Relay 4 Life- Invitrogen Eugene

Hello to visitors!

2009-04-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

Hello to anyone visiting our site. Though our Relay happened a few years ago, I am leaving this site up for any who wish to check out our experience.

Please check out this year's Relay by visiting the American Cancer Society link to the right!

~Brandy

Monetary Update

2007-05-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

Hi All!
Our team isn't doing too shabby- we just received a check for $130.30 from our Pappy's Pizza fundraiser, and $22 from our Hometown Buffet Fundraiser.

Our Team total is currently at $173.50. With these two amounts, we will be at $325.80. YAY! We are $75 away from receiving our company's matching gift!

Gayle's Pampered Chef party total should put us up over the top.

Way to go team!

Here is where our team is at:

General Team Donation	$0.00
Brandy Collins	$139.25
Gayle Buller	$0.00
Dawn Carlile	$14.25
Veronica Karpiak	$10.00
Bethany Sutton	$10.00
Andrew Wileman	$0.00

The two checks won't show up for a few days after I get them turned in.
If you have not yet registered, please do so at your earliest convenience.

You must be signed up to attend due to liability, tracking, and t-shirts!

We have two more fundraising opportunities coming up if you have not yet reached your goal. We will be doing a fundraiser at WalMart on June 2nd in Springfield, basically just sitting for a few hours selling Luminarias, Suns & Moons.

We will also be participating in Curbing Cancer on June 21st. These are both great, easy fundraisers to participate in, all it takes is a few hours of your time.

We should plan a meeting next week to touch base and see where everyone's at with your individual fundraising, and to see if there are any others we want to do as a team. We could organize an off-site car wash, for example. I'll send a meeting invite, please come if you can!

Brandy

Welcome Veronica!

2007-04-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

Please welcome Veronica to our Relay for Life team, if you see her!

Our team now officially consists of myself, Veronica, Andrew, Bethany, and Dawn. If you haven't signed up, please take a moment to hop over to our site and register to become an official member. It only takes a moment of your time. The link is here, or you can find it on our blog- right hand side of the page.

Thank you!
Brandy//Team Captain

Baja Fresh!

2007-04-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

Our take from our Baja Fresh day is $17.23. My family made it, Cathy R came, Tab the Relay co-chair came, and someone else?

If you were that someone, thank you so much for coming and helping out!! We appreciate it :)

Our Papa's Pizza day is Tuesday April 24th, this Tuesday upcoming. Fliers will be available in the lunchrooms, online, or I can email you one if you need.

Brandy//Team Captain

Fliers vs Slips

2007-04-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

Part of our guidelines from Global Citizenship is that we can't put fliers in peoples' mailboxes advertising fundraising events, but we can put slips in to remind them.

I erroneously thought I could shrink a flier so that 8 could fit on a page (really small) and make it a slip, but Cathy E let me know this doesn't count. It's still a flier.

So all the Baja Fresh and Papa's Pizza shrunken fliers that I made have simply been stacked in the lunchroom as we would any other flier.

Insofar as slips, we are permitted to put small pieces of paper in peoples' mailboxes with all of the information that's on the flier, and the location of the fliers, but not the fliers themselves.

I took the rest of yesterday off with a headache.

I am taking a personal day today, I have some pretty intense things in my personal life I'm trying to wade through (I have until Monday to get my Mom packed and my parents' house cleaned up and ready for sale, then 2 weeks to get it sold...)

So for fundraisers I think we are going to have to rely mostly on word of mouth. I'll be trying to set up dinner dates for Tuesday for Baja Fresh, and again for the Papa's thing with friends and family- just one idea for promoting these things if you are so inclined.

If someone is willing to make the before described slips and run them past Cathy E to put in everyone's mailbox talking about Baja Fresh and Papa's pizza, I would appreciate the help.

Brandy//Team Captain

4/10/07 Meeting Notes

2007-04-10T13:14:00.000-07:00

Meeting
At today’s meeting we discussed our planned April recruitment meeting. Tinker and her staff have not yet been able to get a Grant Recipient Speaker to come in and discuss their research as part of a recruitment meeting.

We discussed doing the meeting as a stand-alone, and the group decided it would be best to just see if we could get 5 minutes of time at tomorrow’s All Employee meeting.

Bethany is out of town until 4/16, I’ve left a message with Cathy Erickson to see if we can hone in on the GC’s time for a brief recruitment speech (courtesy of Ginger!)
I asked Anita if we could have 5 minutes at the end, in case GC’s time is filled. She said it would be fine, but that we should be during the GC presentation. When I hear back from Cathy Erickson, I will let you know.

If it’s a go, we talked about having Danielle available in the lobby with her laptop for anyone who wants to sign up. Does anyone else have a laptop with a wireless Invitrogen connection they would be willing to share?

Regardless, we plan on distributing fliers at the meeting. Dawn suggested leaving them on peoples’ chairs as they go in. I do not know if there are any problems with this, but will check with Anita before proceeding and let the group know if there are issues with her or Cathy Erickson in doing this.

During the presentation we will mention the Suns & Moons, $5 and $1 and a raffle ticket for a parking spot with each purchase, to go through the month of April and May- spot good through June and July. I need to get the actual request in for this to Gordon to sign. I did that today and am waiting for a response.

I will forward the rough powerpoint I had sketched in the event of us having to do the presentation at a standalone meeting. Ginger says she may or may not use this. Feel free to have a look! In the middle with Amelia’s, Bill’s and Bird’s pictures, I had planned to insert more and give each member a chance to say why they participate in Relay.
***

We still have a “ton” of door prizes we had socked away for our recruitment meeting. Should we do a straight-up raffle for these, if we are able to use the All-Employee meeting for recruitment?

***

Pampered Chef Party is tentatively scheduled for May 12th. Gayle is working on securing a location. She says there are TONS of cute pink cancer related stuff for sale during that month, and it will be a great time for this fundraiser.

***

I have called all over town, and got a bunch of discount offers on ice cream for our Ice Cream Social, but only one donation of a gallon. Gayle is working on one more last-ditch attempt at this, and is contacting the manager of our local Prince Puckler’s.
Anita had suggested, in lieu of an Ice Cream Social (since getting the ice cream isn’t working out very well) that we do an on-site garage sale during the month of June, and have a bake sale/ice cream sale at the same time. The group agreed this sounds like a great idea, and we are working on hammering out the details and getting applicable permissions. This is tentatively scheduled for the 3rd Friday of June.

***

I’ve sent letters and emails to my friends and family reminding them that I am participating in Relay this year. I had “business cards” made at Vistaprint.com with my name, our team name, and our blogsite and business address where they can mail (or electronically submit) donations. If anyone is interested, I would be happy to send you a few of these cards.

If anyone would like, I would be happy to draft and mail letters for you. There is a stock letter available on the Relay Homepage for emailing friends and family your personal donation link if you need help setting it up. If you would like paper letters done, come talk to me personally, I’ll give you a form letter, you give me your address book and postage and we’ll get it done!

I also have our blogspot link in my sig file. The right-hand side of our blog has information on making donations.

***

Be watching your mailboxes for a Papa’s Pizza, Baja Fresh, and possible a Hometown Buffet night to benefit our Relay for Life team! I’m still working on getting all the dates and fliers, I will email copies of the fliers as soon as they are available, in addition to sticking them in everyone’s mailbox. If anyone knows of any other local restaurant willing to donate a portion of their proceeds to our Relay for Life team in exchange for flier-advertising, please email me off list and I would be happy to call and set that up.

***

Change Jars are available in each lunchroom. Danielle is helping watch the jar in C, Our Daily Bread has taken charge of the one on their counter (and have even taken a jar to set in their restaurant!), I need volunteers to watch the change jars in J, H, and E. You would just have to empty them once a week and route the change to me in an envelope, or bring it up, so I can take it in to the ACS office and turn the total in online.

Brandy//Team Captain

Raffle at the Charger's Game?

2007-04-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

Received via email today:

Eugene/Springfield Relay for Life has a GREAT fundraising opportunity this year thanks to the Eugene Chargers basketball team.

The Chargers have given us the opportunity to hold a raffle, as individual team fundraisers, for the Relay for Life at 9 of their home games this season.

The Eugene Chargers are part of the International Basketball League (IBL). Their games are played at NW Christian College's Morse Events Center (828 E. 11th Ave.)

If your team is interested in conducting one of the raffles, please email me and let me know your team name, what kind of raffle you’d like to have (50/50 raffle or raffling off a service or item)

If your team is chosen you will need to provide at least two volunteers to sell tickets at the basketball game, raffle tickets and a poster for your raffle/team. You will also need to fill out the raffle paperwork and return it to me prior to the date of the basketball game when your team is conducting its raffle.

