I have sent out an email to all of our team members inviting you to become an author on this blog.
This is a team blog, I would like all team members to be able to post as they wish. I know most team members will not want to be able to post, but some of you might.
This way we can have updates from committee members about their specific events.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Happy New Year!
Good Morning!
I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Since the Holiday season is coming to a close its time to re-focus our energy into Relay once again. I basically allowed Relay to take a back seat during December, because it's always such a busy time for me. My New Year's resolution (one of many) is to work even harder and smarter this year to make it our most successful Relay yet!
I wanted to share a story with all of you about the American Cancer Society. I have a friend who has been touched by ACS in more ways than one, and I just wanted to share with you a little about the organization we support through Relay.
In the 3 years I have been working on Relay, I have never had the occasion to call the American Cancer society, until this year.
I am pretty internet savvy and when my grandmother and grandfather were diagnosed, I did a lot of research on www.cancer.org I can navigate that site like it's nuthin'. I found out a TON of information, facts and statistics. I gave my dad specific questions to ask at my grandpa's Dr. Appointments and follow-ups. But I have always been a little intimidated about speaking to a live person on the subject of cancer. I felt under-informed and clueless about what to even ask. So I didn't.
I have recently called just to get general information and to order pamphlets about cancer and ACS for our team. I found out that everyone at the call center is AMAZING! I don't know how they hire such helpful, nice and patient people to work there….it's unbelievable, and a few companies I know could take a page out of the ACS hiring book to improve their customer service…….
Just last week I was talking to a friend, her father has been a cancer survivor for several years, but is still recovering from all that his body went through during treatment with surgery and radiation. Long story short, he recently had the remainder of his teeth removed. His gums and teeth were too damaged to keep his teeth healthy and although the doctors tried, there was no way to preserve his teeth.
His medical insurance has paid for the tooth removal, but is not willing to pay for replacements in the form of dentures. As unbelievable as it sounds, teeth apparently are not important enough to cover through insurance.
Her family has struggled just to cover his other medical expenses and cannot afford the cost of replacing his teeth. They were unable to locate a dentist that would even make payment arrangements in their area.
So I called ACS. I didn't know exactly what I wanted from them, or how they could help. But I figured if anyone knew what her family should do it would be the people at ACS.
I spoke to the most helpful, patient woman, named Claire. And although I had no idea what I wanted from her, she was able to make sense of my ramblings and gave me the contact information for a clinic near my friends family that not only make payment arrangements but operates on a sliding scale. Even though insurance may not think teeth are important this clinic does.
It may seem like a small feat, but it certainly isn't for the family who will be helped. Or the man with new teeth. Thank you ACS.
Do you know someone who is a cancer survivor who made need help? Do you know someone who is a caregiver who might just need someone to talk to? Do you just want information about how to best help the cancer survivors and caregivers that you know?
Please don't hesitate to call. Sometimes, they know how to help without you even knowing what to ask for.
It's time for resolutions, maybe it's time to help the people in your life. Pass this number on to your friends and family.
1·800·ACS·2345
Down with myspace!
Well they finally did it. They blocked us from myspace....guess I saw that coming! That means the Relay team myspace will not be update either until later......Anyways, if you normally email me through myspace, please know that I probably won't be answering for a while because I can't access it anymore from work and we don't have internet at home (which might have to change).
I have decided to take our team website to another level. I have created this, our team blog. I will be able to update this regularly. I will still attempt to keep the myspace current, but this will definately be more up to day. Please add this website to your favorites and check back often. I think there is a way to subscribe to posts, so they will automatically be sent to your email....I will check it out.
I have decided to take our team website to another level. I have created this, our team blog. I will be able to update this regularly. I will still attempt to keep the myspace current, but this will definately be more up to day. Please add this website to your favorites and check back often. I think there is a way to subscribe to posts, so they will automatically be sent to your email....I will check it out.
