The Opportunity to be a Giver

We have less than 2 weeks until the Grand Finale on May 29th and it has been a wild ride!  There were ups and downs, there were laughs and tears there were events and contests and raffles and auctions and Facebook shares.  But most of all, there was giving.

There was giving of time, giving of money and services.  There was giving of advice and inspiration.  Giving is something that I've set to do more of very deliberately since 2009.  It was one of my new year's resolutions then & I'm so thankful that this opportunity has allowed me to continue that journey.

This weekend was a tremendous one of GIVING!  We had 4...yes, FOUR events this weekend!

1. Battle of the Boxes - a crossfit competition.

2-3. Bowling for Blood Cancer the KY/OH Version and the VA Version

4. Lemonade for Leukemia & Lymphoma

The crossfit competition completely blew me away - I mean how much money could we possibly expect to raise by working out?  I mean, we say that Crossfit is about community but still.  Over the past 5 weeks this competition alone raised almost $7,000...absolutely unbelievable! One person alone (Heather G.) raised almost $1,000 herself!! The winning team were the rockstars from my home gym & they even donated $600 in prize money back to LLS.   The owner of my gym & her business partners donated their time, free online scoring system (thanks BEL Scoring!) and a competition that could have been revenue for them.  Volunteers donated their time.  Athletes donated their skill & actually some volunteers ended up jumping in to compete last minute.  THAT'S GIVING!!!  #thismatters

Bowling in VA?  Yes.  One of my best friends that I've known for 25 years put on a bowling fundraiser for me in Virginia.  Not to mention, another best friend from Pittsburgh drove to VA to help her.  Oh, and by the way - said best friend is pregnant with her 2nd baby AND chasing around a wild toddler all while throwing a huge event for me.  THAT'S GIVING!!!  #thismatters

Bowling in KY/OH was a huge success thanks to all those who attended & especially Karlie who put on the show!  There were close to 80 kids there and even though Karlie doesn't have kids she put on one heck of an event while smiling through the chaos.  Brave parents also sacrificed children's afternoon naps for a good cause.  If those aren't examples of GIVING then I don't know what is 

Kids do lemonade stands all of the time, but how many kids do you know that would work their booties off for an hour in the heat, raise >$89!!!!! AND Not ask for a penny of it back?  They were all happy to participate and donate for a great cause.  What amazing parents they must have to have raised such kind and generous kiddos.  THAT'S GIVING!!!  #thismatters

Thank you all for GIVING so much through this 8+ weeks...we're almost there!

If you'd like the opportunity to be a giver, please do so here: http://www.mwoy.org/pages/soh/cincy15/dosomethingthatmatters

#thismatters