This is amazing news! So i have fundraised over $2200 so far (and still have over a month of fundraising to go!) So what this means is for every $100 over that minimum i will take 20 bucks out of my pocket (where there are endless numbers of 20 dollar bills...) and donate it to the AIDS Committee of Guelph and Wellington County. To see the amazing things they do in my home community click here.
Thank you all for your support and encouragement. and wear your helmets!
This is a journal of my mind meanderings as I ride my bicycle in preparation to ride from Toronto to Montreal as a part of the 15th Annual Friends for Life Bike Rally in support of the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation.
Saturday 16 June 2012
Going nowhere fast: Why i love fundraising on my trainer
Yep, I hear that line alot. It gets old pretty quick, like after once. But i'll hear that line over and over again and keep smiling because i love fundraising on my bike trainer. If you don't know what that is, i basically set up my bike on a stand that puts the back wheel off the ground so i can pedal and "go nowhere fast", i put a little sign on my bike that says "please donate," attach a little bucket to the front of my handlebars, hop on my bike and pedal away. I've done alot of my fundraising this year like this, and raised over 1000 dollars. I really love it and this is blog about why.
So this morning i set up at 7am at the Guelph farmers Market, a place i visit each week. I'm an early market goer because the crowds overwhelm me, most days. So i go early, get my veggies and go home to my cats. Not that i don't love the market. I do, very much in fact. I just get people overload very quickly there. I do enjoy seeing people i know, and saying hi to the vendors, but i am quite shy by nature, and so home to my cats i go. But here i am once again set up on my trainer, having all kinds of strangers/partial strangers and freinds come up and talk to me. for hours I allow that little bit of extrovert in me shine. I talk to strangers. It feels good. I find it incredibally inpriring when i'm there cycling away looking at the birds flying overhead (chimney swifts this morning), and someone walks by, i say "good morning" they slow down, i tell them what i'm doing and who the money goes towards, and they pull out their wallet and drop in a few coins. They have no idea who i am. they probably don't know anyone with HIV/AIDS but they still open thier wallets and wish me a good ride. I had a few very moving moments this morning. A woman walked by me on her way into the market. I said "good morning," she ignored me. Fine. She came back out and we made eye contact. She walked over and dropped a twoonie in my bucket. I said thank you and she walked off. A few hours later, she comes by again and pulls out a twenty and puts it in my bucket and says "Thank you for doing this." Good lord i teared up. that's what gets me. these small interactions with strangers that mean so much. Or when i told a woman and hers kids what i was riding for she came by later got her kids to put a few coins in my bucket and thanked me for getting a disscussion going with her kids about what AIDS was. Amazing. Me riding my bike in a public place is getting people talking with thier kids about AIDS.
I also really love doing the trainer fundraising as it really reminds me how small actions can really add up to something amazing. a few quarters and loonies for you, added to everyone elses quarters and loonies can make a huge difference. Like how me spining my little legs along with all the other riders spinning thier little legs on our way to montreal can help raise over a million dollars (random tidbit: over %40 of PWAs operating budget comes from this rally) for such an amazing organization and how all the seemingly small things, like a fresh cooked meal, or a much needed medication, that PWA does makes such a huge difference in the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS.
So thank you all, thank you for all the little things you do in your life. they do add up and can make a huge impact.
So this morning i set up at 7am at the Guelph farmers Market, a place i visit each week. I'm an early market goer because the crowds overwhelm me, most days. So i go early, get my veggies and go home to my cats. Not that i don't love the market. I do, very much in fact. I just get people overload very quickly there. I do enjoy seeing people i know, and saying hi to the vendors, but i am quite shy by nature, and so home to my cats i go. But here i am once again set up on my trainer, having all kinds of strangers/partial strangers and freinds come up and talk to me. for hours I allow that little bit of extrovert in me shine. I talk to strangers. It feels good. I find it incredibally inpriring when i'm there cycling away looking at the birds flying overhead (chimney swifts this morning), and someone walks by, i say "good morning" they slow down, i tell them what i'm doing and who the money goes towards, and they pull out their wallet and drop in a few coins. They have no idea who i am. they probably don't know anyone with HIV/AIDS but they still open thier wallets and wish me a good ride. I had a few very moving moments this morning. A woman walked by me on her way into the market. I said "good morning," she ignored me. Fine. She came back out and we made eye contact. She walked over and dropped a twoonie in my bucket. I said thank you and she walked off. A few hours later, she comes by again and pulls out a twenty and puts it in my bucket and says "Thank you for doing this." Good lord i teared up. that's what gets me. these small interactions with strangers that mean so much. Or when i told a woman and hers kids what i was riding for she came by later got her kids to put a few coins in my bucket and thanked me for getting a disscussion going with her kids about what AIDS was. Amazing. Me riding my bike in a public place is getting people talking with thier kids about AIDS.
I also really love doing the trainer fundraising as it really reminds me how small actions can really add up to something amazing. a few quarters and loonies for you, added to everyone elses quarters and loonies can make a huge difference. Like how me spining my little legs along with all the other riders spinning thier little legs on our way to montreal can help raise over a million dollars (random tidbit: over %40 of PWAs operating budget comes from this rally) for such an amazing organization and how all the seemingly small things, like a fresh cooked meal, or a much needed medication, that PWA does makes such a huge difference in the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS.
So thank you all, thank you for all the little things you do in your life. they do add up and can make a huge impact.
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