1st Team Meeting Minutes
November 28th Meeting Minutes Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes
1st Team Meeting November 28th 6:00 pm at the Cloverleaf Tavern
People in attendance:
Sarah & Autumn Co-captains
Danyal, Liz, Alicia, Ed, Scott, Maureen, Frank, Sonja, Sommer & Cliff
Our first discussion was an introduction to Relay For Life for our newer team members. We discussed what exactly happens at the event, a history of Relay and we each took turns discussing OUR reasons to relay.
Themes: Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back!
We discussed the survivor fair, lap and dinner. All team members are encouraged to invite every cancer survivor they know.
If you know survivors, please encourage them to come. We can register them through our team site. They are not required to participate in the team fundraisers if they do not wish too, But every year I send letters out for my grandmother (and this year my grandfather) on their behalf with a return envelope addressed to me. It's amazing how much money their friends and family are willing to give. They give me the addresses of people they want to send letters to, and I do all the work. (Although she insists on doing the thank you notes herself). At Relay there is the survivor walk at 6 and a survivor fair with access to all different medical contacts, holistic medicine, free massages and free samples. The survivors and caregivers also get care packages with a medal and a t-shirt before the survivor walk.
Relay really IS all about survivors, we are there to celebrate them. Without survivors, there would be no Relay, so please be sure to invite any cancer survivor you know to attend. We can register them ourselves, so they don't have to do a thing
Tacoma Theme: "Teaming up for a cure". Team Sports. We decided as a team to make our theme this year Dodgeball.We decided to minimize the site decorations this year and opted to go with only some rubber dodgeballs. In lieu of decorating our tent site we will be decorating ourselves. We decided to have team shirts created this year. I am going to try to design a jersey-style t-shirt at the custom shirt shop. Each team member will be responsible for purchasing their own shirts, Sarah will let everyone know when and where they will be available. This allows every team member to purchase what they want. Once the design is set, people can put it on t-shirts, sweatshirts, whatever you chose. We will be deciding on colors later, but the idea is to do something somewhat obnoxious and bright. We will also be purchasing sweat bands for our heads and wrists. Sarah will locate the best price and let everyone know where to get them.
Fundraisers:
We discussed our plans for fundraisers this year. We asked all team members to sign up for the committee of 2 of the fundraisers. We had sign-up sheets available at the meeting and everyone picked their 2 fundraisers.
Our Fundraisers this year are as follows:
1) Hope Candles (see pictures on the myspace page) Selling for $5 each. Every team member should attempt to sell 5 candles each. Either by forwarding the email and flyer (email Sarah if you need it) or by taking 5 candles with you to work or church to sell them. Please turn in the money to a captain when the candles are sold. You will be responsible for turning in the funds of any candles not returned to the team.
2) Valentine's day Hershey Kiss Roses. WE will be making bouquets of Hershey kiss roses and selling them for $10-$15 per dozen.
a. We will need about 6 people to help make roses the weekend of February 9-10, it will be a fun craft-style weekend.
b. All team members should attempt to sell the roses by forwarding emails and hanging flyers at work, church etc. All orders will need to be turned in via email or phone to a captain no later than 3 p.m on February 8th.
c. We will have a casual team meeting early that week with snacks where people can pick up their rose orders. Otherwise you must make arrangements to pick them up from your captains before Valentine's Day. We will be delivering the roses on the 14th.
3) Jail N Bail Will be on a Friday in March (Date and Location TBA) A "snitch" contacts the American Cancer Society (Relay for Life Team) requesting the arrest of a boss, co-worker, friend, relative or other person on a "trumped-up charge", such as depriving a village somewhere of an idiot, failing to yield at the end of a sentence, and failure to participate in the human race. Usually, the arrest is a complete surprise to the "jailbird". But some Jailbirds volunteer to be arrested or are informed prior to the arrest to ensure the arrest is in good fun. The snitch is encouraged to verify that the jailbird's calendar is clear to ensure minimal inconvenience to them and where applicable have the jailbird's supervisor approve their time away from the office. Uniformed arresting officers volunteer their time to make the arrests at the jailbird's workplace. Jailbirds are then taken to the jail site and brought before a celebrity judge to answer to the "trumped-up charge". Bail is set and they are sentenced to one hour to try to raise the bail. Phones and directories are provided so the jailbird can call anyone they can think of in an attempt to raise the amount of their bail. Each jailbird also receives a picture of themselves in jail as a memento of their time "behind bars" and other fund-raising incentives dependent upon the amount of "bail" they raise. At the end of one hour a volunteer driver takes the jailbird back to their work place
a. We will need about 3-4 people to help with the event on the day of (it will be a Friday, so you may need to take a day off, or switch you schedule around if you work on Fridays. We may also need some volunteers to return our jailbirds to their work/home.
