| Author | Message | ||
     Jerry_haughton |
[cross-posted from Matt's Place - FB] First, you should all have my email address [gr_wares (at) hotmail (dot) com] and you probably have my cell phone number, but just in case you don’t here it is: 616-318-3748. Call anytime, really! I will be picking up the various pieces of RFL literature at the board meeting tomorrow night. I will have receipts and everything you need by then as well… including the luminary bags. This year, we are going cyber!! We will have our own website courtesy of the American Cancer Society (ACS) for Team Matt Ware. The beauty of this site is that people anywhere in the world can log-in and donate money on a secure network to ACS and our team! There will be a goal thermometer on there showing how we are going etc. I am still working on selecting photos and writing a note of greeting for that site. If you want to give me a hand with that, please let me know! Last time, we raised $30k with $10 of that being from one company. Minus that money, we were able to raise $20k from friends, colleagues, and associates. We are looking to match that total of $20k again this year! Every penny is going to brain cancer research. Why is that? Because the brain cancer research effort gets very little research money inasmuch as it is one of the rarest forms of cancer. We feel led to honor Matt and to help those who have or will have this insidious disease by funding the research efforts. The only thing standing between a cure and us for cancer is money. That is the bottom line truth. It takes money to develop new research, to find new treatments and to fund clinical trials. I am confident that with enough money, we can find a cure for cancer in our lifetime. Can you imagine the TV and radio news that day?? There will be dancing in the streets. I for one can’t wait and am excited about being a part of it… I know you are too! Several of you have expressed interest in managing specific areas and I have noted that in parentheses. Even so, if you would like to help that person in that particular area, additional help would be appreciated! Here is the list of areas we need your help and leadership in (in no particular order): - The overall theme of the Kentwood Relay is Sports. The overall slogan is Team Up For A Cure! We need to determine how we can fit into this theme and yet still be unique! We want for our teammates to be visible and stand out from the crowd. Last time we adopted a Hawaiian theme, and everyone got a lay when they arrived and signed in at our tent. So please give this some thought and give me your ideas so we can vote! - Manage the money with Mitch (Lisa ??) i.e. checks and cash collected via US mail or handed in to one of us and get it to Kyle of ACS in Kentwood. - Manage the procurement of two very large tents (Lisa). - Procure 8 banquet tables with coverings and chairs. - Procure a generator. - Manage and coordinate the setup and tear down of the tents, tables, etc. - Design and procure our tents decorations around the unique sports theme we all agree upon (Jennie. This would include having signs made (by kids) to hang on the fence like last time (I have some contacts who might be able to help with this). - Coordinate the decoration of luminary bags (some to be given to young school aged kids to decorate for a specific person) - Manage the sign ups and act as greeters during the event (Ken and Christine). - Games and activity coordinator! Put together a plan for fun things for us to do as a team, while working in conjunction with the overall events activities (a list of which I can give you) making sure we are represented well in the overall event activities i.e. survivors walk; reverse walk; hop and skip walk; pet walk; etc. It would be great to have a late Friday night dance or something similar after the luminary celebration at dark. Then maybe the high school and college age kids could have another Texas Hold’em tourney. - Manage the distribution of posters and other Relay materials, getting them people in a timely fashion (Mitch). - Procure and manage the goodies for the give away bags for team walkers. Last time we had gift bags that were gender specific. That was a real hit with everyone who came out! We have a list of companies who helped us last time. - Procure and manage the food and water (Tracy ?). - Chaperone the teenagers over night (Cy ?). - Be the Team Matt Ware official photographer and capture the fun on disc so we can all share in it for years to come! If you can think of anything I left out, or if you can think of anything else that would make this a super special experience for everyone in attendance. Please let me know! I am very excited about this year, I think this event is going to be even more fun then last time which was a real blast! By the way, you can see tons of photos from last time by going to Matt’s photo website www.flckr.com/photos/team_matt_ware and click on the relay for life icon. Also, I am sure Matt would be very proud of his friends and family for continuing on this very important work in his honor. He was a very compassionate and fun guy. He really enjoyed the time, and I think if it is possible he will be smiling with us this time too! Thanks for taking time to read all of this! Let us know where your interests lie and what other ideas you might have! Mitch Ware and Lisa Champlin |
