Train" group, the group that does surgical repairs of children born with harelips and so on. 100% of donations toward that worthy group go toward the cause because a sponsoring organization picks up all the administration and fundraising costs. Few charities are lucky enough to have an angel like that and it's hardly a black mark against any charity that some of the money has to go against fundraising expenses. To Komen's credit, they spend a lot less on fundraising and overhead than many charities do -- that's why they get a glowing report card from various charitable watchdog groups. But to my parents, ANY money going toward administration and overhead is "bad".
Sigh.
I am so amazed at your commitment. You are doing so great! I have been thinking that I may need to make a pink piece and donate the proceeds to your fund. Thanks for doing this!
Hi Jay. Yeah, the problem I ran into was the "Komen funds abortion" fallacy. People hear that in some very limited communities Komen affiliates support Planned Parenthood. Fact: Susan G. Komen has not donated to Planned Parenthood. Fact: Affiliates that have donated to Planned Parenthood have reviewed and approved of grant proposals that are strictly for breast health and breast cancer. Period.
Shannon, I truly appreciate your support. That would be so amazing!! Thank you so much for considering donating a piece for sale to go towards The Cure. You're a gem.
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