Last night my daughter started a conversation by saying:
We should do one of the diabetes walks.
I told her the JDRF walk is this month at the Mall of America. I also told her it would be a little late to raise funds, but would be interesting to visually "see" how many lives are effected by type 1 in MN.....a comparatively small sample I'm sure.....but it would be the largest gathering of type 1'ers I've ever seen.
My daughter then says:
Well, how about a bike ride then? Dad, lets to the MS-30 again this year. (They had completed the MS-30 about 5 years ago.....way before J.J.'s diagnosis!)
WHOA there little lady!!!
Ummm.....I'm sure MS is a great cause and all, but if we're going to raise funds for a medical cure it better be for type 1 diabetes!!!
She conceded to that fact, but then wondered about bike rides for diabetes. I started doing a quick internet search for biking fundraisers for diabetes. ADA has one, but UGH......I just have a hard time raising funds for that organization. (I won't get into it in this post as it's not the main thrust of my "conversation"....but you can get a glimpse into my thoughts on ADA here.)
I checked out JDRF.....a little bit better organization......but they only have BIG ride's across the country. It seems like a real challenge physically...2-3 days of riding...which is what my daughter is looking for....a fitness goal. But it seems like an even BIGGER challenge in the fundraising department. $3,500-4,000 per entered person!! Since we've never participated in either a big ride or fundraising we were thinking we'd put that aside for now......but ONE DAY we'd love to do it.
Then I thought of Bernard's triathlon this year. He participated in a triathlon and raised funds specifically for Dr. Faustman's research. What if we did something like that? In Minnesota they have 2 person triathlons, but instead of swimming they have canoeing. So both of us would canoe, then one would do bike(Me!) and one would run(young legs!!). This might be doable. We could support an organization we didn't object to, and we could reach a fitness goal. Hey, maybe we could get two teams going in our family....hubby and one daughter and me and another daughter!!! O.K....I won't hold my breath on that one, but maybe just maybe!!
For now we're in the brainstorming and research phase.....
Fundraising and Fitness......I think it's something we might tackle in 2009.
3 comments:
Lynnea~
When Kacey was diagnosed in July, I immediately wanted to get her involved with the walks at JDRF. I looked online and there was one coming up in Oct. I registered us as a team and quickly told everyone. I only set her goal at $500 because I didn't want her to have a let down if we didn't raise that. Before long the online donations started rolling in and she raised $2253 in 3 months and our team raised almost $2500! She will be getting the Golden Sneaker award on Sunday at the Awards ceremony. So, even though the walk date is close, when you send out an email and tell everyone you're doing it, you'd be surprised at the amount of people that would donate online. Put it out there in the D-OC too! I say GO FOR IT! Choose a team name and let the kids use paints and make team shirts ;) Since it is a little late to have them printed. Then next year you can have shirts made with the team logo/name on them. Even if you don't set a money goal, it's still a wonderful experience to do something as a family. The walk we did was 2 miles and we have some great pics and memories!
I must admit it was one of the most emotional events I've ever done. They had so much for the kids to do (face paint, free goodies, music, free raffle drawings for JDRF prizes and more) They had pump reps there and I met some really great parents! There were several times I was overwhelmed by the support for not only our team but all the teams there. It was definately a great experience!
Good Luck and keep me posted if you decide to do it!
**Hugs**
Lynnea,
Thank you for your support and sweet comment on my blog. I look forward to sharing this journey with you.
Your son is adorable!
Good luck with your fundraising. I have held 3 walks for Dr. Faustman's research. Every little bit counts.
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