Relay for Life

Dear Sisters,

In this message, SOS stands for Save Our Ship, as well as all the other acronyms! :)

On June 26th, Joel and I will be participating in a Relay for Life in Oswego, close to his parent's house. The event is a big fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, which helps research cures for cancer as well as educating people in ways to prevent cancer (smoking cessation, etc). Our team captain, Debbie, is a non-member friend of Joel's dad, and she's a very outgoing, friendly lady.

Here's my problem: Debbie has organized a team fund raiser that Joel and I can't participate in (a wine tasting) which she hopes will cover most of her fundraising requirements. I told Debbie Joel and I would come up with some fundraising ideas of our own to make up our part of the team effort. Here's where I need some help!

One of my ideas was to have a pancake breakfast or a spaghetti dinner, asking for a 1or 2 dollar donation for the meal. If that were to happen, I would need: 1. a place to host a meal; 2. a few people to help set up beforehand; 3. whatever food items people were willing to donate, and 4. everyone to invite their friends of other faiths! I was kind of thinking of doing it at the Stake Center or Institute building, but I'm not sure if church buildings are available for fundraising activities like that. Does anybody know?

Another idea would be to have a bake sale at a local community site (haven't figured out where yet), and that would be me just asking for everyone's best goodies. :) Also, a person or two to share watching the table with me would be wonderful!

A third option, suggested by Joel's mom, would be to have a "service auction". People would donate service items, like gardening for so many hours, making a blanket or pillow, cleaning up someone's living room, singing someone's favorite song, etc. Upon arrival, people would pick up "money" for the auction. I think people could get our auction "money" by figuring out how much service they have given to people during the past week, or by figuring out how they have prevented/helped others prevent cancer during the week. This could be a smaller activity, maybe at someone's house... my apartment might be too small for it to work well. Then we would request donations, etc. Kind of like a bridal shower, but for a different cause! The more I think about it, the more this idea sounds like it could be cool... :)

Anyway... Those are my issues, ideas, and I hope to hear from you soon! If one of these ideas works out, everyone involved can count up their service hours for the American Cancer Society.

Take care!

~Katy

P.S. I have a little website related to the relay, if anyone wants to look at it... We have a fundraising goal as a team, and donations are always much appreciated.

Click HERE for Katy's website and HERE for the American Cancer Society