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Post Event Fundraising
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Daren Williams
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Sep 14, 2004 10:49 PDT
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Team COR Members -- I know you are probably tired of getting posts from
me about fundraising. If you are like me, you'd probably prefer to cut a
check for $200 and forego the pain of hitting up friends and family for
money or facing the possibility of rejection. But allow me to share the
truly rewarding and humbling experience of the past 24 hours...
My first fundraising e-mail this year went out on Labor Day. I had
driven home from St. Louis that afternoon and bought a new car (from
Jack Miller Subaru!). It was late and I was uninspired. So I trotted out
the same "sponsor a part of my bike" e-mail I had sent the previous two
years. Even still, a few (21) of my CORe supporters came through with
pledges totaling $2,300 in the past week. But this was nowhere near my
goal of $10,000.
So, I sat down last night, thought back on the weekend ride and the
people with MS who stood, sat, clapped and cheered along the route and
used them as inspiration to send out yet another e-mail to my friends
and family. The words that flowed from my fingers came easy. When I sent
it to my e-mail list of 100+ family and friends at midnight last night I
prayed it would motivate them into action.
I guess it worked. When I woke up this morning I had over $2,500 in new
pledges! As of noon today that has topped $3,000, for a total of over
$5,000 to date. Just as I had begun to think I had set my goal too high
and would fail, God sent his angels via my friends and family to lift my
spirits. I am now confident that I will make my goal. I feel like I just
left the lunch rest stop in Warrensburg, more than halfway there,
refreshed and ready to finish the ride.
So if you think your fundraising is done because the ride is over,
reconsider. The Mid-America Chapter goal is to raise $1 million this
year. As of Saturday night they had pledges totaling somewhere around
$850,000. If we make our goal as a team ($55,000), we'll push that over
$900,000 (we had less than $5,000 in pledges recorded going into the
ride).
Below is the e-mail I sent last night. Feel free to borrow words,
phrases, or ideas from it. But write from your heart, share your story
and let the people who will benefit from this effort be your
inspiration. You'll be overwhelmed, as I am today, with the response.
Daren
Dear Family, Friends, Colleagues and Fellow Countrymen:
Around dawn on Saturday morning, it dawned on me. It was September 11 –
a day that will forever be known simply as 9/11. As I was getting ready
for the 100-mile ride across Western Missouri (104.85 to be exact), I
saw that someone was handing out small American flags at the starting
line (you know the kind with a small cloth flag stapled to a wooden
stick). So I grabbed one and stuck it in my helmet.
At first it kind of poked into my head and I thought I’d probably take
it off after a few miles. But when I crossed the finish line just under
seven hours later and someone said, “Did you ride the whole way with
that flag?” I said, “What flag?” I guess after the nagging soreness in
my back and shoulders, numbness in my toes and fingers, and painful
cramping in my calves and thighs, I had blocked out the small stick
poking me in the head!
Three years ago, on Monday, September 10, 2001, after finishing my first
MS150 I sat down at my computer to write my report to you, the people
who had supported me with your generous donations and words of
encouragement. I was tired and sore and didn’t finish the letter that
night. I had to fly to Atlanta early the next morning for a business
meeting so I opted to pack and go to sleep.
By the time I landed in Atlanta around 10:30 the next morning the world
had changed.
When I got home from Atlanta sometime in the wee hours of Wednesday,
September 12 – after driving 14 hours from Atlanta to KC with four
colleagues in a tiny Ford Escort – I remembered the report I had
intended to send. But suddenly, the events of the previous weekend
seemed insignificant. I felt silly even bothering you with the details.
I don’t remember when, exactly, but several days later I finally took
the time to write and say thanks. After all, you had taken time to write
the checks, address the envelopes and send me your donations. But more
than that, you had made a personal sacrifice to help people you had
never met – people living with Multiple Sclerosis.
You deserved a thank you.
So, Daren, what does this have to do with anything? Good question. I
think it has to do with everything. Three years after 9/11, for most of
us, life has returned to normal. But for people living with MS, every
day is a battle against an unseen enemy attacking from within their
body. Like the war on terrorism, the enemy is nearly impossible to find
and strikes without warning. I don’t mean to over dramatize, but if you
know someone living with MS, you know what I am talking about.
As we rode along the route this past weekend, a number of the people who
will benefit from our efforts stood (if they were able) and cheered us
as we passed. At lunch a young woman with MS came up to me, stuck out
her hand and said thank you for riding and raising money to fight this
insidious disease.
I ride because I can…and because they can’t.
In the past week I have received almost $2,500 in pledges from 21 of my
friends, family and colleagues. That’s an average of more than $100 per
pledge. Awesome. Your generosity continues to amaze me. But my goal is
to raise $10,000 this year to help people fighting the war against MS.
At this rate I need 60 more of you to join me in this battle. I guess I
need to do more to earn your support.
So here’s the deal. If you’ll help me raise the remaining $7,500 in the
next two weeks, I’ll get back on my bike and ride another 150 miles on
September 25-26 in the Eastern Kansas MS150 in Topeka. If you can do it,
I can do it!
Forget about sponsoring a part of my bike. To quote Lance Armstrong,
“It’s not about the bike.” It’s about doing whatever you can to help.
The $2,500 I have received to date includes a pledge of $5 and a pledge
of $500. It all counts. And if everyone reading this e-mail contributes
what they can afford, we will reach the goal.
To help me raise $10,000 and join the battle to fight MS, you can either
pledge online (see instructions below) or write a check to the “MS
Society” and mail it to me at the address below. The deadline for
pledges is October 1 (but please let me know by September 24 if you are
sending a check).
Thank you,
Daren
To Pledge Online (credit card payment option available):
Go to www.nmsskc.org
Click on "EPledge"
Enter “Williams” under Last Name and “Daren” under First Name
(DO NOT fill in Team Name, Participant State or State of Chapter)
Click "Submit to Continue"
Under “MS BIKE TOUR KANSAS CITY” click on "EPledge" to make a pledge or
"My Personal Page" to view my MS150 webpage
To Pledge by Mail (make check payable to “MS Society”):
Daren Williams
12997 S. Widmer
Olathe, KS 66062
Daren Williams
will-@fleishman.com
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