|
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Time out to publicize a good cause.
Ross Rader, an associate who works at Toronto-based technology company Tucows (and therefore a client; Ross was a co-founder of the company), sent around a message about his upcoming epic ride for children's cancer charities.
He's given me permission to reprint the message in its entirety.
Without any further ado - take it away, Ross.
--
Hello - sorry for the interruption (and the lengthy message to come!)
As you may know, I am very involved with the Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation, a Canadian charity that raises funds for childhood cancer charities whose programs improve the survival rate and quality of life of children impacted by cancer. Since 2002, the Foundation has raised almost $5 million for Camp Oochigeas, Camp Trillium and Camp Quality - and other worthy childhood cancer charities. These summer camps provide hope and a sense of normalcy for thousands of kids affected by cancer each year.
In previous years, I have participated in their Ontario event, Tour For Kids - a 4 day, 800 kilometre bike ride. With your help, I've personally raised over $25,000.
This year, I've decided to up the ante.
On June 2, myself and 60 other cyclists will be leaving downtown Vancouver, British Columbia for a 19 day journey to Halifax, Nova Scotia. In that time, we will cover 7,600 kilometers, and with your assistance, will have raised an additional $5 million dollars for these incredible kids.
I have been training since November. Each morning, I get up at 5am and ride my bike. Over the winter I would ride on an indoor trainer for 1-3 hours. On the weekends, this increases to 3-6 hours. Three times a week, I attended spinning classes ranging in length from 1-3 hours, on top of which I ran 10k and did weights twice a week each. Now that the weather has warmed up here in Toronto, I have moved my training outdoors and I'm riding more than 700 kilometres per week and the length of my weekend rides have increased to more than 12 hours. I've drastically changed my diet - former luxuries like wheat, sugar and caffeine are strictly off limits. My training program runs 7 day a week - once a month, we get a day off. While I haven't kept strict track of my mileage, I estimate that I have already put in over 4000 miles to get ready for this epic adventure.
This might *sound* like hard work, it doesn't hold a candle to what each of these children go through after hearing that they have cancer.
The ride will take 19 days. During this time, 88 Canadian children will hear the words "You have cancer".
My goal is to raise $1,000 for each of those children and families, but I will need your help.
There are three ways that you can help:
1) Make a tax deductible online donation at http://2008.snkcr.com/ross/donate.html This is one of the few charitable donations that you can make that will guarantee that 100% of the funds donated actually go to the cause. Most charities have substantial administrative overheads that the Coast to Coast Foundation avoids entirely.
2) Tell someone about my ride and let them know how they can donate.
3) Help us find corporate sponsors. This is the first year that the Foundation is putting on the National Ride. It is a *huge* logistical challenge and we're looking for corporate sponsors to help us underwrite the cost of the trip. If you know of an organization that would like to make a contribution in exchange for the great promotional value that will come from being associated with this event, please let me know.
Thank you so much for reading this far, and special thanks in advance for your support and assistance with this endeavor. I am really looking forward to fulfiling what has been a lifelong dream of riding from sea to sea. Being able to do it in support of such a worthwhile charity will make it especially meaningful.
More information on this event can be found at http://www.searsnationalkidscancerride.com and details concerning the foundation are available at http://www.coasttocoastagainstcancer.org
Thank you!
-ross
My ride journal: http://2008.snkcr.com/ross
Make a donation: http://2008.snkcr.com/ross/donate.html
"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized
by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a
feverish, selfish, little clod of ailments and grievances complaining
that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."
- George Bernard Shaw
Posted by
Andrew Goodman
View Posts by Category |
|
|
