A big huge breast cancer weekend!
I’m coming up on a big huge breast cancer weekend starting bright and early Saturday morning with a team training walk. We’ve been at it for several weekends meeting at various locations and logging anywhere from 10-15 miles. It’s been great getting to know our team members. We’re so busy talking, the miles fly by and the time goes so quickly.
Saturday night is our big huge summer bash to benefit breast cancer. Team member Leslie Hawring is working so hard to create a fantastic party with great food and great auction items. Where else can you spend $20 on a Saturday Night for wine, beer and tons of food? On top of that, we’ll have great auction items including teeth bleaching valued at $500 courtesy of Dr. Paul Darmon and a gym membership from Snap Fitness in Ferndale. There are lots more just take a look at our totally cool banner for all of our donors. And all the money is going to fight breast cancer–funding life-saving research. Now we have to pray for great weather!
And on Sunday, I’m off to Dallas for my two day Advocate in Science Training for Susan G. Komen. It starts bright and early Monday morning and I’ll be heading back late Tuesday Night. I’ll have lots to share when I return next week.
53 days and counting…
We are so close to the 2009 Breast Cancer 3-Day. Only 53 days left—we’re into some serious long training walks and winding down with tentmates, t-shirt orders and final fundraisers. Last night was a biggie for us. We packed 24 Seconds in Berkley, MI with a fun crowd, a great atmosphere on the upstairs deck and a great buffet. And the owner of 24 Seconds nearly doubled his donation with an $800 dollar donation to the Breast Cancer 3-Day. It had all the makings of a great night—really good weather, reasonable food cost, easy to plan and even easier to promote. Best of all, it was totally fun—like having a big outdoor party at my house without the cooking or cleaning.
Our next biggie is approaching quickly in a little under 3 weeks. It’s going to be a great night with great food, great auction items and great raffle items. And nearly every item is a donation so almost the entire money brought in for the event will go directly to the Breast Cancer 
3-Day.
With all of our donations and our fundraising, we’ve topped $40,000 to date. And although, I refuse to change my $85,000 team goal, I’m thinking we may not make that much this year. I’ve always learned to aim high though and that’s what I’m doing.
And it’s not too late to join in the fun. If you live in Michigan, come join Ta Ta Breast Cancer. We’d love to have you walk with us and join in the fun first hand. If you’re not in Michigan, find a team near you and experience the weekend of a lifetime.
Oh so fun…Now I really get to help cure breast cancer
I just got accepted to the Susan G. Komen Advocates in Science Program. I’m not exactly sure what’s involved but their goals for the program are pretty simple and well defined:
“to ensure that a strong, well informed advocate’s perspective is integrated into scientific dialogue, as well as the policy and funding decisions impacting our progress toward discovering and delivering the cures.”
I’m excited and honored to be part of this program. More importantly, I can now truly have an impact on the future of breast cancer beyond fundraising, beyond mentoring and beyond raising awareness.
Can’t wait to get started.
Mystery solved–the case of the missing Camelbak
I just got back from an event for the Adcraft Club of Detroit where I sat on a panel discussion on social media. It was a lot of fun, and I had the opportunity to participate with some really smart people in this area.
So naturally I inserted my breast cancer story because…
1. I typically don’t go anywhere without talking about breast cancer—it’s a big part of who I am and…
2. It essentially launched my career into the world of social media so it’s actually quite relevant.
I got some nice feedback which always feels pretty good too.
As I was getting ready to leave, a woman approached me and told me she had a crazy story for me. I was expecting a breast cancer story—that’s typically the category of stories I hear the most.
Instead she said “I have your Camelbak” Not what I was expecting.
But let me back up for a minute and give you a little background. First, if you don’t know, a Camelbak is a backpack that you fill with water and wear on long hikes, bike rides or 60 mile walks in my case. On Day 1 of the 08 Breast Cancer 3-Day, my top strap broke. I was able to tie it together with a pair of pink shoe laces to get me through the rest of the walk which worked pretty well.
When I got back from the walk, I took the Camelbak back to Moosejaw to get a new piece for the strap. They thought it would be easier to take the whole bag, send it back to Camelbak and have it fixed. I was done with long walks for awhile so that seemed fine. A couple of times throughout the winter, I checked back on my pack and they told me they’d call me when it came back. I didn’t question it until I decided I was ready to start doing some longer walks and really wanted my Camelbak.
After some discussions over a period of a week with Moosejaw, they realized my Camelbak was lost and gave me a brand new one. I really never thought about my old Camelbak that took me through so many training walks and 60 miles . . . until tonight.
