Mentor Monday Message from 1/7/13

This is the first of many mentor Monday messages that you will be getting over the course of your training. I am happy that all of you have made the commitment to train for your endurance event and to also raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Our TEAM goal for this season is 139,750!! Currently we have raised $12,219.64!!! Which is not too shabby, but if we continue to raise money as a TEAM, I know that we can pass our goal.

We are a TEAM and each one of your coaches , mentors,and team-mates are here for you every step of the way. We are all here for the same reason so never be afraid to ask questions or ask for help. We want to make sure that you have everything you need to successfully FUNdraise and train. ANYTHING that you need please let us know!

The money that you will raise is so important. There are an estimated 1,012,533 people in the United States living with, or are in remission from, Leukemia, Hodgkin Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma or Myeloma. Since 1954  LLS has invested more than $814 million in Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma research that has led to key advances in understanding blood cancer and has helped produce new treatments to enhance and prolong lives.

How might you go about raising that money?? Well I am here to help as well as two other amazing people, Andrea and Heather. We have 2 big FUNdraisers in the making! We are currently planning a Battle of the Bands and also Mouse Races.  We will have more info on those particular FUNdraisers in the next Mentor Monday email.

In the meantime, here are some suggestions on how to get started:

• Send out your letters: Send them to everyone you possibly could. Make sure that you personalize them and tell them what your training involves and what kind of goals you have set. 
• Canister Drives:  I have one day set up for the TEAM right now ,but will hopefully have more dates set up in the next email. This weekend on the 12th at the Schnucks in Chesterfield starting at 10 am there are  openings. If interested please let me know! This is an easy and FUN way to get things started
• Bead Drives: Mardi-Gras is right around the corner and then after that is Saint Patrick's Day parade. We can go down to the parades and sell beads for donations. This is another group FUNdraiser that is easy. Please let me know if you are interested so I can fill you in on all the details.
• McCalister's Nights: You can have a designated night with your neighborhood McCalister's where you will be given flyers that you can hand out and for each flyer you hand out that a customer brings in,  you get a % of their bill. Also you can ask some locations if they  are okay with you being at the facility the night of your event and you can bus tables and refill drinks for tips. If this is something you are interested in doing please let one of us know. So far the dates we have coming up are:  
• January 24 -South County Location 4-9 Allison Brown 
• January 31 -Machester Location 4-9 Kristin Harris
• February 5th-Fenton Location 4-9 Laura Wende
• February 26th- Manchester Location 4-9 Heather Barcroft  
• Fundrasing page: Get your fundraising page up and running. Personalize it with what your doing and why you are doing it. And you can update people on your progress with either your training of FUNdraising. When ever you send out an email  put your fundraising link at the bottom 
• Post on Facebook! It really works!! Keep your friends up to date on all your accomplishments and progress. You will be suprised how many people are excited or interested in it. I post like crazy on Facebook and people that I haven't seen in 10 years are donating to me and telling me how a family member/friend has been affected by blood cancers.
• Ask everyone!!! Do not be afraid to hear no! You will be surprised how many people are willing to donate. The more you put it out there the more you will get in return.

In closing, again I am super excited for this season and I know that you all will do great! Don't hesitate to get in touch with us, and we would love to sit down with each one of you and get things ironed out. Please keep us up to date on any accomplishments or upcoming FUNdraisers you may have planned or that  you are hosting so that we can pass them on to the rest of the TEAM.

GO TEAM!!!!

- Kristen