Excerpts from the Company newlestter

Today, I got to share a part of my story along with another employee who is a survivor. Here is the excerpt...

Treating it

When Holaday was in the midst of the treatment, her oncologist told her something that has stuck with her even today: We are getting good at treating cancer, now we need to prevent it.

“It is amazing to see how the treatments have changed over the years,” said Holaday. “My oncologist said it is both good news and bad news that there are so many diagnosed with breast cancer. On one hand, it is a horrible thing to deal with. But on the other hand, it means there is an increased awareness that leads to early diagnosis and treatment, and increased survival rates.”

That is one of the reasons why she has passion around breast cancer research. Each year she tries to do one walk or event that helps raise money for breast cancer research.

This year she participated in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Race for the Cure. She was joined by dozens of other Intuit walkers last month and raised more than $14,000. They walked in honor of Sandy O’Connell, an Intuit employee who died from breast cancer in January.

And at the beginning of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness month, other Intuit employees participated in the Breast Cancer 3-Day, also benefiting the Susan G. Komen foundation. More than 1,700 walkers and crew raised almost $4 million.

“When I was younger and my mother had breast cancer, I didn’t know how to deal with my mother’s disease, nor did I have the resources to help,” said Andrew Kok, staff business analyst, and was a crew member at the Oct. 2-4 walk. “I only relied on my mother telling me that she would be fine. Today, I am lucky she is a 12-year survivor. Now, I want everyone to know that they aren’t alone and there are resources for people affected with breast cancer as well as resources for family and friends.

In November Kok will be a crew member at another breast cancer walk in San Diego.

Fundraising is important: SD Camp Logistics Crew Hosts Event This Saturday!

I have been working on 3-Day events since 2003. While that may not be as long as some folks I know, I do know that it is too many. That's why fundraising is so important. It seems as though there is never enough money to finally end breast cancer. If there was, I would be volunteering on a different event by now right?

That's why the 2009 San Diego 3-Day Camp Logistics crew will be hosting a fundraising event on Saturday, October 17 at the Miami Grille at UTC in San Diego (near UCSD)! There will be raffle prizes and salsa dancing for donations. Miami Grille is generously donating some of the proceeds from food and drink items to the Camp Logistics crew.

So please come out to the Miami Grille if you live in the San Diego area. The money raised will go to Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure.

Tomorrow is the day

Well, it's finally here. The San Francisco Breast Cancer 3-Day! Tomorrow begins the weekend for the Camp Logistics team which is an advance team sent ahead of the walkers and other crew in order to build the camp. Walkers and crew alike will sleep, eat, and shower at camp among other things. In their spare time, walkers can also enjoy the Camp Services area where they can send messages to people, lounge in some chairs with magazines, or get a massage from the Engergizer sponsored tent. So for the Camp Logisitics team, this is really the 4-Day!

Weather is expected to be amenable for the weekend. Layering is recommended as San Francisco has about 23 micro-climates. Camp will be situated near a body of water so the cold could be a factor especially at night. Day time highs are expected to be in the upper 60s for Thursday and Friday with a bit of cooling on Saturday and Sunday.

For those of you who are coming out to support the walkers, check www.the3day.org for spectators cheering sections along the route!

Good luck to all the walkers! Camp Logistics will be rooting for you!

3-Day Season is in the Air

The Breast Cancer 3-Day season is well under way. Cities like Cleveland, Denver, and Seattle have kicked off the tour with a bang. Today, the San Diego event preps the crew by hosting Crew Extravaganza along side the Expo which will show walkers what to expect during event. If people think that this event just magically happens, what they don't realize is all the preparations that go into getting ready. Early in the year, walkers are encouraged to start training to build stamina and endurance to go about 20 miles a day. Crew captains who help manage the event have to prepare their plans and teams. Event coordinators have to get permits and licenses to host the event. While 3-Day season lasts about 4 months, the preparations take almost the whole year. The most important thing is that all this prep work ends up raising millions of dollars that will go to breast cancer research and awareness.

Getting Creative in Raising Money to Fight Breast Cancer

Okay, so in the old days, I go door-to-door. A few years ago, I blast emails to a large distribution list. I have Facebooked for donations. Today, I took it one more level! I am currently vacationing in Hawaii and decided that since I am playing golf, why not see if anyone will help me raise money while I golf. So I posted on Facebook the fact that I am golfing and asked for people to donate $5 for every PAR I got. I am about a 14 handicap and usually shoot in the mid-80s. That's about 4-5 pars. Well, on short notice, I did manage to get someone to sponsor me. By the end of the round, I managed an 86 and got 6 pars! This has given me some other ideas for the rest of my vacation. Wonder what I could do for birdies!

$500 fundraising goal reached in 2 days!

So I set out to see if I could raise $500 in a day via social media, primarily FaceBook. After one day, I was 60% there. I posted about 3 times during the day to keep the posts fresh so people could see it. Today, I decided that I would try to get the remaining $200. My ask each day was for 50 people to step up and contribute $10 each. Yesterday started out promising with the first two people going above $10, with a $25 contribution each. This was then followed by a $250 contribution which got me to $300. Today, also started with someone going above the $10 mark with $25. After a $10 contribution from another friend, I up'd the ante by declaring a $10 match for the next 18 people who would contribute $10. I then got a contribution for $180 followed by another contribution of $60 and another for $20.

Here is the lesson I learned. Not everyone is going to donate, maybe it is not the right time or the right cause for them. However, the power of giving is huge even in these economic times. I made $590 in less than 2 days and if I throw in my $30 in matches, that is $620.

Don't underestimate the willingness of people to support a great cause!

FaceBooking for donations

So yesterday, I tried to "Dial for Dollars" using social media as a medium. I tried to raise $500 in one day for the San Diego Breast Cancer 3-Day. I feel I was largely successful as I made 60% of my goal, bringing in $300. I will continue my donation drive today by posting another request on FB as well as Twitter. I hope to get to $500 by then end of the week.

Another idea I will be trying in the near future is auctioning off some things on FB to see if I can raise even more money.

If you want to help me reach my $500 mark for this week, click on the DONATE icon on the right!