Olympic Fundraising

There is nothing like the Olympics. Every two years I am glued to the TV for two weeks. I am not a big fan of watching sports on television. I think it has something more to do with the fact that it reminds me that if you work hard and focus you can basically hit your mark. People like Lindsey Vonn or Bode Miller astound me in that fact that they have tuned their entire lives in the pursuit of a single goal. I am never happier when I see them accomplish that goal. If I had but an ounce of the determination they do than my task at hand would seem simple.

I am up to my eyeballs in fundraising. Not only is it a difficult time to raise money, I am unaccustomed to this sort of project. To date I have raised $1725 dollars. This is a mostly due to the grace and love of my friends and family. To them I shout out a big thank you. In a week I will hit my first fundraising deadline. My goal was to raise 2K by then. With one week left it may still be in sight. But with everything that I do there is method to madness.

In order to climb I must raise $3800. No small feet in this economic climate. My plan is the following:

$2000k-Pestering friends, family, business contacts
$600- Fundraising event on March 7th. (Oscar party)
$200-From my talk at Tent and Trails (Gear Store in NYC) on March 2nd
$500-Corporate Donation
$500-By grace of God (in other words I have no idea where this amount is coming from)

This break down is a complete guess. I am not going to lie to you when I say this is extremely hard. There are days when I wake up and ask myself what I committed myself too. Sometimes people have astounded me with their generosity and sometimes I dumbfound at the fact that they will spend $50 dollars on a single lunch but won't give the same to an incredible cause. At the least it has been a lesson in human nature.

Fundraising is a funny thing. Its a fine line between gently nudging people in a certain direction and being a persistent bastard. I find I live somewhere in between. It's a constant state of purgatory ready to fall over the edge in either direction. It's a spot that is hard to live in until the goal is met. The purpose is of course worth it otherwise the deed would not be endured. For all my reminding, pushing, and persuading one ideal must be kept in the for-front of the picture. What ever raised, whatever endured is for the direct benefit of our next generation. If you give to this cause remember it is their benefit. Be the next Lindsey Vonn and donate today. I will leave you with the faces that you will help change. (video below).