Where Is The Fun in Fundraising?

$$$$$$$

Good news: We are done fundraising. IndieGoGo officially closes today. We raised some money to put into the project and feel like we have contributed in some small way. We gave it our best. Time to pack and fill the malaria pill prescription.

All the way back to when I was a Brownie (the little Girl Scout, maybe age 8), there has been a requirement to go out and raise money. We had to sell cookies. Girl Scout cookies really sell themselves, but you still have to go door to door and beg people to buy them. Elementary students today have to sell wrapping paper, candy and a bunch of junk that does nothing but clutter someone's house. Arsenal soccer was all about selling cookie dough. High school sports was all about selling Bruin and Bengal cards, which was nothing more than a $10 donation, as there was nothing on the card worth using. Fundraising is a way of life if you are involved in any activity.

Fundraising, though, can be fun. If your approach is this is absolutely dreadful, it will not be much fun. If your approach is let's get in there, get the job done, there is fun to be had along the way.

The fun for Chris and me, we met some really great people we never would have met. We were out and about in the community every opportunity we had. We saw old friends around town that we hadn't seen in years. That was really quite fun. 


It is pretty hard to fundraise without the support of local businesses. They get hit up all of the time, but somehow they manage to keep on giving. In return, please support these businesses when you can. They are all really great people and care about what is going on in the community, as well as the world.

Staggering Ox
Brewhouse
Blackfoot Brewery
Lewis & Clark Brewery
Luxury Nails
Sole Sisters
Starbucks
Bear's Den
Sandy Mac's
M-T Glass Liquor
George's Distributing
Mountain Country Distributing
Cinemark
Lucca's

And these are our great friends that donated items and helped us out:

Wanda White
Jim and Sherry Tolan
Keith Clevenger
Nicole Woody
Amber Hartman
Kitty Brown
Kristi and Gordie McManus
Haylee

Another great piece of fun for me was the fact that my sister was the successful bidder (actually, the only bidder, and she kept bidding herself up) for the House Wine bike in our silent auction. We now have matching bikes. That would never have happened had we not been fundraising. We had matching bikes when we were young. I don't remember the style name, but they had a flowered banana seat and a basket. It was a trip down memory lane when we rode around the block on our new House Wine matching bikes. What a great thing to happen the year you turn 50.

The best news of all: I am putting the fundraising topic to bed for good. No more bracelets, auctions, donations. My sincerest apology for putting you through that. Back to food, fun and wine. Cheers.

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." ~ John F. Kennedy