The admission to get into the game is
Adult (18 & Over) $10
Youth (17-9) $5
Senior (Over 60) $5
8 & under admitted free

The game schedule is as follows:
Saturday, April 14th @ 7:15pm vs. Tacoma
Thursday, April 19th @ 7:15pm vs. Chico
Saturday, April 28th @ 7:15pm vs. Central Oregon
Friday, May 11th @ 7:15pm vs. Tacoma
Saturday, June 9th @ 7:15pm vs. Everett
Friday, June 15th @ 7:15pm vs. Vancouver
Saturday, June 16th @ 7:15pm vs. Lewis County
Tuesday, June 19th @ 7:15pm vs. Chicago Heights

We don't have much to raffle, but could possibly fill out the paperwork to do a 50/50 raffle. Is anybody interested in volunteering during one of these dates/times?
Brandy//Team Captain

March Super Suppers, Part 2!

2007-04-04T22:11:00.000-07:00

March Super Suppers!

2007-04-04T22:04:00.000-07:00

February Super Suppers Night

2007-04-04T21:41:00.000-07:00

Space for the May Pampered Chef Fundraiser

2007-03-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

Meeting is at 12:30 today to discuss recruitment meeting logistics. Another issue I wanted to address was our May Pampered Chef fundraiser.

Finding a space for our upcoming Pampered Chef party fundraiser has been something of an issue. I was originally going to contact the Valley River Inn to see if they would be willing to donate space, but was told they are inundated with requests as it is and could not contact them directly.

My sister in law had her baby shower in the EPUD building, in South Eugene off the Glenwood area. Apparently use of that building is free for anyone in that district. It’s a nice building and put on by my Aunt, who is on one of the Relay teams.

I was thinking, if no one on our team lives in that district or knows of a similar deal for EWEB or SUB customers, maybe we could partner with my Aunt’s team, or ask her to “host” the party in the Epud building.

Thoughts?
Brandy//Team Captain

Team Meeting, March 7th, 2007

2007-03-07T13:32:00.000-08:00

Great meeting! Thanks so much for Gayle B. and Danielle M. for coming over!

Topics Discussed:

Recruitment,
Global Citizenship Guidelines,
Pampered Chef Fundraiser

Just a quick recap- YOUR action items are in bold:

Per Global Citizenship guidelines, we are permitted ONE All-users recruitment email, ONE reminder email a week or so prior to the start of the event (for us this would be the end of July) and ONE email per fundraising event.
We are permitted TWO on-site fundraising events, but limitless off-site events, and we are welcome to send emails direct person-to-person all we want (until the Stalking legislation kicks in ;D) We can put reminder slips in mailboxes for fundraisers, say if we wanted to do a Papa's Pizza day or somesuch.

SO!

We are going to have a Recruitment meeting at the beginning of April. I am working on drafting an email and putting together a Powerpoint presentation for visuals. WE WILL HAVE RAFFLE PRIZES! and hopefully food.

We will have a logistics meeting to hammer out more details of putting together our recruitment meeting. Please contact me off list if you are interested in helping out, or if you have any ideas to share!

Gayle suggested we use our recruitment email to outline our fundraising plans and give as many details as we can to maximize use of our one email.

For on-site activities, we are planning the parking lot raffle, using Bethany's suggestion to tie that in with the Sun & Moon sales. This will start in April and go through May, and the winners will receive reserved parking spots through June and July.

Mid-May, we will have a Pampered Chef party. It will be a catalog/demo party. I am working on finding a location, Gayle will get the materials and date for us. Hopefully at the next meeting we'll have all the details hammered out. The party will kcik 25% of all sales back to our team's total.

We were thinking our other on-site should be a bake sale or something of this nature, which went over very well last year. Gayle suggested possibly doing an ice-cream sale during the warmer months, since the bake sale in 90-degree heat didn't go over so well last summer. Does anyone have contacts at Ben & Jerry's, or Prince Pucklers that may be willing to donate ice cream and fixings? We also are blessed to have a Schwan's representative on our list, perhaps Schwan's would be willing to donate in exchange for the exposure and advertising, and the chance to pass out booklets?

We are open to other off-site fundraising suggestions. We can set up a Papa's Pizza drive, or Baja Fresh again at any time. Would anyone like to spearhead a car wash or another off-site fundraiser? Lana are we still thinking of trying to do a karaoke night at the Woodsman?

That's about it- please watch your inbox for the next lunchtime meeting invite. Y'all missed out on DOUGHNUTS!

Brandy//Team Captain

January Super Suppers Night!

2007-01-25T08:25:00.000-08:00

Tonight I went to Super Suppers to prepare meals for Cancer Survivors, on behalf of the American Cancer Society and the Relay for Life.

That.
Is.
A.
Mouthful!

But it's a really good feeling to do such a small thing that could make such a huge difference in someone's world. Sometimes it means so much just to know someone is thinking of you and cares. My coworker, Cathy, gave me 2 names of people she knew of that were Cancer survivors, I did one for my Mom's roommate, Timberly, one for my coworker Laurie's mom, and one for one of our teammates, Lana.

Super Suppers (www.supersuppers.com) is a really cool place they have here locally (Coburg Rd in Eugene) where you go to make your dinner entrees for the evening, a week or month or whatever. They have all the ingredients and recipes laid out, monthly selections vary so there's always something new.

They've donated up to 20 meals per month to go to Cancer Survivors. Teams sign up to make meals for specific Cancer Survivors, or just come to make meals to donate to people at a local Cancer Center. There's no obligation on behalf of the recipients, they just receive their dinner entree, a menu for Super Suppers with pricing, and a pamphlet on Relay for Life.

I had a fabulous time!

This is Danielle with two of her kids. She was our designated committee member Hostess for the evening, and arranged everything. Her kids helped- they were adorable!

This is one of the meal stations. The meal choices this month were: French Onion Salisbury Steak, Hearty Taco Soup with Cheese Tortillas, Salsa Meatloaf, Shredded BBQ Beef Hoagies, Chicken Piccata, Chicken Spaghetti, Chicken Posole with Corn Muffins, Savory Chicken Cakes with Tomato Concasse, Harvest Braised Pork Loin, Kielbasa Stuffed Braided Bread, Pesto Salmon and Vegetables en Papillote, or Lemon Dijon Tilapia with Confetti Rice Pilaf.

Surprisingly, since they had all the ingredients available and easy-to-follow recipes, it didn't take long for Relay Volunteers to make any of the dishes!

This is one of the appetizers they have available called Cowboy Caviar. YUM! Appetizers, Bread, Side Items, and Desserts can be purchased separately from the Entrees. They also had an Artichoke Cheese Dip, cookies, and fruit (below.)

This is one of the recipes which sit atop the assembly stations. All actual cooking is done at home- it's like Take 'n' Bake Gourmet!

A line of ingredients with the correct measuring spoons all set beautifully ready to go!

Ingredients are pre-chopped. All measuring impliments are already in place, and you are welcome to modify recipes to your own taste.

My favorite part. Who doesn't need a Magical Dish Window?!

Me, modeling one of their fabulous aprons, ready to get my cookin' on!

Mike, owner and manager, explains sanitation rules and assembly techniques. He and his friendly staff were available at all times to answer questions and for general assistance.

Here's part of the crew.

Relay Volunteers at the Kielbasa Stuffed Braided Bread station. This recipe looks delicious! Links of Kielbasa sausage, chopped, braided into yeast bread with cheddar cheese, onions, and green bell peppers. Homer-Drooling, sadly, is frowned upon while assembling meals.

Your daily dose of "AWWWW!!!!"
Danielle's kids did a fabulous job. Their braid looked as professional as the others that were done.
I would definitely say this place is VERY user-friendly!

The soups were also easily made and turned out looking really yummy! Everyone loved how the dirty dishes seemed to magically disappear!

I think this was the Chicken Posole with Corn Muffins station. This recipe was made with chicken breasts, hominy, chiles, pinto beans, black beans... It turned out looking really complex, but actually went together very easily.

I believe this was at the Shredded BBQ Beef Hoagies/Salsa Meatloaf station. All ingredients were fresh. I was very impressed at the cleanliness and gourmet feel of the place.

All ingredients were right at our fingertips, or just below!

Another good one of Danielle!

The two dishes I made were the Lemon Dijon Tilapia with Confetti Rice Pilaf and Savory Chicken Cakes with Tomato Concasse. Other ladies helped finish my 5. I brought the Taco Soup with Cheese Tortillas to Lana tonight (coz she's a spicy hot mama!) and I have the rest to bring to work to distribute in the morning (they are happily waiting in my fridge tonight.) I am so excited to hear how everything actually tastes!

I am looking forward to February's event!

