Relay 2012

Today I was able to get our Relay shirts & paint.  This year we are doing white shirts with orange paint.  The orange paint is in honor of my "other mother" Cindy who is a kidney cancer SURVIVOR!  We thought white shirts would be a bit cooler than the orange ones we did last year.  The name on the sleeve is kind of hard to see but that's because it's in GLOW IN THE DARK paint!  Yep, we're cool like that.

Right now our team fundraising total is at $1,029!  The first year I did Relay (four years ago) my team raised about $1,900.  Unfortunately every year since then I've had a smaller team and thus raised a smaller amount of money.  Don't get me wrong, any amount is great.  However, this year I'd like to hit at least the $1,500 mark.  

We are planning to do another yard sale/bake sale fundraiser next Saturday, June 2.  We are also hoping to put together a boutique at my place in mid-late June.  Hopefully we can get a bunch of the stuff my mom, Cindy & I have sewn in addition to Usborne books, Pampered Chef, Short Stuff Preschool, Avon, and more.  I think we will advertise it as a boutique but also send out invites - watch for yours! :)  If you or anyone you know would like to participate in the boutique, let me know!  It will be one weeknight & one weekend night (hopefully that will give us a better turn out).  I'm going to ask that participating sellers donate a percentage of their profits from the two nights to our fundraising efforts.  No specific set percentage, just whatever they would like to donate.

We also are currently doing an "opportunity drawing" for this quilt.  It measures 56 inches wide by 66 inches long.  It is machine quilted & the binding was done by hand.  No, my mom and I didn't make it.  It was donated.  Tickets for the drawing are $1 each or 6/$5.  Leave me a comment or email me if you're interested. We will have more opportunity drawings available at the Relay event itself.

It's not too late to join our team or register a team of your own if you're interested in participating in Relay.  Our overall fundraising goal this year is $150,000.  Last year we did about $97,000 so it's a big jump this year.  

And on a final note, just in case you don't know why I Relay:

I Relay in memory of my paternal grandmother who passed away from breast cancer 10 years ago this November 19th.  She passed away exactly 3 months & 41 minutes before Samantha was born.  It was her second fight with breast cancer - her first round was when I was in jr. high.  Samantha never knew my grandma but she reminds me of her every day.  She has so many of grandma's personality traits that it makes me miss grandma more every day.  I have told all my kids about Grandma Lea and they ask about her frequently.  She is not gone, she is certainly not forgotten.  She is temporarily out of our reach.  

I also Relay in honor of my maternal grandmother who is a  breast cancer survivor, my maternal grandfather who is a prostate & mouth cancer survivor, my paternal grandfather who is a prostate cancer survivor, Travis's grandpa Charlie who had throat cancer, Travis's grandma Myrle who is a cancer survivor, Travis's aunt Lori who is a thyroid cancer survivor, my childhood friend who is a breast cancer survivor, my "other mother" who is a kidney cancer survivor, and my good friend Mandy who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.  

For me, it doesn't feel like it's a matter of if I get cancer, but rather it's a matter of when I get cancer.  I don't want my children to worry about hearing they have cancer & feeling like it's a death sentence.  I want to help "Celebrate a world with more birthdays."