Saturday, January 26, 2008

Joining The Team

I did it. I joined The Team. Now that I'm "in the know," I'll let you guys know how the process works.

First you go to an informational meeting. They explain a lot about the system, where the money goes, how to train, and how to fund raise. Emphasis is placed on how daunting of a task it is to raise as much money as they want us to. However, they give several examples of how doable it is to raise the money if you're willing to put in the effort.

I was convinced. Then I saw the number after the dollar sign. It was big. Huge. Monumental. I almost fell out of my chair -- seriously. The amount? $4800. At the point I saw the number, I thought "there's no way, I could possibly do that!"

They explained further, because I'm sure what I was thinking is the same thing thousands of people have thought before me. As a result, they have a nice thing called the recommitment date. On this day (March 21st) you finally decide if you're in or out. You can look at how well the fund raising is going compared to how much time is left. At this point, you fully commit. If you say you're in and you can't raise the money, you owe them the difference. However, if you say you're out the money still goes towards leukemia research. But it still gives a few months to get a handle on fund raising and see just how doable it is -- or isn't. Once I heard about this 'feature' of their system, I decided I was in.

Today was also their kick off meeting, it was directly after the informational meeting; there are several informational meetings leading into one kick off meeting, so there were a LOT of people there. I would say around 80-90. During this we got to meet our honorable heroes, teammates, mentors, and coaches. They really do have a great support system setup. They want us to succeed.

We talked about fund raising techniques. We talked about training. We socialized. Took team pictures. Got free stuff. I'm in college, I like free stuff!

During our talk about training, my coach (who also happens to be my swim coach) introduced me as "an accomplished runner," which was nice! As an "accomplished runner," I volunteered myself to offer advice on anything running related to anybody on the Team. I was met with many, many grateful faces; apparently people are afraid of it (little do they know, its that tricky water sport to be afraid of)! I hope they take full advantage of my offer; you know how much I enjoy talking about running!

The Team is great. You should join. But I'm going to give you an easy way out. You don't have to raise money. You don't have to train for a triathlon (but you can if you want to). You don't have to sign any paperwork, or even try to make practice.

Here is what you have to do: donate. By donating, I consider you part of my team. Part of a team fighting leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. Part of a team that has changed the childhood survival rate of leukemia from 4% to 80%. Part of a team that is saving lives. The research in these blood related cancer can be related back to all other kinds of cancer, too, so the number of lives you can impact is astronomical.

My donation webpage is not fully updated, but it is online. Update: The website is up to date! TNT Alumni, let me know if you see room for improvement! Those of you reading this blog know why to donate; if you don't, simply wait until I get it going. Then you'll know why.

If you're up for donating, here is the URL: http://www.active.com/donate/tntky/relentless

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate anything you can give. Whether it be a dollar, ten, a hundred or more, every bit helps!

4 comments:

Marcy said...

That's pretty damn swweett! I don't think you'll have a problem raising the money :-) You know I'm good for a donation! I'll have to do it in a bit though. Fam calls! LOL

P.O.M. said...

"Accomplished runner." SWEET>

I didn't realize you were in college still. Sheesh, I guess I need to start reading profiles. I thought you were OLD, like me. ha ha.

I'll check out your page at work (That's where I have my credit card for donating).

Run For Life said...

Awesome! What event did you sign up for? Start fundraising asap...trust me, the time flies. I'm sure you'll love it; I met many wonderful people doing TNT!!! Pub nights are usually excellent and fairly headache-free to set up. The "Give Me Five" strategy is great as well...and I could go on and on :P If you have any questions feel free to email me. GO TEAM!

Helen said...

I just found your website today by accident and after reading it for awhile I realized that I actually know you from somewhere else! (I'm hmonkeyruns from Nike+)

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you from experience that raising the money for TNT events is surprisingly easy. I did events with them in back to back seasons and didn't run into any trouble raising more than $6000. I think I was more shocked by that fact than the fact that I ran a marathon.

My biggest advice: matching gifts. Bug your friends to find out about the matching gift policy and take advantage of it. Some companies actually match 200% so it's worth the effort to investigate.

Good Luck and since I live in Philadelphia maybe you'll see me cheering you along the sidelines!