Here’s how the story unfolded. My new friend went to Moosejaw and bought a used Camelbak on clearance. As she was hiking through Maui, she reached into one of the pockets and found a sunscreen packet. She was pretty happy to have it and used it since it was a higher SPF than what she brought. She dug through the bag a bit more to see if there was anything else and found my speech from the Breast Cancer 3-Day. The speech told my story—I shared it with the 3-Day walkers on day 2.
As she dug deeper, she found a breast cancer charm, given to me by one of my teammates. I remember wondering where this charm went. Apparently, she’s been meaning to track me down since she got back so she could send me the charm and now in the most random place, she found me. She’s keeping the charm now—it’s got to bring luck.
So this really was a crazy, small world, wow kind of story. And now the mystery is solved.
P.S. Moosejaw—if you’re reading this, two of the five panel members complimented you on your great use of social media marketing. And if you really do a good job monitoring your brand, you likely found this post pretty quickly.
Another great Breast Cancer 3-Day fundraiser
I am so proud and happy to see how much Ta Ta Breast Cancer is growing. It’s a rough year to raise money, and I know it’s holding lots of people back from participating in this amazing experience. But I also know how critical and important this money is in the fight against breast cancer.
Susan G. Komen is the major beneficiary of the money raised through the Breast Cancer 3-Day and every major advance in the fight against breast cancer has been touched by Susan G. Komen for the Cure. They’ve helped train more than 400 breast cancer researchers and funded more than 1,800 research projects over the past 26 years.
I can pretty confidently say that Susan G. Komen helped make my path easier. And I can happily say that they are putting lots of effort into hereditary cancer. So I’m willing to continue to rally the troops even in this tough economy.
So in keeping with the really difficult economy, one of my new teammates decided to take a new fundraising approach. She’s planning a very large outdoor summer bash and getting almost everything donated. She’s spent the past week and a half talking to everyone she knows to get food, paper goods, beverages, auction items and raffle items donated.
The admission cost for the party is totally affordable–$20 a person, $35 a couple. Best yet, nearly the entire cost of admission will go directly into the 3-Day (businesses can’t donate alcohol but they are giving it to her at cost). Where else can you go on a Saturday Night for dinner and drinks and spend less? And at the same time know that you are helping so many people.
Brogan & Partners created this really cute flier for us too.
I am so energized by her passion and enthusiasm for this party and can’t wait to see the fabulous results. We’re pretty certain the party will help her meet her minimum and fill in for the rest of the team members.
Got any additional thoughts on how we can raise even more money that evening? Anything you want to auction or raffle to support the cause? We’re open to your ideas.
Back In Training For The Breast Cancer 3-Day
I’m officially back in training—sort of. I must admit I’ve been a little nervous about my 3-Day training this year. The walk is coming up quickly, and I haven’t really put too much time into long walks (or even short ones for that matter). But I’m on a short work trip in North Carolina–I finished my work day at 6:00, laced up my shoes, grabbed my cell phone and some cash and headed out. A whole night to myself. I really just wandered with no firm plan but I found this beautiful neighborhood in Cary, NC and it was perfect. I walked for about 95 minutes and made my way over to a little café for some dinner. This was exactly the jump start I needed to get excited about the actual walk—I’ve been heavily focused on the fundraising and nearly forgot I need to walk 60 miles over the course of 3 days.
So tonight my second journey officially begins. And I’ll prepare for that magical date when I’ll drive up to the most energetic group of people on the planet. I’ll smile through the 60 miles feeling lucky and happy that I can walk, enjoying the sea of pink and dreaming of a world without breast cancer.
BRCA awareness saves lives
I was so excited to get my mail yesterday and see the great cover story on the Detroit Jewish News on the breast cancer gene (BRCA). I am so happy that Lisa Siegmann was willing to share her story to help so many women. And I’m so grateful that the Jewish News recognized the importance of this message. Social marketing can save lives–especially when it involves building awareness of an unknown risk factor. Research into finding new diagnostics, treatments and a cure is essential. However, we must make sure that a portion of our efforts are directed to raising awareness. Until there is a cure, early detection and prevention for those at high risk is our life-saving hope.
Let’s continue to find ways to educate women and the community on BRCA and the risk factors associated with this genetic mutation. I know there are many women, like Lisa, who chose prophylactic surgery only to find out that it was only a matter of time until a diagnosis. In this case, knowledge really is power.
1 year of breast cancer blogging
Today is another big day. Happy 1 year anniversary of blogging on ellyndavidson.wordpress.com. 82 posts and 101 comments later, I’m still going strong and having fun. Thanks for joining me on my journey as a survivor. Hope you’ll stick with me.
