Dear Friends, Family, and Teachers:
As most of you know, I have become increasingly involved with the sport of triathlon over the past year and a half. I have never before been an athletic person, and the fact that I now (once in a while) dare to call myself an ‘athlete’ is just amazing to me. It makes me smile, giggle, and then smile again. I love the new groups of people I’ve met; I love how strong I feel; I love the look on people’s face when I tell them that ‘I’m doing a Half-Ironman Triathlon’.
The Half-Ironman Triathlon – swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, and then run 13.1 miles (70.4m in all) – definitely a challenge! I’m doing all of this at the Wildflower Triathlons in Monterey County, CA—the heart of Steinbeck country. Now, those of you who know me well know that John Steinbeck is my favorite author, a million times over. I must admit that getting to race and spend time in the area that in which he lived and wrote about definitely one of the drawing factors of this race. It’s known as the ‘Woodstock of Triathlons’, and of course the flower-child in me loves that too. All of us camping with thousands of other triathletes…it’s going to be awesome.
‘All of us?’, you say? Yes, I’m doing this with Team in Training again. Along with the sport of triathlon, I’ve become increasingly dedicated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The Society is such a well regarded charity, and they have done SO much to help with cancer research and patient services. The relative five-year survival rate for people with leukemia, for example, has tripled in the past 40 years. Hodgkin lymphoma is now considered one of the most curable forms of cancer, thanks to radiation, chemotherapy or a combination of the two. This in and of itself is a staggering statistic, but just imagine how much more can be done. We CAN find a cure.
Just for a bit of background, Team in Training is a corporation that supports Leukemia and Lymphoma research to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, and myeloma – and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families. Team in Training is the Leukemia and Lymphona Society’s biggest fundraiser! It’s completely invaluable to the LLS; how could I not help out? This program provides me with professional coaching, supervision, and a group of teammates to encourage me as I train for the Wildflower Half Ironman Triathlon on May 6, 2006.
Over the summer, I worked in the Team in Training office at the LLS of Northern Ohio, and it was such a wonderful experience. I learned a lot about how a non-profit group functions, and of course the office was filled with 100% giving people. It really was a joy to be part of the LLS in that way.
For this event, I’ve also volunteered to be a ‘Mentor’. This means that I’m assigned a group of people from the team, and am just there to help out. I’m sharing what I learned from doing the program last year, and I just kind of give them that little friendly push to make sure their fundraising is going according to schedule.
As part of the program, I have committed to raising at least $4,400 to help find a cure for these horrible diseases. Of that fundraising, more than 75% will go directly to research and patient services.
Please help me by contributing. Whatever you can give will help – even the smallest donations add up. Please complete the enclosed sponsor form and send it back to me with your tax-deductible contribution. Or, if you would rather, you could simply go to www.active.com/donate/tntnoh/curlysu and donate online. Also, if you are part of a company that is interested in sponsoring, just let me know – I have corporate donation forms.
Feel free to email or call me with any questions you might have – or just to talk! Thank you in advance for your support.
Thank you also for being part of my life.
Susanna Loewy
(address, email, and phone number here)
8 comments:
I think it is a good letter. Are you going to send it out and also email it out? Mom
well written. i would suggest giving your friends and family and readers an amount of how much they should donate, based on your targeted goal. with the same reminder that any little bit would help, if they can't donate what you are requesting.
for example:
"i have committed to raise $4400 for leukemia research, and if you each contribute $10 in sponsorship that goal will become a reality."
and then send it out to 400-500 people:). anyway, you know what i mean, based on your goal, and the number of letters being sent out, give the possible donor some concrete amount, give them one less thing to think about.
just a thought.
I thought the letter was very thoughtful and appropriate. When are you starting your new fundraiser with the goal of $4,400?
Good letter, except you left out the threats - "if you DON'T donate, this athlete will run you down and ..."
rhein--thanks for the advice...you're totally right. i was thinking of saying...'If you could just contribute .5%, it would just be $22'...or something like that.
rob--i have already started...the link at the bottom of the letter was just wrong...somehow it got linked to last season's fundraising. sorry about that!
cy--AWESOME suggestion.
mom-thanks!
Sounds really good! Have you thought of enclosing a picture in with the letter you send out (i.e. not with clickable links)? Pictures always rock, Okolo had a nice one he sent out.
And scrap that email address on your site here or the spam bots will hijack it. I'll send you some html so that you can code your email address link on your site so that it's guarded against those buggers :)
wil-
thank for the advice. yeah, i'll totally add a picture. it's definitely longer than a page now, but doesn't fill 2 pages, so a picture at the bottom of the letter would be perfect.
i took off the email address..thanks for the advice!
Not sure if this is good advice, but the thought comes to mind that you should mention TNT/Leukemia Society sooner.
I hesitated saying this before because I'm not sure it makes sense, but I figure I'll let you decide.
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