The upcoming menu is: Dr. Pepper Flank Steak, Beef & Mushroom Burgers with Baked Beans, Supreme Stuffed Braided Bread (!!!),
Cheesy Alfredo Poppy Seed Chicken, Chicken Marinara with Pasta, Feta Chicken Bake, Juicy Jerk Chicken with Jamaican Pineapple Rice, Basil Pork Chops with Caesar Penne Pasta, Brunswick Stew, Tender & Juicy Slow-Cooker BBQ'd Pork Loin, Tropical Sweet & Sour Meatballs, Chinese Five-Spice Cod with Warm Asian Slaw, and Crunchy Baked Fish with Macaroni 'n' Cheese.

I hope the word gets out and we are able to reach more Survivors! I am thankful for the generosity and support of the owner and staff of Super Suppers.

Survivors Wanted!

2007-01-23T08:55:00.000-08:00

Hey All!

Super Suppers has offered to donate up to 20 dinners per month, to be prepared and distributed by Relay teams to the survivors of their choosing.

I’ve signed up for 2 survivors for the month of January. I am checking to see if there are more available slots.

I would LOVE for our team to be involved every month. Relay (and Super Suppers!) wants all 20 available meals to be taken advantage of per month.

Are you a cancer survivor, or do you know of one? Newly diagnosed counts- every minute you survive, you ARE a survivor!

No promises to anyone, please- I don’t know how popular this is going to be and who we’ll be able to choose or when, but I am really excited about this opportunity. Besides- the surprise is more fun!

We’ll send them a Relay brochure, but there’s no further obligation. You can attend the Super Suppers night, or I would be happy to do your survivor for you and bring it to you to deliver- either way!

Please email me off-list and feel free to forward this to other team-members. It’d be great to have names as backups for the months to come.

Brandy

The Relayers are Coming! The Relayers are Coming!

2007-01-10T12:50:00.000-08:00

I've updated our blog with the new Team site address. We are just waiting on Global Citizenship to register and get our team officially started. I will be submitting the proposal for $100 registration fee and $500 donation today. Bethany says that funds are tight and we'll be lucky to get that.

Keep your fingers crossed! Toes too if you think it would help, but don't tell Janelle it was my idea if you trip down the stairs ;)

I have a Committee Meeting tonight. I've taken on the full Activities Coordinator slot- wish me luck!

We definitely need to start having monthly meetings, say noon on the first Tuesday of the month. I'll send out an invite today, feel free to accept. I'll still post meeting notes here for those who can't make it.

For those who need a reminder, or would like to look through '06's pictures and ideas, our blog site is still here: http://relayivgneugene.blogspot.com/.

The color TV has arrived. It's handheld and awesome! Come by my office, 3rd Floor, Bldg E to have a look.

Enjoy that liquid snowfall?! and Happy January!
Brandy

December Update

2006-12-13T10:09:00.000-08:00

I sent the card away for our team gift. I did not get the telescope as planned- it wasn't one of the choices for the prize bracket. I ordered a handheld color tv! Sorry if this is a disappointment to anyone, I think that will sell many more raffle tickets in the '07 year.

I am hoping Receiving won't kick it back as a personal package :P I'll email for you to come have a look, if you'd like, when it arrives.

Along those same lines- would anyone be willing to work on a quilt with me to raffle at (or before) Relay? I'm not a very experienced quilter, so I thought I could start, pass it off to the next person, then to the next- depending on how many volunteers we got. I think we can pull this off if we start early, and there are some (strangely) beautiful breast-cancer ribbon fabrics I've seen at Wal-Mart. I was thinking a very simple quilt, a couple different sorts of squares with the breast cancer ribbon, a pink gingham edging, and a larger pink ribbon appliqued in the center? Not a Queen-size or anything, but a wall-hanging grade quilt. Let me know!

I would like for our team to start meeting monthly in January to prepare for the Relay season. I have a Relay meeting tonight and should have more news soon!

If you would like to be removed from the Team mailing list, just drop me a line. If you know anyone who would like to be added, please have them email me or leave a comment on the blogsite.

2007 Relay for Life Committee

2006-10-04T15:33:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

I'm really proud of how much our team accomplished this past year! Our official total for 2006 is about $3400. I have an email in to Tinker asking about our group prize (to be used as a raffle prize for next year!) and individual prizes. I'll update as soon as I hear back on that.

I've received an invitation to be on the 2007 Relay for Life Committee to help organize and run the event.

Whoa! Very flattering! I've let them know that I have some serious family commitments that take priority in my life. My daughter comes first, before God, Country, Work, and Volunteerism. Fortunately, they understand and are sympathetic to family needs, and they want me to come to an informational meeting on October 14th anyway!

Tab Davis is stepping down as the Activities Chair, and had asked me to help out or take over in that position before the '06 event. Flo and Thomas (and I!) agree that is going to be too much to take on if I've any hope to maintain any semblance of sanity in the upcoming months and year, and still manage to try and be a good parent/wife/coworker. I haven't spoken to Tab in a few months, so I'm not sure if she's found a good alternate replacement candidate yet.

I'd consider working on that with someone, maybe, if anyone is willing to share it. The amount of time and work that lady put in makes those some fairly daunting shoes to fill.

Ginger B. has graciously committed to being the Invitrogen co-Captain for next year, I'm hoping you'll have me on again as a Co-Captain or at least allow me to help organize fundraising activities. I'm definitely planning on being on the team, no matter who's in charge! Helping out on a larger scale sounds really good and totally do-able, now that I know what to expect and what goes on during an event.

I'm going to do as much as I can do, and I'm trying not to take on any more than I can chew. I'm hoping I can assist a chair or volunteer in some capacity. If anyone else is interested in serving as an event volunteer, above and beyond (and hopefully in conjunction with!) being on the Invitrogen team, please email me for Flo's contact information, for more information on what is needed and the October 14th informational meeting/training session.

If you'd like taken off this list, or know of anyone who would like to be added and included on the '07 team, please let me know with a Reply off list, or a comment to this post below.

Event pictures

2006-08-28T23:32:00.000-07:00

I regret not getting more pictures! I packed everything but extra batteries (for myself AND the camera!) If any picture/caption offends you and you'd like it taken down, please comment below or email letting me know and I'd be happy to remove it. I have print copies of all pictures on CD if you'd like one emailed, just let me know! Sorry about the angle on a few- I tried rotating-and-saving but it changed it back on upload.

Here's our designated quadrant before I got it all set up. I was so lucky nearby campers were willing to help me- I've never set up a tent before in my LIFE!
Needless to say, I think I overpacked a smidge...
Here's the track all laid out. Sponsor banners were set up on hurdles.
Here's Dawn hanging out :)
The start to the walk.
Elaine S.
A better one of Elaine :)
Most teams dressed alike in matching shirts, or had a team theme. This is Team Safeway (one of many.)
I was surprised how family-oriented this event really was. All ages were welcome and present at all hours.
Haha- cheater!
We were right next to the Dari-Mart team, I think. I fell in love with their cow.
I'm not sure what theme his team was going for, but he sure was cute!
We decorated the outside of our pavillion with Stars and Moons. Even if you weren't here, you really were here in Spirit. Many stopped by to read our cards throughout the day, until we took it down and put it on the back of the tent for airflow.
All of a sudden this really ominous looking cloud started billowing up over the hill. Really random.
Bethany S.
It didn't take us long to discover the source of a REALLY bad smell permeating the track- they were working on the sewage treatment facility.
The Schwan's tent. Yummy yummy ice creams - this was a real treat.
A kids' jumper in the middle of the track was awesome!!!
Another really awesome idea by the Carnival Cruise Team. Teams were earning money ON the track and actually up through August 31st to count towards their Team total.
Haha I was so tempted to have my aunt jailed just for fun :)
(She was on one of the teams located just behind our tent.)

The tents made it look like a small village- just a massive event. There had to have been thousands of people there at any given time.
A really cool team theme-tent. I was severely jealous.
The Springfield and Eugene Police Department walkers did the track in full uniform. Mind you- the heat was horrendous.
Too cute!

They had everything but the pina coladas.
Team Smiley Face sold Chocolate-Covered Strawberries along the track.

Ginger B!
Dawn C and her family.
The site at dusk.
The luminarias were unforgettable. Some were absolutely heart-wrenching. Others were inspirational.
The site at 2am was still breathtaking.

Fundraisers Ahoy!

2006-06-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

Our fundraising is going swimmingly! Great job everyone!

Our team is currently at $2,131.02 and ranked 6th. Springfield Police Department is JUST ahead of us in 5th at $2,220.39. If you have any offline donations to enter, please get them in so they will show up on our total!

Please welcome Elaine to the team! Her son might also join us as well!
Please also welcome my cousin Andrea to our team! She raised $125.00 just by sending out emails via her online homepage on her first day!

