I have been trying to put together a fundraiser for the Foundation. I tried a basketball competition which included a skills contest and three-point shootout. I also tried a lip-sync contest, which I appropriately named “Battle Against Breast Cancer. Neither one of these gained any traction, and I was forced to call them off. But after the Shannon Wilker Foundation Night Out, and the Pay It Forward story by KIDK 3, I felt like the Foundation had gained some recognition. I decided it was time to try another big fundraising event.
The first step was to come up with the proper concept, and to give myself enough time to put it together. It needed to be something that would attract a large group of people, and something that could include the whole family. My first idea was a Dutch oven cookoff. Everybody likes food, and I could get people to bring their best Dutch oven recipe. “We could sell tickets for the meal and have a panel of judges grant awards for the best recipes,” I thought. The more I thought about this concept, the more I decided the logistics would be quite an undertaking for my first big fundraiser.
I thought about other fundraising events and remembered there have been a lot of 5K and 10K runs for different causes. I was hesitant at first, simply because it seems like there has been one every other weekend down at Snake River Landing. “If I choose this route, it needs to be something different than just a plain run,” I thought. I remembered Ryan competes every year in a Superhero themed run. (His Superhero alter ego is the Flash. Quite appropriate if you ask me!) I elected to check into this concept.
Since I have never put anything on like this, I decided to check with some people who had put an event like this on before. The sources I checked with were already committed to other projects, so I was hesitant to pursue it any further. Something kept telling me it was the right project, and to not give up. I decided to do some research on my own. After all, isn’t that why Al Gore created the internet?
After several hours at the coffee shop and the library, I was comfortable enough to move forward with my project. I wanted to hold the event on Saturday, June 9, so the kids would be out of school. I made sure there weren’t any other running events scheduled for that day and started putting the plan together. Since it is going to be a Superhero themed event, I am calling it “The Crusade Against Cancer.”
Now for the best part of the story. To help with this event, I could really use an organization to partner with me to help promote it. Shannon’s cousin Marjorie Lusk approached me in church two weeks ago and said the Idaho State Police is looking for a non-profit charity to partner with and asked if I could meet with them. I am happy to report they are going to be part of the event. I think it’s great that the advertising can say “Come join with the Idaho State Police as your favorite Superhero in the Crusade Against Cancer!” It’s all coming together.
I’m excited to work on this, and I know it was my Angel Shannon that prompted me not to give up. I will always LOVE AND MISS YOU sweetheart.
Next week: NBA All-star weekend
P.S. My Superhero alter-ego is Superman. Oh I know, the guys from basketball think I should be Lex Luthor because I’m bald and evil.