Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Fundraising Possibility

I have a meeting on Friday with a manager at a local Sonic Drive-In to discuss fundraising opportunities! Sonic supports several community-giving programs, both locally and nationally. If you'd like to learn about their programs, click here:

http://www.sonicdrivein.com/business/giving/index.jsp

For my event, Sonic will allow me to take home a percentage of a certain day's net sales - we just have to negotiate which day and what percentage. I'm very excited to possibly partner with Sonic for my first fundraising event, I think it could be a hit!

I'll post details about the event Friday afternoon.

Monday, February 22, 2010

My First Donation

I officially received my first donation Saturday night! And from the most unlikely of sources...

After work Saturday evening, I headed over to Carlos O’ Kelly's to meet my family for an early dinner. I got there much earlier than they did, but was immediately seated in a booth way in the back. To my surprise, my waiter, Brandon, sat right down to say hello and we soon struck up a (somewhat) random conversation that eventually turned to what degree Brandon is pursuing. He said that he’s studying biology with the intention of going into genetics to cure cancer – or “create a virus to destroy the human race,” if he’s feeling particularly diabolical.

I saw his career choice as an opportunity to work my fundraising spiel, and told him that if he was into curing cancer, then he should donate to my cause!

His response was less than encouraging: “So you’re one of those people?”

Well after that, I thought my chances were over until the end of the meal when my family and I were getting up to leave. He told me to wait, then handed me $10 from his server book! I was shocked – I couldn’t believe he was willing to sacrifice a portion of his income for the night to help a total stranger.

Was it my charm, my stunningly good looks, my amazing presentation of my cause?

Unlikely.

But no matter the reason, his donation was greatly appreciated and very encouraging. I can only hope that others are as generous as I continue to fundraise.

In training news, it’s freakin’ cold! It’s currently 27 degrees and I’m cowering indoors under two blankets and a heating pad. I haven’t ventured out to run for three days, and without a membership to a gym, this weather is really putting a cramp in my training schedule. I’m determined to run today, but I’m not gonna like it…

Friday, February 19, 2010

Up and Running!

Hello, blogosphere!

After days of putting "create blog" on my to-do list, I'm finally getting around to joining the millions of other bloggers on the web, and I'm excited to tell you why. It is my idea that "Mills Runs Miles" will serve to chronicle an exciting and challenging adventure: running a marathon. That's right, a marathon!

To best complete my goal, I've joined the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training program. TNT is the world's first and largest charity sports training program that exists to find a cure for blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. The opportunity to contribute to a great cause while accomplishing such a huge life goal was too tempting to resist, and so I've been a member of TNT's Kansas chapter since early February.

Each participant pledges to raise a certain amount of money during the 4 or 5 months they train for their event in exchange for training, travel costs, and hotel stays. The $3,600 I've pledged to raise for Seattle's Rock 'N' Roll Marathon on June 26, 2010 seems more daunting than running 26.2 miles, but I am excited for the challenge!

If you would like to donate to my cause, please visit my fundraising website at:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ks/rnrseatl10/mmillswy2z

And check back often for updates on my training and fundraising progress - I'll make sure to keep you posted!