b. We will 2-3 people to help set up
c. We need 2-3 people to volunteer to build our "jail" beforehand
We will need 3-4 people to help advertise to local businesses and hang flyers in the weeks before.
e. We would like all team members to help by forwarding emails and flyers and by possibly signing someone up to be arrested.
4) The Silent Auction will probably be our biggest fundraiser this year. We are planning a Silent Auction to be held (hopefully) at the Swiss on a Sunday evening in April. We will have live entertainment in the form of 2-3 bands. We will be charging a $10 cover at the door. There will be silent auction tables all around the bar with our items and silent bid sheets. This will probably be the most fun of all of our fundraisers and could potentially bring in thousands of dollars.
a. We will need 3-4 people to help set up Sunday during the day (afternoon) and decorate. ACS will be providing banners/signs and posters with cancer stats and facts on them to place throughout the location
b. We will need 6-10 people to volunteer to be there during the event. We will have a registration table, a cashier, we will need people to monitor the auction tables and we will have an ACS table with cancer information available to all guests and we will have a special gift for all cancer survivors who attend.
c. We will need 4-6 people to help procure items from local businesses in the 6 weeks before the auction
d. I would like all team members to help by forwarding emails and flyers and by contacting family members or friends to make a tax deductible contribution of goods or services to be auctioned off at the auction.
5) Individual Fundraising
a. In about April we will all be sending personal letters and emails to fundraise online through your own personal website and through the mail. Sending letters is the number 1 way that fundraising is accomplished. I have sample letters that you can edit with your information; I will have those at another team meeting as we get closer
6) On Site Fundraising
a. Track your Laps with beads and string. This has become too popular to stop. I actually ran into someone on Black Friday shopping at 5 o'clock in the morning who asked me if we would be doing beads again this year.
b. Selling the remaining Hope Candles
c. Glow Necklaces & Bracelets at night
Please visit https://www.winterbag.com/cgi-bin/nph-a.cgi/000110A/http/www.tacomarelay.org/ and our myspace page https://www.winterbag.com/cgi-bin/nph-a.cgi/000110A/http/www.myspace.com/tacomabeachbabes For update calendars and information. When dates are set for Jail N Bail and the Auction I will be sending out emails with additional information.
If you have not signed up online, Please do so ASAP. Each team only gets 10 t-shirts. (we can purchase additional ones for $5 if we like, but they are first come first serve) https://www.winterbag.com/cgi-bin/nph-a.cgi/000110A/http/www.tacomarelay.org/ our team name is Beach Babes
If you know survivors, please encourage them to come. We can register them through our team site. They are not required to participate in the team fundraisers if they do not wish too, But every year I send letters out for my grandmother (and this year my grandfather) on their behalf with a return envelope addressed to me. Its amazing how much money their friends and family are willing to give. They give me the addresses of people they want to send letters to, and I do all the work. (Although she insists on doing the thank you notes herself).
At Relay there is the survivor walk at 6 and a survivor fair with access to all different medical contacts, holistic medicine, free massages and free samples. The survivors and caregivers also get care packages with a medal and a t-shirt before the survivor walk. Relay really IS all about survivors, we are there to celebrate them. Without survivors, there would be no Relay, so please be sure to invite any cancer survivor you know to attend. We can register them ourselves, so they don't have to do a thing.
