Greetings from Seattle! Well, Bellevue, actually, but it's very close to Seattle. As you are probably aware, Dick and I (and our kitty, Noe) moved to the beautiful Pacific Northwest earlier this year after Dick was offered an amazing opportunity with work. We are enjoying the Seattle area very much, and have kept our ties in San Francisco.
I've had several people ask me how this move would affect my participation in the Immediate Impact Walk in San Francisco. As you know, this is an event and cause very near and dear to my heart. Seattle isn't very far from San Francisco (only a two hour flight), and I've been trying to get back down to the Bay Area every 4-6 weeks when I can. I figured I could try to make at least one or two training walks a month with my team during the training season, and also train on my own up here in the Seattle area. I've even had a few friends up here offer to go on long walks with me! :)
So, the answer is YES! I am indeed walking and fundraising again for the Immediate Impact Walk in San Francisco!! This will be my third year as a participant in the Immediate Impact Walk, and my fifth year walking in multi-day breast cancer walks.
The Immediate Impact Walk (http://immediateimpactwalk.org) is a small, local, grass-roots, all-volunteer event of dedicated women (and now even a few men!) who are very passionate and dedicated. We are a community of like-minded people. We see the need for funding the Bay Area under-served breast cancer community and metastatic disease research. With this event we strive to help address that need by raising critical funds to help widen the safety net for the under-served. With this event we channel our compassion into action.
In the past two years, YOU have helped me raise over $30,000 towards the first two Immediate Impact Walk events. During the first two years , our event has raised a combined total of about $240,000.
Where does the money go? Unlike other larger, national events and organizations, we will tell you exactly where all the money goes. This is what makes this group, and this event so special to me.
Our three Bay Area Beneficiaries are: Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, Charlotte Maxwell Complimentary Clinic and Friend to Friend Fund - Partners in Care at UCSF Mt. Zion. Each of these wonderful organizations provide services and funds to low-income and under-served people living with breast cancer.
Our National Beneficiary is: METAvivor Research and Support. METAvivor is the only national nonprofit focused on metastatic disease. Funds granted will be directed to the Research Program.
Of the funds granted, 10% will go to our national beneficiary and 23% will go to each of the three Bay Area organizations. We are very proud to partner with these organizations and support their vital work!
Our Donation Pledge:
80% of donations received will be granted to our event beneficiaries.
10% of donations will be held as prudent reserve for the Immediate Impact Walk's non-profit corporation, In Our Lifetime
10% of donation will be allocated for event expenses
We do everything we can to keep event expenses to an absolute minimum. As participants (walkers and crew), we pay for our own meals, lodging and event t-shirts.
Here is a nice graphic from our website detailing where our donations go, and how many people they help:
You can read more information about The Immediate Impact Walk on our (new!) website: http://immediateimpactwalk.org .
For the third year in a row, my personal fundraising goal for this event is $10,000.
I realize that it may be tougher for me to reach this year, as I'm away from the San Francisco Bay Area, but I'll do my best to reach that goal again. I've already had three successful fundraisers so far this year. I hosted a glassybaby fundraising event in December that raised $1,075. The (now annual) WGI Snark Jar raised $315 (thank you, color guard friends!). I also sell a line of greeting cards on zazzle.com featuring several of my original oil paintings (http://www.zazzle.com/trinachow*). 30% of the sales of these greeting cards go towards my fundraising for the Immediate Impact Walk. So far this year, I've raised another $128 from the card sales. If you participated in either of those early fundraisers, I thank you very much. Please don't feel any pressure to donate more, but if you feel so inclined, it is always appreciated! :)
At the moment, I've raised $1,544 towards my $10,000 goal.
I am writing to once again ask you for your support. Please help me to raise my goal of $10,000. Any amount is appreciated, and no amount is too big or too small. Last year, I had donations as small as $5, and as large as $1,000! If you are unable to donate, that's okay, too – I appreciate your support in any way that you are able to give it.
Please follow the link below to visit my personal fundraising Web page and make a donation.
http://immediateimpactwalk.org/trina (look how easy that is!)
It's going to be very different trying to train this season since I'm no longer living full time in San Francisco. I'm going to do my best to get down as often as I can, and to train in the Seattle area when I'm here. I was in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, and was able to join my team for our Immediate Impact Walk Kick Off Party and our first training walk of the season. I plan to go down again in late June for a 10-mile training walk, and a 8-mile training walk. I also hope to go to at least one or two training walks in July.
Even after five years, walking 55 miles in 3 days is still a daunting task, especially now that I have moved from away from San Francisco and my team. It will take a lot of time and work to train my body to be ready for the challenge. I am once again positive that with your support and encouragement, I will make it through another amazing season!
Thank you for your support and consideration.
With Gratitude,
Trina Chow
** Please ask your employer if they will double your donation with a matching gift. Last year the total of the Matching Gifts we received was almost 10% of the total donations.
*** I'll be keeping regular blog posts of each of my training walks, as well as news, and when I reach major fundraising milestones. You can see
these posts here: http://trinachow.blogspot.com/search/label/Immediate%20Impact%20Walk
**** Please let me know if you would rather not be included on this email list in the future. It's totally okay. :)
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