#83 Win Another Award From The American Cancer Society . . .DONE December 7, 2008

Thanks for all of your kind words about Aunt Mary’s passing.  I had a lot to write about, but didn’t want to jam it all into one post, and my little tribute to her definitely deserved top billing.  My Vegas recap is still in the works (if “in the works” means I need to start writing it), so I’ll save that for later.  Trailing on the end of our whirlwind week that involved a trip to Vegas, a trip to New Jersey and back, and, oh, that almost-neglected thing called WORK, Mike and I had a dinner to go to.  A volunteer recognition dinner for the American Cancer Society.

Remember the award we won last year?

We did it again!  We are proud and honored to be the recipients of the 2007-2008 American Cancer Society’s Greater Pittsburgh Unit Income Development Merit Award. 

We met some amazing people at the dinner.  The woman next to us was a lung cancer survivor and had the most positive outlook.  She’s been through a lot in the past few years and still has some small tumors that are inoperable and will just need to be monitored.  She had always been a worrier about every little thing, but once she was told that she had cancer, the worrying went away.  She felt calm.  She knew it wasn’t her time to go and that she had to make the most of what time she does have left and realized that worrying about it would get her nowhere.  It was so inspiring to talk with her.

We also got to spend some time with the director of our local office.  She showed such an interest in our benefit, our motivation, and our vision of taking the benefit to the next level.  She lost her own mother to cancer 25 years ago, so working for the ACS is not just a job to her. 

Since we had won last year, we didn’t expect to win again this year.  I think both of our jaws dropped open as soon as the announcer said our names–we were stunned!  It’s such a great feeling to have our efforts recognized and gives us even more motivation to make next year’s event a smashing success!

Stunned October 14, 2008

Mike and I hosted our 7th annual Locke American Cancer Society Benefit on Saturday night and it was AMAZING!  We didn’t set our hopes very high this year–we raised $9000 last year, but that was with the help of a friend who was able to raise $3000 on our behalf.  So this year, especially with the state of the economy, we didn’t really expect to meet last year’s number let alone bypass it. 

We’re currently at almost $9500.  There are still donations coming in.  (It’s not too late if you haven’t donated and would like to.)  I am stunned.  And can’t stop smiling.

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed!  Details and pictures coming soon!

American Cancer Society award December 7, 2007

So maybe not everyone can be a winner, but we are!

Last Wednesday, Mike and I were invited to attend the American Cancer Society’s volunteer recognition dinner.  We’ve been hosting an annual benefit for the American Cancer Society for the past six years, but this was the first time we were invited to attend this dinner.

There were a lot of reasons for not going that could have persuaded us to stay home–it’s on the other side of town on a Wednesday, there would be a lot of rushing around after work to get there on time, we wouldn’t know anyone, Mike would have to (gasp!) wear a dress shirt and a tie.  But we went–more out of curiosity than anything.

The director of the Pittsburgh ACS unit, Leslie, was actually the one to greet us at the door, and she immediately took us aside and talked to us for awhile.  She was so appreciative of what we do and the money we raise, and seriously we could have left right after we talked to her and we would have been on cloud 9 the rest of the night.

She explained to us that we’re what they consider to be a third-party fundraiser.  The ACS has limited involvement and more or less just sits there waiting on our cash to roll in.  We knew that much. The thing that shocked us is that the typical third-party fundraiser for our region averages $1100 and in a lot of cases it’s a one-time only event.  We’ve been doing this every year for six years and have raised a total of around $30,000.  In the grand scheme of things, we know that $30,000 isn’t a lot when you’re talking about cancer research and treatment.  But all of a sudden it SEEMED like a lot.

She had a lot of other people to talk to, so she excused herself and we drifted towards the bar.  We didn’t know anyone else there, and with the exception of one other couple seemed to be the youngest people in the room.  Leslie came over to us and told us that she’d like for us to sit with her at dinner and pointed out her table.  We made our way over there and introduced ourselves to the others that were already seated.

