Less than a Month to the 3Day

OMG WTF

Most of the 3Day walkers I know are united in finding this year's fundraising effort to be a hard one. Far more challenging than in past years. The goal has been raised to $2,300 and fewer people are walking. My team, which walked about 70 people last year, is walking 20 this month. Many are not walking because of health issues, others simply knew they couldn't raise the required minimum. I'm not the only mammory on the government tit (no pun).

This weekend, I drove down to Dunedin to participate in a mini fundraiser that just a few of us conspired to hold with funds going to just the few of us. Each year the team (Thanks for the Mammories and the SOB's [sons, others and brothers, our guy's team]) runs a series of fundraisers beginning with a yard sale and moving up the intensity scale to a casino night. Smaller groups get together to hold events like ours. Janice and her sisters did the lion's share of this weekend's successful vintage car show thanks to members of the Downshifters of Brooklyn.

The downshifters are car enthusiasts who like to hang out together in likely places, wear black jeans and T-shirts and show off their vintage automobiles, while helping out worthy charities. We gathered sponsorships for trophies from area merchants and services, held 50-50 raffles and the inevitable bake sale this Sunday at Bif Burgers in Pinellas Park, southish of St. Pete. It was a beautiful day. Typically Florida hot but without summer's bite.

Bif Burger owner/manager Troy was the greatest! He just kept on shelling out the cash, buying so many raffle tickets that, of course, he won. But when he won, instead of pocketing his half of the take, he donated it right back either to the team or to the pot. What a sweetie!

Instead of pricing the baked goods, we just asked for donations. Couldn't have done better than that. People were so generous.

Unfortunately, there were too few people on hand to help us reach our desired goal, but we did really well with about $2,700. That's enough to help several of us reach our minimums and take the fear out of the rest. The thing about the 3Day is, once you commit, you commit.

It's kind of like having cancer. There's no halfway and there's no backing out. If you don't raise your minimum, you don't walk. But you don't get the money back, either. In two weeks, I need to pony up what's owing. Today, that's $800. Not sure how we'll divvy Sunday's haul but I know I won't be putting $800 on my Visa card. I'll let you know.