*****

The Krispy Kreme fundraiser went as well as could be expected for a record-setting HOT day. We made $160 from the May Bake Sale and paid $184.50 for the 38 dozen we bought. (I fronted the extra and gas money.) We were supposed to sell them at $7, 8, and 9 but I'd lost the paper and sold them at $6, 7, &8 a dozen. Even still, we should have made $259.00- a profit of $74.50. Minus a dropped dozen, a dozen not picked up, and selling the rest at cost or giving them away that Monday, we made $17.50. Yikes.

Definitely a learning experience. We'd gotten bumped from a Saturday to a Sunday, which also hurt, and had to compete with the Register Guard guy literally snagging people away from our table to sign up for their drawing and spiel. Very frustrating. If I had to do it over again, I think I would have insisted on the Saturday and made sure we didn't have any other out-front competition. Oh- and double checked the weather forecast beforehand ;)

Dawn, I can't thank you enough for being out there and doing this with me! It was hot and I really, Really appreciated your company!!!

Many of the dozens were also mismarked, and so we weren't charging what we should have for them. I think I would also suggest, to anyone venturing on a Krispy Kreme fundraiser in the future, buying a HECK of a lot more original glazed than anything! The mixed fancies did NOT go well, nor did the chocolate frosted cake doughnuts. The glazed raised were really the big sellers.

*****

The Bake Sale yesterday went well. We made $101.00! Huge thanks to Leila, Cathy, Tamara, Emily, and Sherri for helping bake! It was just too hot- I hope no one minded the chocolate-covered strawberries or whacky iced AngelFood Cake I brought! Leila's cookies were fabulous- I'm not sure which things everyone else brought but I know these were especially yummy!

I split donations between team members, trying to make sure everyone is acknowledged in fundage for their contribution to the team. Even if you're just being supportive and getting the word out there, you're doing a lot to help!!

****

The bracelets Cheryl ordered for our team came in today! 1 package was incorrect, so she's going to try and get it replaced, but otherwise we're good and ready to go. We're selling them for $2 apiece at reception or at my desk. We'll sell as many as we can at $2 each, and sell the rest for $1 each at Relay. We have a dark pink bracelet that says: Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, and Friends, or a light pink that says: Hope, Faith, Love. Hopefully a lot of coworkers will get into it and we'll be seeing people sport them all across campus. Email to come shortly. Thank you so much Cheryl!

****

The Breadmaker is still going in full swing! It's still going every Friday, flavor available on the intranet Eugene Daily News as updated by Emily if you are interested. I'm experimenting with new and interesting flavors such as Sundried Tomato & Basil and Garlic Cheese Focaccia. So far it's going really well! We've had $10 bids the past couple of weeks- fabulous!

*****

The Raffles we have going on end this weekend, and we'll draw for the parking spots and the prizes when we get back on Wednesday. Very excited!

*****

Next up for fundraising: Bracelets, Papa's Pizza day, Media Sale, July Bake Sale, Baby Picture contest, Caffiends Day, and possibly a potluck using Suzanne's idea of a recipe sale? More coming soon! Any feedback or ideas are welcomed as always!

Brandy//Team Coordinator

Walk Times & Update

2006-06-21T10:11:00.000-07:00

Sent email today to Eugene AllUsers (recap for those not on our email list)

***
Walkers Wanted (needed) at the Relay for Life Event, July 28^th-29^th for the following times:

Friday:12-6 pm, 8-9pm, 11-12am

Saturday: 12am-6am

Do you have ONE hour to spare to fill in any of those times, or to backup any existing walk-times, or man our tent?

Are you available to help set-up from 11-12pm on Friday, tear-down 12-1 pm on Saturday, or assist in making our team’s flag before the event?

Please contact Brandy- we’ve less than a month left to get ready for this big event!

<>TEAM UPDATE: <>Raffles are ending NEXT FRIDAY! Last chance to buy tickets for prizes or a parking spot are coming up!

Bake sale is scheduled for next Wednesday- posters soon to come!

<>Candy sales are being discontinued in favor of other fundraisers. The 20 or so who “took now and were going to pay later,” please drop your cash into the penny jars, which are still available in all building lunchrooms, or route anonymously if need be, via intra-office mail attn: Brandy Collins. I still have faith in my coworkers’ integrity! J If you need your fix and want to support a good cause, please see the Reception desk in Bldg E, or Kyia in purchasing in Bldg J.

Our team is currently in 7^th place. We have the Curbing Cancer fundraiser on THURSDAY for any who want to participate- give me an email so we can coordinate. We also have our Krispy Kreme bake sale this SUNDAY at the Delta Oaks Wal*Mart, and other fundraisers coming up. We’re still in it and we still have a chance to come out #1 in the Eugene/Springfield area!!!!!!

<>We’ll be hosting a media sale mid-July. If you have books, VHS tapes, DVDs, CDs, or other media you would like to donate, just drop it by my desk in Bldg E, 3^rd floor accounting or call me at x50179 and I’ll come pick it up!

We’ll also be having a baby picture matching contest. I need photos in by June 30^th, if you are able to submit one, so I can get everything put together. I’ll take a copy and give you your original.

More details and future activities coming soon!
***

Yesterday's meeting was a blast! Ginger, Peter, Leila, Dawn, Suzanne, Cheryl and I met for lunch in bldg E and discussed fundraisers.

We decided the candy sales were over. We made back what it took to buy the candy, but the candy theft is, yes, starting to become an issue. I think if I were to do that again, I would limit it to a month at only manned areas. Kyia's desk seemed to be prime candy-selling real estate :)
I put the remainder at her desk and at reception. Once it's out, we'll be finished with that for the year.

We also discussed walk times, and using our open slots as advertising for more team members and walkers. Ideally we'd have 2 people signed up for walk times as a backup and company. So don't be offended if I've advertised your reserved walking time as "open." We can reshuffle closer to the date if we need to, and I'll be urging new signups toward completely empty time slots if at all possible. For right now, the walk times are being tracked on our yahoogroups calendar. It's not as bleak as it seems, many of our team members are waiting until the very last minute to see which times are still needed, to sign up for their walking time.

Welcome Heather L to our team! I don't have her email, so hopefully she'll be in touch soon and get signed up for our email list so we can keep in touch. I don't have Andrea H's email address yet either.

Cheryl L found a site that sells pink rubber bracelets for $1 each in packs of 10, and if you order 1 pack they give you 1 free!. She's ordered 3 packs, each a different design. I'll pay her back out of the Krispy Kreme money on Monday. We'll be selling them for $2 each prior to the event. Unfortunately Cheryl might not be able to walk with us, as her dept may have to travel on the weekend of hte 28th. We're so lucky to still have her on our team though! Thanks so much for staying Cheryl! :)

In our meeting, we also discussed NOT pricing items at the bake sale. I priced them really low, and people seemed to donate more when they didn't have a set price per item. At the bake sale on Wednesday, we won't be pricing items, we're going to let people donate as much as they can or want to and see if it turns out any better than May's $170 bake sale. The bake sale that Debbie had put together brought in more than $300. I'm hoping for the best!

Dawn taunted us with tales and dreams of Bailey's Irish Cream Cheesecake at the meeting.

Leila suggested middle of the week rather than on a weekend, so the food has a chance to sell for half price second day or something, or beginning of the week when everyone's grump and has forgotten to bring their donation or money to buy. Great thinking! So we're going to try this bake sale on a Wednesday with plenty of warning, to see how it goes.

Dawn mentioned using a groan stick (one of those plastic tuby thingies that groans when you turn it over) for our baton. That sounds like an awesome idea! She thinks she may have one in her Halloween box. Any ideas for decorations? Streamers? Stickers? A toilet seat?

Cathy E helped me compose a letter to local businesses in regard to the Banner Sponsorship. It's $250 to sponsor a banner, it's tax deductable, and thousands of people will see it- what business wouldn't want their name out there for such a cheap price?!

If anyone would like to split the area, or split the phone book, all I really need are envelopes addressed and I can get these letters mailed off. Dawn suggested a web search that finds all businesses in a certain radius. I haven't located that site yet, does anyone know about this? I can't find it on YahooMaps or Google...

Suzanne suggested we ask The Keg if they'd like to sponsor this, or even hit them up for a Keg day like we did Baja Fresh. I'm happy to call- but is anyone on personal terms with the staff that would prefer to handle this?

Suzanne also suggested Mongolian Grill, Quizno's, McDonald's, Starbucks, and Hertz. Specifically, asking Hertz if they'd be willing to ask people if they wanted to make a donation at time of rental. Great idea!!! I'll look into those asap and see what kind of giving programs they're open to or have set up.

I have a sheet of Avery tattoo stickers that I got from Cash King. Dawn suggested maybe doing those and selling them at the event. We could do anything from (tasteful) pictures, Relay symbols, to "My Reason for walking is ... (my mom, uncle, grandpa, self, cat...whatever :) ) Do you have any ideas for good tattoo sticker sayings or pictures?

We're also going to try for another bake sale and a Media Sale in July- dates to be determined. Plus the baby-picture matching thing, the prize is CASH- I can see that being a big draw :).

