Great Strides!

Only 3 more weeks until the Great Strides event in DeKalb!!!! I can't believe it's coming up so quick - I've been planning it since before Christmas! Last I heard, there were over 70 people registered for the event and I know that more have registered since then. I've also got about 30 people from work who have donated and hopefully show up at the walk and I'm really hoping to get some students/families there as well.
I cannot believe how much support I've gotten this year, it's amazing!!!! This is by far, the most money I've ever raised before a walk with my page total being at $935 as of today! Plus however much my work team has raised thus far, which I think is close to $300! I've literally planned this entire event down to every donated raffle item and I can't wait to see it all fall into place in a few weeks. So far I've gotten about ten different local businesses that have donated gift baskets or gift certificates to enter into the raffle at the walk. I've never done a raffle before (especially because this is only the second annual at this location), but it looks like it's going to be pretty successful as far as the fun things we're raffling off. We have lots of restaurant gift cards, a beauty package put together by a salon, mini-golf certificates and a bowling party package -- it's going to be hard not to enter in a few tickets for myself! :)

We're also doing a change collection at my school the week leading up to the walk, and my goal for that is to raise $20 per classroom, which would make that donation total over $500! I am going to announce the class at each grade level (K-5) that raised the most, the one classroom that raised the most in the whole school and the grand total raised at the walk on Saturday, so I'm really hoping that encourages the students to want to attend the event, too. The class at each grade level that raises the most will win a prize (not yet determined) and the class that raises the most overall will win an even bigger prize -- I'm thinking something like a movie and popcorn party as the big prize, and maybe an extra recess or something for the other classes, but I'm discussing that with the staff this week at our staff meeting. I'm also hoping that as a school we can set a goal of raising $500, and if the students surpass that goal, the principals will do something fun for the kids -- ie: serving lunch for a day, wearing a funny wig/costume to school one day, etc. I want the kids to be motivated and I want it to be a fun experience for everyone -- thank goodness I work with such an amazing staff!!! :-)

On top of the raffle and announcing my school's successes, we'll also be having a DJ to provide some musical entertainment for walkers before, during, and after the walk, along with lunch to feed everyone after they've walked three miles. I've put some much time and energy into planning this and trying to make it more fun than it was last year, that I really hope people come out and have a good time. So if you're going to be in the area on Saturday, April 14th, please feel free to stop by and join in the fun! I'll definitely be taking lots of pictures (or putting someone in charge of it since I'll be at the microphone all day) and posting them after the event. If you are unable to attend and would still like to donate, please go to www.cff.org/great_strides/colleenveitengruber to help me reach my goal of $1,000!