This blog is to keep track and tell others my story as I put together this fundraiser! I hope to inspire others to start getting more involved in their communities and in service!
I am planning and organizing a 24-hour fundraiser that will be held at
my parents’ gym in Saint George. This fundraiser is to raise money for a family
in need in the Saint George Community and will take place March 11-12, 2013. I have a Sponsor who will be donating $5
for every person who comes in to the gym during the designated 24 hours. There
will also be a donation bin out as soon as we start advertising at the gym for those who
will not be able to make it to the gym during the fundraiser but would still
like to contribute to the cause. The money will then be anonymously given to
the family. We will either pay off as much of their debts as possible, or the
money will just be given to them in whole and they can use it as they please.
This fundraiser is to start raising awareness in the Saint George community of
those in need and ways to engage in service. I am looking forward to carrying this project out and
seeing the effects of my hard work and how the family can benefit from the
goodness of others.
My mother and owner of the gym!
These first couple of weeks meetings went very well overall. I am starting to
become anxious and excited about this fundraiser. This fundraiser is that first
one that I have been solely in charge of and it has been a great experience so
far. All of the budget plans have worked out with the sponsor and my family as
well. The staff is more than willing to help and work overnight to ensure that
this fundraiser is a success.
The sponsor is more than willing to give the $5 per person
who works out during the 24 hours. I think that this fundraiser will be
a big success and I will be able to start to do more fundraisers to help those
in need.
A member working out during the fundraiser! He brought in three friends as well to help donate!
Members love working out at the gym for a good cause!
At the beginning of the fundraiser, in the early morning!
These past
two weeks have been incredible! We have started to put up flyers around the gym
and other populated places around Saint George. We have also started to spread
the news about this fundraiser through word of mouth and the response has been
great. I am surprised at how many members of the gym have said that they will
make sure to come in during the fundraiser to help out with this cause. It is
great to see how many people are willing to give of their time and money when
there is a family in need. After these past two weeks I am almost positive that
this fundraiser will be a great success and that we will be able to make a
difference in the life of this family and help them to have a better life.
Working out for a good cause!
A zumba class that we scheduled during the fundraiser! Everyone had such a great time!
One of the yoga classes that we had during the fundraiser!
The fundraiser was a complete success! We had a total of 450 members come to work
out during the 24 hours allotted for the fundraiser. The sponsor donated a grand
total of $2,250 to me for the needy family in Saint George. Many of the members
that I talked to during the fundraiser told me how much they enjoyed this idea
to raise money because not only does it motivate them to come work out but then
they are also giving to a worthy cause by just showing up. Not much effort is
involved. But also, if they wanted to they were allowed the opportunity to
donate what they could. After the fundraiser I wrote a letter explaining what this gift was, gathered the
money and delivered it to the family. I doorbell ditched their house and
watched them as they read the letter and saw all of the money. They all cried
and even yelled out “thank you whoever you are, you are our saving grace!” This
was an amazing experience for all involved and I will most definitely be
planning more fundraisers to help those less fortunate.
This fundraiser will hopefully inspire others to participate in, or organize their own! I hope that reading this blog will also encourage others to spread the word about the service that they have either put together or participated in! If we keep spreading the word about service then maybe one day more people will realize that opportunities to serve are all around us. We just have to open our eyes and be willing to give of our time so that someone else will be able to have a better life!
“You are what you do, not what you say you'll do.”
― C.G. Jung
― C.G. Jung
