Fundraising Progress Report

I am pleased to report that, at the end of last week, I passed two more fundraising milestones on the same day, thanks to all of my Silent Auction sales posting. As it turned out, my auction items sold for $599, thanks to the many companies and individuals that donated items, and to the folks that came out to our auction.

The first milestone was that I reached the Virginia Rock Star status, meaning I have raised at least $1,000 more than the minimum amount I must raise of $3,600. I was only a few dollars away from the $4,600 point for a week or so, so reaching that goal soon was a given.

The second milestone was that I passed the $5,000 mark for the fourth time that I have done Team in Training. Why is this amount significant? Because the first time that I signed up for TNT, $5,000 was the amount I had to raise at a minimum to stay on the team for the Anchorage, Alaska marathon. And at the time, it sounded like an impossible amount of money to raise. In part, it was Jamal at that TNT recruiting meeting four years ago who helped convinced me to go for it, when he said “You can, and you will!” So every time I cross the $5,000 mark, I reflect a bit on believing in yourself that you can attain difficult goals. A goal that seemed in possible is now something I expect to attain with fund raising, each and every time.

If you are considering doing Team in Training, or some similar difficult program to better society, and you are having second thoughts, doubts whether you can do it – believe in yourself. You can do it! You can and you will! I am proof of that.

As of right now, I have raised a total of $5,394, thanks to so many generous people. Of that, $5,107 is posted on my web page, and $287 is in checks that I have received but have not been posted yet. I have donations for 84 people, not counting the people who bought items at the silent auction.

My ultimate goal is still over $9,000 away. Can I raise that much more and reach my goal with less than three months to go? It seems impossible right now, but I am not going to think of it in those terms. I am going to think outside the box, and see what I have to do to reach it. Yeah, it is a tough fundraising environment, the economic news seems to get worse each day. But there are still more people employed than not, and people are generous. So I say it is possible. I say “I can and I will!”