Sunday, April 22, 2012

Thank you! (Week 1)


As you're probably aware, we joined this fund raising gig late enough in the game that we only REALLY had two weeks to hit our goal, primarily because the tshirt company told me they needed two business weeks in order to print the tshirts in time for the walk.  Leslie and I sort of shook ourselves out of our stupor, I wrote the first blog post, and Leslie tailored it for email invitations to friends and family who don't necessarily read the blog.

I set the goal at $1000, not really having any concept of what was reasonable, but thinking that $500 was too low.  After a little research about how the online pledging worked, we were off. 

For anyone who blogs, I venture to guess that there's a time in your 'career' that you are fixated on stats; views, comments, shares, these are the sorts of things that we become obsessed with, like a dieter on a scale. . . how much, how many. . .

This fundraising effort has been like that.  It seemed like every hour or so, someone had pledged money and it was amazing to see, considering 56% (I did the math) of the donor/supporters on this list I have never met, nor spoken to in any format other than 'electronically'; what the previous generation would have called, "total strangers" but what my generation refers to as "internet people".

And so after a week of doing nothing so much as posting links or tweeting requests, the pledges for Lily's walk (otherwise known as Highmark's Walk for a Healthy Community,benefiting ABOARD's Autism Connection of PA, (you totally see why I call it Lily's Walk, now, right?)) we stand at $1,045.

Amazed and grateful for the generosity and support of friends and family, pole-axed by the generosity of "internet people", hereafter also lumped into the "friends"category.
 
In addition to the $1,045 going directly to the charity, we also received "sponsorship"for the tshirts for the folks who will be walking on the team on May 19th.  I say "sponsorship" because the extremely generous friends giving money specifically for the tshirts declined to be referenced on the tshirt itself. . . anonymous sponsorship. 

Although we've already met our stated goal (which was more or less arbitrary) I want to continue to drive this as much as possible leading into the final week (before I order tshirts) and continue leading up to May 19th. Really the urgency comes not so much from the event, which is almost four weeks away, but from needing to know who will be walking so we can get the tshirts.  I want to continue to raise money right up to the days leading into the event.  If you're interested in joining us for the walk, please let us know as soon as possible so we can add you to the team and the head count.  

So who joined the Justa Lil Walk team, who donates or pledged to donate?  I'll list them (sans last names) here with a little blurb, respecting, to some extent, the wishes of the Anonymous donors who added little notes to their donations.  Some of these folks I've only ever really known by twitter handles or user names, others change their names and the names of their kids for privacy on their blogs, so please forgive me if I know you. . . but don't think I do. . . 

(Alphabetically)
Amy - online friend who blogs here:  http://lucysfootball.com and here:  http://insatiablebooksluts.com/ to name just two that I follow.
Anonymous - One of these came with the note, "suck on that, Jim".  You'd think that would have been a dead giveaway except it reflects the sentiments of SO MANY internet friends.  Nevertheless. . . I think I know.
Anonymous -"ham". . . that can only be one person.  VERY supportive reader of the blog.
Anonymous - "Nik and his mama", thank you so much (I'll link to your blog if you want, but it was anonymous, so I didn't)!
Anonymous - No idea. . . Thank you!
Anonymous - A couple who have lots going on in their personal lives right now (congratulations!) but still found some time to underwrite (am I using that right?) the cost of the shirts.
Cynthia - plays Draw Something with me. . . I couldn't even tell you whether she follows the blog!  She donated due to Lily's adorability.  (I really have to market Lily better.)
Dawn - Thank you big sister!!
Deb - One of Leslie's old airline work friends. . .
Elizabeth - A twitter follower, Draw Something player and blog reader.  Thanks!
Emma - my sweet daughter, whose sadness over not doing anything for Lily prompted our participation in the first place.
Erika &   Jeff -The Pickles.  Our couple soulmates who moved away and left big shoes to fill.
Gianna - Lily's cousin,who will walk on the team.
Gino - Lily's cousin, also walking with us.
Harvey &   Melody- My Uncle and Aunt, who pledged when they learned about the event from my parents.
Jennifer &   Jagger- A parent blogger (one of her children is diagnosed with Aspergers (he feeds her hilarious quotes)). http://jaggerisms.blogspot.com
Karen - One of the first bloggers I followed. https://solodialogue.wordpress.com/
Karen & Johnny- Another of Leslie's old airline friends!
Kelly & Sandi- Thank you Mom and Dad!
Kristi - The robotmommy.  She recommended me for the blog I do at Sprocket.  She blogs here:  http://therobotmommy.com/
Lexi - Another blogger.  Self-identified blog-nemesis who writes great 'stuff' at http://www.mostlytruestuff.com/
Lily - awwww, my little bug.
Lisa - Facebook friend and blog reader!
Lisa - I wish I knew!!!!  HELP ME!
Lori (and Joe) - Local friends with big hearts!
Louise - Miss Aweeze. .. another old airline friend of Leslie whose generosity is not a surprise.
Mackenzie - Emma's friend from school!
Marj - Blogger and twitter follower!  She writes at http://thedgoddess.com/
Maybe It's Just Me -She did this backwards!  Her name is Andrea and she BLOGS at http://andrea-maybeitsjustme.blogspot.com/
Merilee (and Bob) - My Aunt and Uncle back in Montana.
Pat & Del -The in-laws!  Yay for marrying into the family!
Regina - Came to me from Susan's book blog site, out of the clear blue sky.
Sherri - I wish I knew!!!!  HELP ME!
Susan - Susan blogs about books at http://insatiablebooksluts.com/ and was the very first person to donate (apart from me) and then posted a link on her site and tweeted and the whole nine yards!

