I try not to be that person who is always asking my friends and family to toss a few dollars at this organization or that charity, etc…Money can get pretty tight raising 2 teenagers, but I try to give what I can to the charitable organizations that matter to me. There are quite a few that I feel are truly doing a good thing so I give my money and call it a day. However, over the course of this (almost) 9 year journey, there have been a few groups that have helped Zoe and our family along the way. Those are the organizations that I champion for. Those are the organizations that I donate to and actively work to raise funds for. In case anyone isn’t sure which groups those are…Camp or any group raising money for camp, LifeBanc, and Make-A-Wish.
Earlier this year, I did my sprint triathlon to raise money for camp. Most recently we did our annual fund-raising for the LifeBanc Gift of Life Walk & Run that took place in August and the Walk for Wishes that was just this past Saturday. Here’s a little re-cap (with pictures!) of our endeavors.
LifeBanc GOLWR – August 6, 2017
Over the course of the last few years, our team has shrunk considerably. For that reason, last year (or maybe the year before) I made the decision to stop recruiting team members. Gabe, Zoe, my mom, step-dad, and I will always go. We are the original members of team Zoe’s Heart and I can be happy with that. This year, we were joined by Zoe’s dad, step-mom and baby sister. To raise help raise money, I put together a booster t-shirt fundraiser. You could buy an original design, Zoe’s Heart t-shirt and the proceeds went to LifeBanc. Anyone who wasn’t interested in a t-shirt was welcome to donate straight to the team. We sold 15 t-shirts and that, with the direct donations, helped our team raise $281 for LifeBanc. I would like to be able to personally thank all of you that donated, but I can no longer see the donor honor roll on the teams fundraising page. So, if you bought a t-shirt, thank you. If you donated to our cause, thank you. We couldn’t have done it without you. You took our cause and you made it yours. We love you.
Walk For Wishes – October 6, 2017
We actually threw this one together at the last-minute. I signed up to volunteer at the event through the Kohl’s Cares program. Zoe decided she wanted to participate since I would already be there, so we got her registered and started fundraising. In just 4 days, we raised $125 for Make-A-Wish. A thank you goes out to Mike (Zoe’s dad), Zoe’s Aunt Mary, Audrey Benko, Andy Rose, Zoe’s Grandparents and my very good friend Katie for making this possible. Sorry we didn’t take more pictures, but it was Saturday and it was 7:30am. We aren’t exactly morning people.
