Mentoring E-Mail # 11

Hello my hard working Mentees,

It is I, your Artful Mentor, with yet one more weekly message. You are wondering why, even on such an historic day, I could not leave you alone. As you read my email you grumble “Why, oh why, could not my Artful Mentor have gone to Washington DC for the day, walked about 30 miles, stood out in the cold all day, and therefore not been able to bother us tonight?” The answer is simple – because I could not get a flexible day off from work today. So see, it is really all my boss’s fault!

My note shall be brief. Please come to the Silent Auction tomorrow. I know that at least four of you have items to get bids on, which is great. We have close to 140 items, so ask your friends – invite a lot of people. Get there as early as possible if you have items for the auction.

Other than that, you should get letters out ASAP if you have not. And send out an email update if you haven’t yet this year. It is important to ask, ask, ask, especially this year. People who have stable jobs will donate, they need to be reminded that the same recession that hits corporations and governments also hits non-profits and charities.

Here is a fund-raising idea for you: Throw a Super Bowl party. Ask your guests for a donation to your cause. Or better yet, conduct a raffle and split the proceeds 50/50 between LLS and the winner. The raffle can be based on point spread, final score, and so forth. Someone I met in 2005 had done this and took in $400!

On this historic inauguration day, I have quotes from two presidents:

“Yes, we can!” – President Barack Obama (multiple times).

Yes, we can hit our fund raising minimum! Yes, we can complete a half marathon or a marathon! Yes, we can help cure cancers! Yes, we can make a positive difference in the world!

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.” President John F. Kennedy 12 September 1962

What we are doing is not rocket science, but it is hard. And when you think about it, we choose to raise thousands of dollars and train for a long distance race not because these things are easy, but because they are hard. We like that challenge. And when we attain those goals, we feel good about attaining them because they were difficult goals to achieve. But believe me, when you attain them, the feeling is amazing – I know this from first hand experience from my past three TNT events. Think about it – would you brag to your friends “Hey, I am training to run a quarter mile and raising $25 to help with cancer research?” Probably not. But reaching your TNT goals will give you the right to brag a bit if you choose, or at least feel great about reaching for the sky and touching it.

I hope to see most of you tomorrow night at Big Al’s!

GO TEAM!
Art