FUNdraising

It seems like I've been gone from blogland FOREVER!

It's only been about a week... but I have been really busy finishing up our fundraisers for JDRF!

As you know, we participated in JDRF's Walk to Cure on October 2nd! It was a great day! Click HERE to read more about it!

We have also been having a "Dimes for Diabetes" campaign at school. My school (and Sweetpea's school - same one) and another school in our district have been collecting change. This is a part of JDRF's Kids Walk program. We collected change for 3 weeks. The class in each building that brought in the most money earned a prize! 

I am so proud to say that we raised a total of near $1,700 in change!  This is from a community where around 55% of students are on free and reduced lunch.  This just shows... that generosity knows no limits and that if everyone pitches in a little, the result can be BIG!

We also did a McTeacher night!  Teachers from the two school worked at a local McDonald's from 5-8 pm one evening.  It was incredible!  From 5:00 on... it was PACKED.  I'm talking a lobby with no room to move and no parking spaces in the lot.  CRAZY!  It was so fun to see the kids that night!  And they were so excited to see their teachers working behind the counter!  One of the workers told me that he had never seen a McTeacher night quite like that one!

McDonald's gave us 15% of the total proceeds from the 3 hours we worked.  We ended up making $384!  It was incredible to look out at this packed restaurant and realize that people were there to support us.  What a humbling experience!

I did a Thirty One party, too!  Thirty One is a Christian based business that sells bags and purses and organizers and other items that can all be monogrammed!  I LOVE Thirty One!  I use lots of their products to hold all of our D supplies!  You can see some of those in THIS POST.  Thirty One donated 30% of the proceeds to JDRF and we raised around $400!

We also did a Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A!  Chick-fil-A donated 20% of the proceeds from those who brought in our flyer during a two hour time span one night.  This one was not as successful as the others... it was further from school and people HAD to have the flyer AND put their receipt in the box.  Unfortunately, not everyone knew to do this or was told to do this.  However, we raised $132 and I am very thankful for that and their willingness to help us!

I AM EXHAUSTED!

Fundraising this year has kicked my bum!  It's been a lot of work, but it's also been really FUN!  

Our estimated total for Princess Sweetpea's Dream Team right now is around......

$14,500!

We still have a few checks that we are expecting and I'm hoping to somehow pull a few hundred dollars out of the air so that we could get to $15,000.  This is so much more than I thought possible this year.  I didn't see how we could beat our total of $12,000 from last year - but we did it!

I've learned that often people will donate generously if you just ask!  So many people donated so generously to us - and I'm not talking about big dollar amounts.  I'm talking about what is generous for each person.  The child that brought in $10 in change from HIS OWN PIGGYBANK is just as generous - if not more so- than the person who donated $100 or $500.  

It's truly been a wonderful experience to raise this money for JDRF.

We see how loved we are.  We see the kindness and goodness in people.  We see how people will come together for one reason.  We see how everyone doing a little equals a big outcome. 

It's hard to ask people for money.  It's hard to ask people to donate time to something when they get nothing in return.  However, I'll do it.  I'll collect those (and count) all that change.  I'll bug people to join our team.  I'll step out of my comfort zone and ask for donations.  I'll work at McDonalds.  I'll go to Chick-fil-A (ok, that's not hard to do).  I'll keep reminding and bugging people until I'm sure they are SICK of hearing me talk about diabetes.  

I'll do whatever it takes.  Because it's for my child.  It's for your child.  It's for you.  It's for all of us.  

We're in this fight together.  Whether we have T1 or have a child with T1 or have a friend or relative with T1... this fight belongs to ALL of us.  

I am glad to be done with fundraising for a while... but I know I'll cherish the memories we have made forever.  

Thank you so much for your support!