Dawn was wondering if the Luminaria sales counted towards our team totals. Just got an email back from Tinker:
The answer is yes and no :-) They do count towards your total team fundraising-used to determine fundraising awards, site selection for next year, etc. They do not count towards the incentive prizes-in the back of the booklets. Luminaria money is tracked/recorded separately.

Ginger is in charge of the Luminaria sales on our team. I still have some if any of you are also interested in helping Ginger sell, or would like to purchase one (or five) yourself!

A lot going on- we are absolutely still in this! I'm so excited about the things we have set up for July!!

Brandy//Team Coordinator

Parking Spot Raffle!

2006-06-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

Well, we were knocked out of our 5th ranking spot, but not for long!

Our team is up to $1,299.00 and climbing. We have donations that have not yet been taken in or entered in our offline totals.

A $5k goal sounds crazy, but yknow? I think we can make it!

The raffle is still going strong. We've sold a LOT of tickets. No, I'm not going to count them all, but it's well over 50. That's awesome! Used some of that money, and some of the initial candy sales money from Cheryl to buy more candy boxes and set them up throughout campus. (Will replace Cheryl's total gain on Friday's pull, and our total should be even higher!)

Baja Fresh night went very well. Salomon will have our totals ready tomorrow morning. I'm so excited to see how we did!

Delta Oaks Walmart is set and ready to go to host our Krispy Kreme fundraiser- but Saturday 6/24 was taken. Our option in June was to go for 6/25 so I grabbed it. Cheryl and others please let me know if you are still able to help out on that day. I'll drive up to Portland on 6/24 to pick up our donuts.

Parking Lot Raffle starts today. I have the approval from Gordon, the paperwork in to Facilities, and I'm distributing the fliers today. There's nothing you need to do except maybe participate and talk it up amongst coworkers! I'm going to spend my email this week giving the company an update on our progress, going back over all events going on, and trying to recruit more team members.

In the meantime, I am sad to say my uncle Larry passed away this last Saturday at noon from cancer. His obituary was in the paper yesterday. I'm coordinating a Papa's pizza benefit, proceeds to go toward a food/shelter fund he had set up and had spent a lot of time working on with his church. If you're interested, I've uploaded a file to our YahooGroups here:
http://f2.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/QEd_RBYGFvURX0MRPG0hr_4P3wEeJN8zB-agOFddtS6-CNU56Ti_PBcKR7A0VXRfgU-5jzhpkbf7YgrgkIhTsA/larry.pdf

I didn't get any response on the idea of a VHS-tape sale in July? What do you think about setting this up, like the bake sale, in the lobby of E?

Also, welcome Kaitlyn Hastings, Kyia's daughter to our team!

Hopefully more good news tomorrow.
Take care and enjoy the liquid sunshine!
Brandy//Team Disorganizer *LOL*

Ranked 5th BAYBEE!

2006-05-23T16:37:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Bethany S for getting the Invitrogen matching funds, we are now ranked 5th in the city! Way to go Everyone!! Our total team donations are $1,225.00.

So I was remiss in reporting all that money in my last email as solely penny jar money. Some of it was from suns & moons. Magnus P came and bought 5 more raffle tickets today. Thank him if you happen to see him!

Sara S was very kind and says she forwarded our Baja fresh email to everyone she knows in the area. I have high apple-pie-in-the-sky hopes that Friday will be a Success for our team! The fliers have been distributed for Baja Fresh, and I'm working on putting up fliers for the raffle. Lotsa fliers going on. They're going to start calling me flier-girl.

I'm still calling around this area for a place that'll host our Krispy Kreme fundraising day. So far no luck. The gas station, Target, and Quiznos's mall area have all said no. The other WalMart may be our best option. Actually it's a sure bet, so I'm going to go officially ask after work tonight.

Doing breadmachine this Friday as time allows. I got a new Hawaiian Sweetbread mix I want to try out.
The first week of June is going to be the Parking Lot raffle, other than that we don't have anything planned. Would someone like to help me on a photo-matching fundraiser?

Thanks!
Brandy//Team Organizer

Krispy Kreme Day!

2006-05-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

I am proposing a Krispy Kreme Fundraiser Day.

I've set up a calendar on our YahooGroups located here: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/relayivgneugene/cal///group/relayivgneugene/?v=2&t=1148371200

Let me know if you have problems accessing it. I'm asking for June 23rd to be reserved for another Bake Sale day, will let you know if it gets approved. I'm busy the weekend of June 9th, so I was hoping we could aim for Saturday, June 24th.

This will be an all-day event held in front of the WalMart on W11th. I've got the application to set up a fundraising booth, I have the Krispy Kreme order form, I just want your feedback before I plow forward with getting this set up!

I still have the $160 from the May Bake Sale. The minimum order is 25 dozen, we order it 2 weeks in advance and go pick them up at the Clackamas Krispy Kreme location at 9950 S.E. 82nd Avenue.

Not a problem, I can run up that Friday night after work and have them ready. Doughnuts are $3.50 doz for the classic glazed, suggested retail is $7 per doz. Chocolate are $4 per doz suggested retail is $8. We could easily get, and sell, 30 dozen. That WalMart is ALWAYS packed, and every time I've seen a Krispy Kreme fundraiser at the other locations they go very quickly.

We can either use the funds from the bake sale, or ask for a department to sponsor us in doing this. All we need to bring is a table, chairs, a banner, and people to sit and sell. I'd be willing to go and do this and as many as are available can join.

I appreciate your feedback at your earliest convenience! :)

Captain's Meeting Review

2006-05-18T09:39:00.000-07:00

Good Morning all!!!

* Bev H from Bldg J just bought $25 in raffle tickets, and $25 in Suns & Moons. Thank her when you get a chance! I'm trying to talk her into joining the team. We'll see :)

* Went to the Team Captains' meeting last night. You are all welcome to go, incidentally, if you feel like checking it out. I'll send an announcement for next month's. It's really inspriational to hear the speakers talk about their experiences with Cancer. I like the fundraising ideas that come out of the meetings, and hearing how the other teams are doing.
Our team received a mention in the newsletter: for our blog and for our fundraising ideas. I'll scan it and send it for those who are interested. Flo Hoskinson does a great job of putting together the Fundraising Announcement and Idea page. She's a really neat lady to talk to as well, if you should get the chance.

*There's an email list for all of Eugene/Springfield put together by Thomas Price from Country Coach. It's a yahoogroups email list just like our relayivgneugene email list. The address to sign up at is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EugeneSpringfieldRelayforLife. I'm on the list, I'll include tidbits on updates from time to time. The Relay teams have a great sense of community. It's not just a competition, we are all working towards a common goal.

* The Relay committe is looking for a team that would be willing to sell small FM radios at the Relay. If we wanted to, we could have a department sponsor these and sell them at the event. Fro writes, "FM radios will provide everyone at the Relay a clear transmission to all of the information being announced at the stage by tuning into a particular setting." I understand most of us are swamped with work and home life, but if anyone is willing to take on this project please email me for details! I think it could really go over well.

*Tab Davis reported that most teams at the Curb for the Cure event raised $500-700 each, and they've been approved to do it again in Eugene. We didn't raise quite that much. But I'm willing to give it another go. I'm an optimistic kinda gal. I signed our team up, and I will be there for sure. More details to come if you're willing to try it out. We're teamed with a couple of other teams this time, so we won't be going it alone, and they have professionally made signs we can use.

* Banner spots are still available. It costs $250 for a business to sponsor a banner. It's free advertising for them, and the money goes to the team that refers them! I have fliers available if you know anyone with a small (or largish) business who would be willing to sponsor a banner. I have a list of business that Relay has asked us NOT to contact. Please contact me for a copy, if you're thinking of contacting local businesses. Let's coordinate our efforts! If you want, we can take certain letters of the alphabet. There are a few local businesses I really support that I would like to ask. Let me know if you're interested in getting together on this.

*Team Flag! Who would like to take on the project of creating our team flag? It needs to be 2x3 ft or 3x4 ft max. I have the specs available. Anyone could do this- they don't have to be on our team. If you know of a seamstress that would be willing, PLEASE refer them to me so we can get started!

* Team Baton! We also need someone who would be wiling to take on the project of creating our team baton.

* Team Campsite! Yep. This is also a competition, and we need someone who would be willing to coordinate the canopy, a table, a cooler, and whatever else we may want at the event. I have a pup tent I can bring, and an air mattress, but I really need someone to be in charge of this.

* Spirit Points! There are also contests at the event for best baton and best campsite. No news as to whether they will be judging flags, but let's be prepared for that as well! They've requested anyone who has a golf cart available to borrow bring it for extra spirit points. They've tried local golf courses with no luck. They're trying the U of O. I think we rent ours through Yamaha NW? If you have any ideas, or have a loaner available, please leave a comment below this post, or email me and I'll forward it on to Linda Morrison, the Logistics Chair.