So many people contributing, I started doing descriptions of everyone and then realized some people I know more about than others, and so I dumbed it down to try and be a little fairer to everyone who contributed because, as previously stated, I'm just amazed and grateful for the response. 

So I apologize for the brevity of some of this, I just don’t want to be uneven with my thanks.  If you contributed and have a blog, please let me know, I'd love to add it here as a link.

19 comments:

  1. Jim, I totally teared up. I know, I know. Hormonal me. But over $1000 in one week, plus the shirts were covered anonymously? I love the internet. I'm so happy. This is fabulous. And it's only week 1! Onward and upward! Go Team Lily!

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    1. Leslie was mad at me because the original post asking about starting this thing didn't make her cry. She said, "I like when you make me cry," which totally did not compute to me, but it's probably a girl thing.

      So I owe her one blog post that makes her cry ugly at work.

      I know. . . ridiculous. Internet people are so amazing! Except for the murdering.

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  2. And being late I totally missed all of this....Congrats Jim.

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  3. Ha! Except for the murdering! This is so awesome, Jim! I definitely want to support this and have made a note to come back and read all the instructions when my brain is fully functional...I promise this actually happens at certain times of the day. This really made my morning!

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  4. Is there a way we can order a tee shirt even if we are not walking with you? I realize i'd need to pay for it....But I would really love to have one.

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    1. We'll have to see how our supplies work out!

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  5. That's awesome! You guys are totally gonna kick butt, er, I mean, blaze the fundraising trail!

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    1. kick butt is acceptable usage on my fuckin' blog, Flannery.

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    2. ROFL! I just did not want to leave the impression that you were trying to beat down the "competition"...

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    3. *sigh* I feel like you really don't know me at all. OF COURSE i'm trying to beat down the competition!

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  6. The internet is an amazing place, isn't it? :)

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  7. What a wonderful showing! Congratulations, Jim. The online community is full of truly kind people. :)

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    1. thanks Susan! It really IS a wonderful showing. Still working on bolstering our numbers for May 19th!

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  8. Jim, I just got a reminder from my brain about this at 4:30 am...and I think I did it wrong. Which really shouldn't surprise anyone. I pledged and need the address to mail the check. So, if you could email it to me, I'd appreciate it.

    Bu then I tried to join your team...but I think I accidentally created my own team. I'm not sure how to fix it. Help! :)

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    1. You totally nailed it! You pledged (which would be a check) but then you also donated online. I can't undo the online pledge, cause that's already paid for, but you're on the team and you've contributed, so I'll just delete the extra pledge!

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  9. I wish Barry and I could join you. It is such a great cause and I think you will have a lot of fun. Unfortunately I am having arthoscopic surgery on my shoulder on May 18th. Hopefully next year we will join team Lily.

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