1st Team Meeting November 28th 6:00 pm at the Cloverleaf Tavern
People in attendance:
Sarah & Autumn Co-captains
Danyal, Liz, Alicia, Ed, Scott, Maureen, Frank, Sonja, Sommer & Cliff
Our first discussion was an introduction to Relay For Life for our newer team members. We discussed what exactly happens at the event, a history of Relay and we each took turns discussing OUR reasons to relay.
Themes: Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back!
We discussed the survivor fair, lap and dinner. All team members are encouraged to invite every cancer survivor they know.
If you know survivors, please encourage them to come. We can register them through our team site. They are not required to participate in the team fundraisers if they do not wish too, But every year I send letters out for my grandmother (and this year my grandfather) on their behalf with a return envelope addressed to me. It's amazing how much money their friends and family are willing to give. They give me the addresses of people they want to send letters to, and I do all the work. (Although she insists on doing the thank you notes herself). At Relay there is the survivor walk at 6 and a survivor fair with access to all different medical contacts, holistic medicine, free massages and free samples. The survivors and caregivers also get care packages with a medal and a t-shirt before the survivor walk.
Relay really IS all about survivors, we are there to celebrate them. Without survivors, there would be no Relay, so please be sure to invite any cancer survivor you know to attend. We can register them ourselves, so they don't have to do a thing
Tacoma Theme: "Teaming up for a cure". Team Sports. We decided as a team to make our theme this year Dodgeball.We decided to minimize the site decorations this year and opted to go with only some rubber dodgeballs. In lieu of decorating our tent site we will be decorating ourselves. We decided to have team shirts created this year. I am going to try to design a jersey-style t-shirt at the custom shirt shop. Each team member will be responsible for purchasing their own shirts, Sarah will let everyone know when and where they will be available. This allows every team member to purchase what they want. Once the design is set, people can put it on t-shirts, sweatshirts, whatever you chose. We will be deciding on colors later, but the idea is to do something somewhat obnoxious and bright. We will also be purchasing sweat bands for our heads and wrists. Sarah will locate the best price and let everyone know where to get them.
Fundraisers:
We discussed our plans for fundraisers this year. We asked all team members to sign up for the committee of 2 of the fundraisers. We had sign-up sheets available at the meeting and everyone picked their 2 fundraisers.
Our Fundraisers this year are as follows:
1) Hope Candles (see pictures on the myspace page) Selling for $5 each. Every team member should attempt to sell 5 candles each. Either by forwarding the email and flyer (email Sarah if you need it) or by taking 5 candles with you to work or church to sell them. Please turn in the money to a captain when the candles are sold. You will be responsible for turning in the funds of any candles not returned to the team.
2) Valentine's day Hershey Kiss Roses. WE will be making bouquets of Hershey kiss roses and selling them for $10-$15 per dozen.
a. We will need about 6 people to help make roses the weekend of February 9-10, it will be a fun craft-style weekend.
b. All team members should attempt to sell the roses by forwarding emails and hanging flyers at work, church etc. All orders will need to be turned in via email or phone to a captain no later than 3 p.m on February 8th.
c. We will have a casual team meeting early that week with snacks where people can pick up their rose orders. Otherwise you must make arrangements to pick them up from your captains before Valentine's Day. We will be delivering the roses on the 14th.
3) Jail N Bail Will be on a Friday in March (Date and Location TBA) A "snitch" contacts the American Cancer Society (Relay for Life Team) requesting the arrest of a boss, co-worker, friend, relative or other person on a "trumped-up charge", such as depriving a village somewhere of an idiot, failing to yield at the end of a sentence, and failure to participate in the human race. Usually, the arrest is a complete surprise to the "jailbird". But some Jailbirds volunteer to be arrested or are informed prior to the arrest to ensure the arrest is in good fun. The snitch is encouraged to verify that the jailbird's calendar is clear to ensure minimal inconvenience to them and where applicable have the jailbird's supervisor approve their time away from the office. Uniformed arresting officers volunteer their time to make the arrests at the jailbird's workplace. Jailbirds are then taken to the jail site and brought before a celebrity judge to answer to the "trumped-up charge". Bail is set and they are sentenced to one hour to try to raise the bail. Phones and directories are provided so the jailbird can call anyone they can think of in an attempt to raise the amount of their bail. Each jailbird also receives a picture of themselves in jail as a memento of their time "behind bars" and other fund-raising incentives dependent upon the amount of "bail" they raise. At the end of one hour a volunteer driver takes the jailbird back to their work place
a. We will need about 3-4 people to help with the event on the day of (it will be a Friday, so you may need to take a day off, or switch you schedule around if you work on Fridays. We may also need some volunteers to return our jailbirds to their work/home.
