Our team, Charlie's Angels, has been raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation since 2003 – the year Charlie was diagnosed.
For the first few years, we sent out our fundraising letter to friends, family and co-workers and did remarkably well. Last year, however, I started to feel uncomfortable asking the same people to give so generously yet again. I felt like they were investors in a cure that I was falsely promising. A cure that was "closer than ever" or "within reach" or "right around the corner." To be honest, I really don't know how close we are to a cure. But, what else can I do? I can't cure Charlie. I can only raise money and give it to the people who say they possibly can. I'll sell it like a snake oil salesman if I must.
What I'm surprised to learn about myself, is how into fundraising I've become. Taking the "it can't hurt to ask" approach and realizing the power of the Internet, I see vast areas of untapped territory ripe for diabetes funding. Just walking around town, I get ideas. Hmm, dog-walkers. Hmm, biker chicks. Hmm, road kill. Hmm, bank robbers.
Some of my ideas don't always pan out. I still want to do the Baby Olympics, but my kids are getting a bit old to participate. Guess I can just lie about their age like players do in Major League Baseball. I've seriously considered an all-night dance marathon inspired by the classic Happy Days episode where Fonzie must dance all night with Joanie after his motorcycle breaks down on his way to the competition and he must push it 12 miles. I mean, the guy is freakin' exhausted, but someone needs to teach that snotty cheerleading captain Jill Higgins a lesson for cutting Joanie from the cheerleading squad. Enter the Fonz and his bizarre Russian folk dancing.
For this year's fundraising, I'm working on organizing a large-scale indoor soccer tournament and I'm attempting to enlist the
I recently got a letter from JDRF, identifying me as a potential candidate for the local chapter's board of directors. Not sure if I'll pursue. I have the prospect form in front of me. It's asking that I give my fundraising experience. I suppose I can tell them all about my interest in tapping the prostitution industry (pardon the pun) with my "Whore for a Cure" campaign.
Oh, JDRF is going to love me.