* Survivors Wanted! R4L is still actively looking for survivors (defined as anyone currently living with, or having survived Cancer) to participate. Fundraising is nice but not required. No signup fee or registration. If you know of a survivor who would like to be on our team, please refer them! If you know of anyone who would feel comfortable with our team dedicating our efforts to their survivorship, please just let me know- I'm hesitant to ask as Cancer is often a very private battle.

* Baja Fresh Day is next Friday! They will donate 20% of their sales, with flier, to our team. YAHOO! Huge thanks again to Bethany for getting this done for us :) Email coming soon!

* Thanks also to Bethany and Suzanne for having Tinker over to the Journal Club meeting last Wednesday. We had a great turnout! In attendance, Suzanne B, Lisa W, Allegra H, Brandy C, Bethany S, Nan A, Tami N, Courtenay H. Sorry if I missed anyone! It was really great to see so many come on their lunch breaks. The meeting was very informative. More than reaffirming that which we already knew, that Relay for Life funds cancer research, it was great to see examples- concrete numbers and details on the types of things that have been funded by the ACS.
Can you imagine a time when people didn't KNOW cigarettes were linked to cancer? I'm going to be 29 for the second time this year (shhh,) so I realize it's pretty young... but still I can't fathom a time when that information simply wasn't available. Nowadays it's a matter of denial, but back in the 50's they just didn't have any idea! ACS is in its 60th year- they funded research that led to this discovery, and consequently are funding Quit lines, getting information out to convince the public, and services and support for those who are unfortunate enough to get cancer anyway. It seems like that information has been around forever because, well, 60 years practically IS forever to a country with such a short attention span. I have a 3 year old- sometimes 6 minutes seems like forever. ;)

* Funds update: We got $160 from the bake sale, $30 and $50 the last 2 drops I did on the penny jars plus candy bars and the Curb for the Cure, $2-$5 every time I set out the breadmaker, plus all your personal donations. Some of that was used to purchase raffle prizes, and I haven't transferred the $160 yet. Our team is now up to $705.00!!!!!! We've met our requirement to earn Invitrogen's matching donation of $500. That puts us at $1205. We are currently ranked 6th in all the teams in Eugene, and we have 'til the end of July. WAY TO GO! I will send out an update to the general email list soon. I'm permitted one email a week and I want to make them count for current events. Our fundraising goal is $5000. With a company this size, it should be cake.

We have 2 more months to do the best we can, and a number of really good fundraisers coming up in which you may choose to participate. If you don't see one you're interested in, maybe the next. Just being a part of the team and wearing your button helps. Talking up the fundraisers, even if you can't participate, really helps. I would LOVE for us to get 20 teammembers. Right now we're at 11 (Welcome Suzanne B!)

On Wednesday Tinker told us that Eugene has the dubious distinction of being FIRST in the nation for highest non-profit charity to population ratio. Thank you for choosing to be a part of this one.

Raffle!

2006-05-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

Longish Update:

* The Curb for the Cure event was unique. Relay for Life isn't just about fundraising, it's about raising awareness. In that regard, I think this event was a success. I set up signs, got my water bottle and my lawnchair, and got more strange looks and supportive honks than I did change or donations.
What touched me were the donations we DID receive. My only solo donation was from a woman in a beat-up little sedan and a backseat full of kids. It was only a handful of change. She tearfully explained that she wanted to do more for a good cause, but it was all she had. It was so much more than most everyone else had done. It was a very humbling experience, but suddenly I was very glad to be there.
Kyia and her daughter came around 5 and helped out. I was SO Grateful for the company! They helped hold signs. A woman came a block and a half from her bus stop to give Kyia her last handful of change and take a brochure, then walked back the way she came; she had gone out of her way just to give Relay for Life about a dollar.
I was glad for the honks of support we got, and the smokers who saw the signs and were reminded enough to put out their cigarettes.
Kyia's daughter got a $5 bill from a beat-up station wagon. I got another dollar from a woman in an older truck. It was really touching that the people who gave the most were the ones who had the least.

* BAKE SALE was a gigantic success! HUGE thanks to everyone who participated! We raised about $160, had several bakers who weren't officially on the team, and TONS of customers. This was a great idea, thanks especially to the Reception Team and to everyone who helped bake. I'm not aware of everyone who brought something, but here are a few I wrote down: Lisa W, Erin Van O, Kyia H, Ginger B, Bethany S, Emily W, Cathy R, and Nigel L. I would LOVE to send thank-you cards to everyone so if I missed anyone, would you please email and let me know? We're planning to do another one in June, so if you have any ideas on how to improve on it, let me know!

* Raffle is ready to go. If you want to check out tickets to sell, send me an email and I will route them to you.

* Tinker is coming on Wednesday to the Journal Club to give a talk on the ACS and Relay for Life. It's noon - 1pm. It'd be great if as many of us that can go. An invite has been sent and I have fliers up around campus.

* I put fliers with Cancer facts around campus in the bathrooms today :)

* Bread for the Cure is still going on MWF. Emily is so great about updating the intranet if you're interested.

* Jules D brought up selling Krispy Kremes- we could ask a dept to sponser the initial capital, go fetch, and sell them in front of the WalMart or in lunchrooms. I don't think this would take much to get set up.

* We should have a meeting, just hang out and throw around ideas. Anyone feel like getting together this week? Sorry it's short-notice, but we could get together tomorrow at noon, before Tinker's talk, so that we can be prepared at the Journal Club meeting. Noon, Bldg E lunchroom on Tuesday if you can make it. I'll send an evite!

Upcoming Events!

2006-05-09T13:44:00.000-07:00

I'm running out of title ideas, can you tell?

I was way too excited about what we've got going on to wait a whole WEEK before sending a new post!

* Cheryl L. has volunteered to babysit the new batch of candy bars for sale in Bldg C for $1 each. Thanks Cheryl!!!

* THIS THURSDAY is the Curb for the Cure event, from 3:30-6pm on the corner of 19th and Marcola in Springfield (by the Carl's Jr and DariMart.) I have the signs ready and I'll bring them with me when we meet. Wear your Invitrogen shirt if you have them, extras will be provided. Please bring a bottle of water and a snack. I will provide jars as well.

* We're ready to start selling raffle tickets. They cost $1 each. You must give a brief information sheet about the raffle to each person buying a ticket in order for us to keep within Oregon State Lottery commission's guidelines on fundraising raffles. Huge thanks to Dawn C. for helping work out the details!
We'll be doing the raffle tickets on a check-out system. You'll check out a number of tickets to sell, then turn the money in when they're gone for your next batch. This way we'll keep track of the number of tickets we've sold, and who sold which tickets for auditing purposes. The money from the tickets you sell will be counted towards your invidual fundraising totals.
No pressure if you're not into selling or buying raffle tickets- reply to this email to let me know how many you'd like to start selling if you're interested. A general company email will be out shortly with a prize list and information which will also be included on the information sheets. Raffle will go through June, and is open to members of the public.

* May Bake Sale is THIS FRIDAY! The Lobby of Bldg E will be set up and ready to go, thanks to Facilities. We'll be using jars for collection, and we'll have a suggested price list available. If you're able to bake, I recommend individually wrapping goodies in baggies or saran-wrap for portability. I will try to remember to bring paper plates and extra baggies from home to have as well. If someone else would be willing to help me remember, or bring some themselves that would be helpful!

* Baja Fresh Day is set up for May 26th. Fliers and general email to come shortly.

* Caffiends Day is a GO! I'm waiting to hear back from the owner as to which day will work best. She's waiting to talk to Melody about some arrangement they're making to have Caffiends here for a few hours, instead of a brief stop? Not sure about the details, I just know I'm waiting for a callback. Details coming soon.

* Karaoke for a Cure is also in progress. A friend is helping work out the details on a venue, which was the biggest obstacle. I'm so excited this is turning from idea to possibility! More details hopefully to come.

* I'm also working on information on a second raffle for choice parking spots. More information to come. I'm also working on a Papa's Pizza Day in June, depending on how well the Baja Fresh day goes.

* Do you have your letters written yet? If not, I volunteer to write them for you!
That's right- Send me or loan me your address book and I will address envelopes, print letters, and get them ready. All you have to do is sign them and stick them in the mail!

Other Group Fundraising ideas:

$ A stumper photo contest: We'd collect baby/early childhood pictures of employees along with their current picture. $1 to enter a guess. The person who gets the most correct wins a % of the collected donations, the rest to go to Relay for Life. We could do this for 2 weeks easily in June.

$ Vending Machines: We could contact our vending machine suppliers and see if they'd be willing to donate a % of their sales out of our vending machines for a month to our Relay for Life team. We could do the same with the Sunshine Deli Wagon.