b. We will 2-3 people to help set up
c. We need 2-3 people to volunteer to build our "jail" beforehand
We will need 3-4 people to help advertise to local businesses and hang flyers in the weeks before.
e. We would like all team members to help by forwarding emails and flyers and by possibly signing someone up to be arrested.
4) The Silent Auction will probably be our biggest fundraiser this year. We are planning a Silent Auction to be held (hopefully) at the Swiss on a Sunday evening in April. We will have live entertainment in the form of 2-3 bands. We will be charging a $10 cover at the door. There will be silent auction tables all around the bar with our items and silent bid sheets. This will probably be the most fun of all of our fundraisers and could potentially bring in thousands of dollars.
a. We will need 3-4 people to help set up Sunday during the day (afternoon) and decorate. ACS will be providing banners/signs and posters with cancer stats and facts on them to place throughout the location
b. We will need 6-10 people to volunteer to be there during the event. We will have a registration table, a cashier, we will need people to monitor the auction tables and we will have an ACS table with cancer information available to all guests and we will have a special gift for all cancer survivors who attend.
c. We will need 4-6 people to help procure items from local businesses in the 6 weeks before the auction
d. I would like all team members to help by forwarding emails and flyers and by contacting family members or friends to make a tax deductible contribution of goods or services to be auctioned off at the auction.
5) Individual Fundraising
a. In about April we will all be sending personal letters and emails to fundraise online through your own personal website and through the mail. Sending letters is the number 1 way that fundraising is accomplished. I have sample letters that you can edit with your information; I will have those at another team meeting as we get closer
6) On Site Fundraising
a. Track your Laps with beads and string. This has become too popular to stop. I actually ran into someone on Black Friday shopping at 5 o'clock in the morning who asked me if we would be doing beads again this year.
b. Selling the remaining Hope Candles
c. Glow Necklaces & Bracelets at night
Please visit https://www.winterbag.com/cgi-bin/nph-a.cgi/000110A/http/www.tacomarelay.org/ and our myspace page https://www.winterbag.com/cgi-bin/nph-a.cgi/000110A/http/www.myspace.com/tacomabeachbabes For update calendars and information. When dates are set for Jail N Bail and the Auction I will be sending out emails with additional information.
If you have not signed up online, Please do so ASAP. Each team only gets 10 t-shirts. (we can purchase additional ones for $5 if we like, but they are first come first serve) https://www.winterbag.com/cgi-bin/nph-a.cgi/000110A/http/www.tacomarelay.org/ our team name is Beach Babes
If you know survivors, please encourage them to come. We can register them through our team site. They are not required to participate in the team fundraisers if they do not wish too, But every year I send letters out for my grandmother (and this year my grandfather) on their behalf with a return envelope addressed to me. Its amazing how much money their friends and family are willing to give. They give me the addresses of people they want to send letters to, and I do all the work. (Although she insists on doing the thank you notes herself).
At Relay there is the survivor walk at 6 and a survivor fair with access to all different medical contacts, holistic medicine, free massages and free samples. The survivors and caregivers also get care packages with a medal and a t-shirt before the survivor walk. Relay really IS all about survivors, we are there to celebrate them. Without survivors, there would be no Relay, so please be sure to invite any cancer survivor you know to attend. We can register them ourselves, so they don't have to do a thing.
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