So, I started thinking about what I could do to make my marathon less about me & more about something bigger than myself. Days went by and I had no clue. I then thought about running it for charity. There are a lot of worthwhile organizations out there, but how do you know who deserves your hard earned (or raised) money? Besides, if I am putting my body on the line here, I want to make sure the money is going to be put to good use.
I started reviewing organizations, and boys & girls; you’d be surprised how many of these “charitable” organizations misuse the money they are given. I saw that one, Angel Flight West, that while an AWESOME charity, over 50% of all money donated goes to administrative expenses. If you want to learn more about Angel Flight West, which really is a remarkable charity, you can check them out HERE. I found a cool little, well, huge, website called Charity Navigator that really helped me in finding info on the charities I was considering. You can check out their site HERE.
I finally narrowed my list of charities & their reasons down to 5. They were:
- Lance Armstrong Foundation – Known to most as Livestrong, Maria & I have personal experience losing family members to cancer.
- Air Force Aid Society – I am their major demographic being in the Air Force & all. I also give to them every year through the Air Force Aid Fundraising on base.
- The Fisher House Foundation – They provide a home at most of the larger military installations, to give family members of service men & women, places to eat & sleep if their son/daughter is injured.
- Compassion International – Maria & I have supported a young girl, Erika Silva from Honduras, for several years now through Compassion International.
- Show Hope – Formerly Shaohanna’s Hope, this is a charity was started by Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman to care for worldwide orphans & help families involved in the adoption process.
Please click the names of the organizations above to visit their respective pages. Each & every one of them deserves whatever money you can give!
I finally chose the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF). Maria & I both lost our fathers to different forms of cancer. I have several friends who have beaten or are fighting cancer. They are an inspiration to me, so maybe by seeing me overcome a great obstacle in my life; maybe I can be an inspiration to them.
I contacted LAF about running a marathon & raising money for their organization through my run. They have a program where they run in the major marathons around the world, New York, Boston, London, etc, but they don’t have guaranteed entry into the Paris Marathon. So, they said I would have to run it as a “Grassroots Fundraising Campaign” which was fine by me, as long as they would allow me to run under their banner. I registered on their site and they provide a website where people can donate online, instead of me collecting money from the people I know all around the globe! Great! I got my site all set up and posted the link to my Facebook account. I got an email the next day saying that since my marathon is in 2010, I would be raising money under the 2010 Fiscal Year, so they had to remove my website and I can reset it up on October 1st. So, expect a link on here & on Facebook, begging for your money, around October 1st!
In addition to raising money for Livestrong, I hope to provide you some stories from Maria & myself about our personal experience supporting our loved ones who have battled cancer, and hopefully provide you with a story or two from some of my friends who are currently, or have beaten, their cancers.
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