$ South Park Caricatures: I've been having fun with the South Park Caricature maker on coworkers- we could offer to print and sell tcaricatures of people based on their photos, with their help, to have at their desks or on their walls for $5 each. (Cost of frame at WalMart is $2) I'm not sure of the interest in this in the company?

$ Video or Book Sale: Team members and employees can bring in their old VHS tapes, DVDs, or books (gasp- reading?!) to a mini-garage sale. We could set this up in the Lobby of E again, depending on how well the bake sale goes over?

What ideas look like fun to you? We have until July- wouldn't it be great to have something going every week, or every other week?

What we really need is for people to be cheerleaders about the Relay in their departments and buildings. Get people excited about being on the team. It isn't a huge time commitment- you do as much as you want when you feel like it or can, plus walking for an hour or so sometime in July. No problem!

I want your interaction and feedback- tell me what you think, what ideas you have, and where you are. How about a team meeting on Monday around noon? I'll send out an invite, we can "do lunch" and talk about where we are and what ideas we want to move forward with.

Anything is Something!

2006-05-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

Hasn't the weather been gorgeous? We're so lucky to live in such a green state!

R4L Update:

* Raffle is still a go. Got $50 from the penny jars last week and was able to purchase a couple more gift certificates, as well as a neat rolling organizer. We need to have a sheet with number of available tickets, prizes, and legal stuff to give everyone to whom we're selling raffle tickets in order to keep this legal and within Invitrogen/ACS guidelines. I'm working on that sheet, I'm going to run it by Dawn as soon as I have it done up and see what she thinks. The Raffle will go through the end of June.

* Breadmaker is going well. Not as much interest as anticipated, but it's still earned over $10 for Relay. Have settled on a MWF schedule. Reception has been fantastic about updating the Intranet with the location, bread type, and previous winner/bid.

* Suns & Moons sales are also going well. Emily has them up in Bldg E facing the elevator.

* Curb for the Cure event is NEXT THURSDAY! Our "corner" is 14th & Marcola in Springfield, right by the Carl's Jr. Bring your Invitrogen shirts if you have them, and extras for those without. We'll have to get together to make signs next week- maybe Tuesday at Noon? Bring butcher paper if you have any- I'll bring some large card stock from Bi-Mart and borrow Birdie's markers. So far I have a solid from Bethany and a tenative from Kyia- no one else has responded.
It's happening Thursday, May 11, 2006 from 3:30 PM-6:00 PM - if you can even come for a half hour to support the team, or just help make signs, Anything is Something and will be appreciated.

* Bake sale is Friday, May 12th (yup- the very next day.) Lisa W. in bldg C has offered to bake, as has Erin V.O. from bldg H and myself. Store-bought goodies are okay if any of you are able to bring anything in to donate. I'm recommending pre-packaging them in plastic baggies. I'll have a sign available with suggested donations, but marking your baggies (especially if your treat is particularly exotic or especially nummy!) is a good idea if you have the time. I'll try to have baggies and paper plates available on the tables for people to use as well.

* Baja Fresh day is happening in June- Baja Fresh will donate a % of their sales, accompanied by fliers we'll be handing out, to our Relay for Life team. Thanks to Bethany for putting this together! More information as this develops- I'm picking up the fliers and having last minute discussions with the owner this Friday.

* I'm working on a Caffiends day as well- operating similarly. Have not heard back from the owner, however- she may be inundated with requests. The worst she can tell me is "no," so I will keep trying. If it doesn't work out with Caffiends, perhaps the Sunshine Deli Wagon would be willing to help out our team.

* Tinker from the American Cancer Society will be attending the Journal Club on Wednesday May 17th from Noon to 1pm. I will put up fliers for this after the Bake Sale (switch them out.) I believe she'll be speaking on the ACS and the Relay for Life. It'd be great if you could make it! Thanks again to Bethany for setting this up!

* I'm working on a Karaoke for the Cure event with my friend on the Semperian team. I have the ok from the ACS. Having a hard time finding a venue- Gateway Mall representatives said their owners have only approved the Shriner's Muscular Dystrophy charity for fundraising on premises. I am waiting on a callback from Valley River. We'd like to keep it in a family-friendly, well-known establishment. I've asked Kim V from shipping if she'd EmCee the affair. If I can't find a professional karaoke DJ to donate their time and equipment, she said she'd be willing to bring in her setup as well. I'm excited! It may not happen, but if it does I think it would be well worth the time and effort we invest.

* I sent out an email to friends and family when we first started this R4L- I'm sending out a paper letter with an update to everyone I know. Have you done this yet? It's listed as the top fundraising method by the ACS. It's non-invasive and informative. People can support you in this effort if they want, and are able, or they can just cheer you on. Either way, it's good to get the message out. And again, Anything is Something.

If you have any ideas or would like to help out with any of these, please contact me at my work email address, or just reply to this email.

I have not heard from my Aunt in Washington who was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in December. I wrote to her a month ago, but I suspect she is busy.
I got a call yesterday that my Uncle from another branch of the family is in the hospital with an advanced form of an extremely rare type of cancer. He has tumors on his liver, his eye, lungs, and my cousin was not sure where else when I spoke to her. I may go visit tonight or tomorrow. Today the doctor is supposed to give him some kind of time estimate. They can't do anything for him since it's in and around his major organs. He is 52.
This whole Relay thing has taken on a new urgency for me. Kim V has a history of cancer in her family as well. As she put it (I'm paraphrasing, this was a week ago, but it was hilarious!,) "I'm not so much donating money to a charity as I am investing in my possible future!"
She cracks me up :)

Doing something, anything, is better than doing nothing and waiting. If no one tells you this today, you are appreciated! Even if you "only" raise $5, it's $5 more than they had. That's $5 to go in a grant for a research company to buy (maybe some of our) research tools to help find a cure. Huge Thanks to you for being a part of this team and doing what you can! Huge thanks to the people donating- buying cookies, sticking their change in the penny jars, buying Luminarias to remember a loved one.

Thanks to you for any and every little bit that you do-
Because Anything is Something!

Bread and Raffles and Streetcorners? OH MY!

2006-04-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is doing well! Just a quick update (haha.)

* We're collecting raffle prizes! If you have anything you would like to donate, or know of anyone we should contact for prizes, please let us know- we need to have them collected by FRIDAY. I have a list of companies who are already sponsoring the Relay for Life, and who have been put on a strict "Do not Call" list by the American Cancer Society (to prevent oversaturation of requests.)

So far we have: A telescope, A $25 Barnes & Noble Gift Card, and a Marketing Goodie Bag!

I am hoping for event tickets? Gift Certificates?

* Raffle ticket sales start Monday. Kyia has generously donated both the roll of tickets and the Barnes & Noble Gift Card. The telescope was the prize our team won last year for the amount of funds they raised. Great idea to hold this over for a future raffle prize by Debbie and Ginger! Raffle ticket sales will be great for your personal fundraising goals. We'll have you check raffle tickets out, and when you turn the money in, it will be put directly into your Relay account. Very easy. I've gone over the Raffle Rules and Regulations for the State of Oregon with Dawn C. She had some great insight into the raffles and fundraising, and some great ideas for prizes! More on this when sales begin.

* Sun & Moon sales have begun. Signs have been posted, and they are available at the reception desk. Ginger let me know, and I did not know this, that the suns are supposed to be purchased in honor of survivors, and the moons in memory of those who have passed. I wasn't aware, so I put them at different prices: $5 for the suns, and $1 for the moons. Hopefully no one will hold it against me or object- the money all goes toward funding research for a cure! Don't forget to get yours soon!

* Ginger has offered to head up Luminaria sales. For those who don't know, the Luminarias are white bags which a person can take home to decorate in any way they wish. Candles are placed inside the Luminarias, and they are set around the track, candles lit, during the survivor lap. The ACS site explains it better:

Held after dusk, the Luminaria Ceremony pays tribute to the courageous men, women, and children whose lives have been touched by cancer. It is an opportunity to help in the fight against cancer with a donation and to honor someone in your life who has faced this disease.

A Luminaria is simply a bag filled with sand, and a small candle that makes it glow. Each Luminaria bears the name of a person who has battled cancer. Right before the Luminaria Ceremony, we light all the candles. As they burn into the night, they light the way for the walkers. They offer a path of hope.

It's very powerful to just read about. We are "selling" them for $5 each. You turn them in when you're finished decorating them. We may hang finished Luminarias and samples as they become available to raise awareness.

* May 11th, from 4-6pm is the American Cancer Society's Curb for the Cure event, organized by Tab Davis. Teams are signing up for streetcorners in Springfield, on which we will be able to take donations for the Relay for Life.

There will be ACS Relay For Life Signs available to borrow, and we are asking each
team to dress in Relay t-shirts, or Dr. Seuss attire or dress in what ever your team
theme might be, just be visible. Making homemade signs to advertise Relay for Life and
your Team Name would be great!