There were a few quick speeches, then dinner, a motivational speaker who was a cancer survivor, and then an awards ceremony.  Mike and I had talked about the possibility of us winning some kind of award, but didn’t really expect to.  As the awards went on, all of the winners were people who were involved with ACS-established events and programs–Relay for Life, Road to Recovery, Daffodil Days, Look Good Feel Better.  At that point Mike and I realized that we were out of our league.  These people were the ones who organized events and services for thousands of people.  We just throw a big party at a bar and send a check to the ACS.  At one point I looked around and felt like we didn’t belong; that we were invited by mistake.

When they announced our names for an award, I was stunned.  A very nice speech was made about our benefit and how much money we’ve raised over the years.  We shuffled up onto the stage, accepted our award, shook hands all around, and made our way back to our seats.  Leslie smiled at us and leaned over to congratulate us.  That moment was one of the proudest in my life.  Mike and I put a lot of time and effort into the benefit each year, and to be recognized for it in front of a room full of people who have an appreciation of what we do and why we do it was the biggest compliment that we could ever receive.

That picture above?  That’s of the 2006-2007 American Cancer Society Greater Pittsburgh Unit’s Income Development Merit Award winners.  And we’re damn proud of it!

The long-awaited benefit post October 22, 2007

Mike and I both lost our mothers to cancer–his in 1998 and mine in 2001.  Our families both dealt with it in different ways–his discussed things in depth and mine treated it like the elephant in the room.  Their illnesses were very different–length, effects, treatments–but had some commonalities.  One of which was the American Cancer Society. 

One day in 2002, Mike and I were sitting at the bar at a country club waiting for some friends to meet us for dinner and we were talking about sponsoring a golf outing and having the proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society.  I wasn’t too enthralled by the idea.  I don’t golf, so I wanted to do something that I’d be interested in too.

Months later, Mike was turning 30, and instead of having a traditional birthday party for him, we decided to ask everyone to bring a donation for the American Cancer Society instead of a gift.  During the planning stages, we decided to do a 50/50 and were able to scrounge up enough prizes to have a raffle.  We invited family and close friends, had a great time, and raised somewhere around $1000. 

That was when we decided to do it every year, and make it a stand-alone affair, unrelated to Mike’s birthday.  The next year, we put a little more effort into it and raised a few thousand dollars.  Each year, the benefit has grown.  We now get about 150-200 people the night of the event, and donations coming in from those who can’t attend.  We spend months planning it, enjoy every minute, and always have an empty feeling that night after it’s all over.

The last 2 years, we’ve raised around $6000.  This year our only hope was to beat that, and we did!  Donations are still coming in, but we should be somewhere around $9000.  More than we ever thought we could raise!

Oz (in the picture above), was a big help to us this year.  He raised $2000 on his own through co-workers and friends.  This year we made him the “Humanitarian of the Year”, but he didn’t do it for the attention or the cheap bowling alley pro shop plaque.  He did it because his life has been affected by cancer.  He’s lost family, friends, and co-workers to cancer.  And he made it a point this year of doing everything he could to raise money.  What an inspiration he is!

I dream of the day where our benefit is a $200-a-plate fancy affair with celebrities in attendance and silent auction items that raise $9000 on their own.  But 40 years from now, when Mike and I are still hosting it a Pittsburgh bar, still getting the same people to come, and still raising an amount that isn’t but a drop in the big bucket of cancer fund-raising, I think we’ll still be proud of what we’re doing and who we’re doing it for–our mothers, gone before they were 50, who will never know their grandchildren.

Where have I been? October 17, 2007

No, I didn’t give up on this whole blogging thing!

I’ve been busy busy busy!  Mike and I run a benefit each year for the American Cancer Society–this year’s was on October 13th, this past Saturday.  The good news–we raised $9000!  The bad news–I’m still exhausted and trying to get through a bitch of a week at work.

More on the benefit later!