Mentor Monday Email - 2/25/13

Happy Monday TEAM!!!

I want to start off by saying what a success BC Squared was! I had such an amazing time that night and hope that those of you who attended did as well!! The bands were FANTASTIC, and the guest speakers were so motivating.

The mentors and I are so thankful to anyone who supported the event. We are still currently counting the money from that night, but hopefully we will have the final totals for you all by GT on Saturday.

In case your were unable to attend BC Squared and hear all of our survivor stories, I want to fill you in on something that they all had in common......they were proud that people like us are fighting to make a difference! They want us to keep pushing because it's working!! All the training on cold mornings and raising money is all worth it. They also wanted us to know how grateful they are that we don 't give up!! We are doing all of this for those that can't! Never forget that, and never give up! Through a TEAM effort we can do, and WILL DO IT!!!

Now on to the important things coming up:

1. St. Patrick's Day parade is on March 17th (a Sunday) and we will be gathering a group to do a bead drive. So anyone who is interested will need to RSVP to the mentors by Friday March 8th. Feel free to have your friends and family help you at the drive. It will be super FUN and family friendly!!
2. If you haven't turned in your Recommittment paperwork yet, please contact Rich B and get that turned in ASAP!! I want to make sure that we ALL cross that finish line together!
3. If you are still concerned about your FUNdraising please contact us and let us know what your concerns are and how we can help.We are all here for the long haul and will do what is needed to get you to your goals and beyond, so please utilize us :)
4. Don't forget that our TEAM goal is to raise $139,000!! Any one who has met their goal or is close to meeting their goal, now is NOT the time to slow down. Let's kick it into high gear and finish strong! Every dollar you raise puts us one step closer to finding a cure for blood cancers.

Here are some ideas to help everyone exceed their goals........

• Do you have friends who like to take risks, loves basketball and loves a competition??? Well March Madness is right around the corner, and this would be a great time to start a pool in your office or with your friends and family. Have them make their picks and it would be a $10 dollar donation to be admitted into the pool . Then at the end, $5 of the ten dollars they originally donated will go the winner and the other $5 will be donated to your FUNdraising account. Easy right??
• Do you work in a large company? Or even a moderate sized company?? You could organize a dress down day or a brown bag lunch day. For the dress down day you could have your coworkers donate $2-$5 and wear jeans on a Friday. Or you could even put a spin on it and have a themed day? Maybe a sports jersey day or Disco Tuesdays!! The possibilities are endless!
• A brown bag lunch day would be where you would have all your co-workers bring a bag lunch for the day and donate what they would have spent on lunch had they ate out. This is also very easy to arrange!!
• A pub crawl is another fun way to gets friends and family involved in your FUNdraising. You will find that a lot of the bars/taverns in your area are excited to have groups come in. All you would need to do is contact the bars, tell them why you are FUNdraising and ask what they would be willing to donate for the event. **I have done one in the past, and have some good pointers on where to go and how to make sure you get the maximum donations that night**
• Reach out to any organizations that you belong to, i.e churches, choirs, lodges and see what they would be willing to team up with you to do. It never hurts to ask!!

Please keep up the all the good work you are doing, and make sure that you are communicating to us and your coaches as the event dates draw closer. As always any questions you have, please don't hesitate to ask us! We are all here to help you and love it when you give us the chance to do so!!

GO TEAM!!!!!!!

Kristen Raetzloff
Team In Training FUNdraising Mentor/ Leukemia and Lymphoma Society