I've sent an invite to the list, please reply if you're interested in attending. I will be going- but I do understand not everyone can get or take the time off. It'd be great to stand out there with fellow Probies, though, so if you can, please consider it! I haven't got a Relay shirt, so I'm planning on wearing my Invitrogen Global Citizenship Day t-shirt. Maybe we could plan to get together and make Invitrogen/Relay signs?

* A great experiment begins! A lady at another company brings her breadmaker to work, and has the silent auction for the loaves as they finish cooking. I've got permission from Paul W. in Facilities to go ahead with this. Experimental loaf is on for today to see if my breadmaker works and if it arouses any interest. I'm anticipating that the smell of fresh baked bread wafting through Bldg E, at least, will have been well worth the trouble!
{Edit: This went VERY well- the bread turned out great and generated lots of interest. I don't think we'll have any trouble auctioning them off when the time comes!}

* The Penny jars have done VERY well! I did a drop last week and came out with $34ish in change, a couple dollar bills, and a $100 check from Warren M. of bldg J! WAY TO GO! I took the money in to the ACS that day. Very excited to see our donations rising. I need to update that thermometer hanging in bldg D soon.

* Candy sales are also going very well. We seem to be collecting funds appropriate to the number of candy bars being taken- so far so good!

* {Addition} If you've received checks, or have had donations via check sent directly to the ACS office here in Eugene, you'll need to update your personal page manually to reflect that donation, if you want it to show in your total. Let me know if you need help with this!

I think that was everything. Hope your week goes well. I hear they're anticipating a bit more sunshine, and temperatures well into the 70's. Have a fantastic day!

Brandy//Team Coordinator

April Update!

2006-04-12T09:14:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

Boy, I don't know about you guys, but the "creeping crud" (aka the cold/flu) has hit my family/coworkers HARD! Here's to your good health!

Just a quick update:

* I have many opportunities for people to help out with the Relay, hilighted in italics below. If you can think of a fundraiser you'd like to bring to the group, or have any other P.R. ideas, just shoot me an email at Brandy.Collins@Invitrogen.Com. I'll be glad to hear them!

* We are currently at NINE fantastic members! I have everyone now on the YahooGroups email list. Sorry to just add you but I want to make sure everyone is informed and in the loop. If you would like to switch to your home email, please just let me know.

* Huge HUGE congratulations to KYIA- our fundraising SUPERSTAR! She's leading the team with $105 collected so far in donations. Way to go KYIA!! :)

* I have penny jars situated throughout campus with a flier asking for donations. The money raised from these will go toward larger fundraising efforts. Would you like to help monitor penny-jars in your building?

* First Team Fundraiser is hopefully going to be a RAFFLE! I'm working with Allegra and researching the fundraising guidelines laid out on our company's intranet, Disco. I'll send an email as soon as I have the all-clear to start gathering prizes and donations. By then, we should have enough collected from the penny jars to purchase a roll of raffle tickets. I'm very excited about this and I think it can be a tremendous fundraising opportunity!

* We have the Suns & Moons available and can start "selling" them at any time. We have the all-clear to hang them in the lobby of building D. I also have a giant thermometer poster available to track our progress. Would you like to help with the advertising and selling of the suns & moons? Please email and let me know!

* I'm working with Cathy E. on a new set of posters to hang. We currently have the official Relay-approved posters in the lunchrooms and main bulletain boards. The new set of posters are smaller, still have the tear-off tags so interested parties can easily keep the blog address for reference (and hopefully sign up!) I will be asking permission to hang them in bathrooms, elevators, and lunchrooms around campus as soon as they're finished. Would you like to help hang posters?

* I've also donated a box of candy to put by a Relay flier and collection jar, coming soon to a lunchroom near you! This round will be Building C wiith Hershey Mocha Almond bars. Suggested donation for the Relay for Life is just 50 cents. Would you like to donate a box of candy to do this in another building?

That's it for now! Happy Fundraising, and don't forget to take your vitamins!
*cough sneeze hack*

Brandy // Team Coordinator

March Recruitment Month

2006-03-16T15:43:00.000-08:00

I am exhausted! I'm now working 2 departments, having a lot of fun and staying busy at work. Going to go over points in bullet form.

* Tonight's meeting is canceled- everyone has a scheduling conflict :)
I'd like to have one for March discussing recruitment, please email if you have any suggestions/days and times that (don't) work well for you or places we should meet.

* Posters are DONE and being hung, thanks to Bethany for getting us the approval and HUGE thanks to Emily in the reception team for putting them up! I modified each poster so they would include the Invitrogen logo (so people would know it's a company event) as well as the local contact (moi) and website streamers.... because really- who's going to remember my name or the blogspot address? :) Hoping for a few bites from interested folks.

* I am still working on friends and family to help out with the team. Kyia has 2 family members interested and together they've raised $135!! Way to go KYIA!!!!

* Created an email list: relayivgneugene@yahoogroups.com so our group can stay in contact. All pertinent information will now be emailed as well as logged on this blog. To join, if you haven't yet gotten an invitation, just go to : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/relayivgneugene

* Some interested parties haven't yet "officially" signed up. The walk is months away, but we're behind our ideal in fundraising. Please sign up as soon as possible. Right now we're just working on individual fundraising, we'll work on group fundraisers starting in April.

*The meeting Wednesday went splendidly. I was not able to attend so Bethany went and picked up useful information and ideas for our team. She was also able to suggest a better tent site behind the main stage. It's a little quieter, but still right on the track for easy access.
Way to go BETHANY!!!

*I'll see about getting more promo items: pins, pens, and teammate information. Hoping to be able to run over tomorrow on my lunch break.

Ttfn! Hope you and yours are doing well and I hope to hear from everyone soon!
Brandy//Team Organizer

Relay Update

2006-03-10T11:39:00.000-08:00

YAY! We're currently in 5th for donations, just behind Semperian. Our team now officially has 5 members, and several more who have promised to join our team. Remember- each person who joins is not only going to help out with the fundraising, but more members means less walking time per member. (in theory)

It's too early to sign up for your "walking time" just yet. Please don't ask me to reserve a spot for you or keep track of your preference just yet. I'll make a post for that and you can reply in a comment with your desired spot and walking time.

Semperian just finished a Huge fundraiser, so I'm expecting them to jump even further up in the ratings very soon. We have $150 and that's a great start!

In case anyone's wondering, I'm in Customer Service- the call center, in building C. I'll be helping out accounting starting next week (yay!) in building E. I'm pretty well tied to my desk 8 hours a day since we're running with minimal staffing. After work, I have a 2 year old and a husband I care for, and we only have 1 car. I'm doing all I can. It's just slow going. Just know I'm doing all I can to help keep this going, and if I can manage to fit this in my schedule- trust me, anyone can.

Bethany emailed and said there are fliers and promotional materials I can pick up from ACS. I don't see anything on their website. Spoke with "Tinker," who is the local contact. There is NO age limit. Anybody under 16 just needs to sign a "youth release form" in order to participate, and must have a chaperone available.

OH! And I'm supposed to attend Team Leader meetings. Oops :) No clue.
I was supposed to get a Team Leader Packet, it just hasn't been processed yet. I'm to go down to the local ACS to snag that as well as supplies. That sounds encouraging! They're the 3rd Wednesday of every month at EWEB at 6pm.

ACS is in the office building between and behind Trader Joe's and Pier 1 at2350 OakMont Way #200 upstairs, hours are 8:30-5pm M-F, but gone next Tuesday. My working hours are 8-5 so I had to take some time off to go do this. Fortunately my supervisor Bev has a great sense of humor :)

I grabbed all the forms/posters etc and I'm all set and ready to go. March will be our month for promoting awareness for the Relay for Life and getting more members on our team.
YAY!

I propose a meeting next week after my Wednesday meeting, so I'll be really prepared. I'm going to say let's meet on Thursday at 7pm at the Shari's on W11th. Spread the date/time. I'll post meeting notes for anyone who isn't able to come. I'll have signup sheets for those unable to do it themselves online and a couple of fundraising ideas I've been kicking around.

Hoping to hear your great ideas and get to know you better! :)

Brandy//Team Organizer

Volunteer Age-Restrictions

2006-03-03T10:48:00.000-08:00

Kyia emailed inquiring about the age-restrictions about volunteers. The website doesn't give any specifics so I called- the volunteer answering the phone said she'll have the site event-coordinator call me back.

Does anyone have any other questions for when she calls? I'll post as soon as I hear back.

No luck on getting jars to place around campus for donations yet, I'm still working on it!

So far 3 people have signed up and joined our team officially via the Relay Website:

Kyia
Dawn

We got our first donation, too (aside from the generous donation of our registration fee from Global Citizenship.) My Aunt Kathy donated $15.00!!!

WAY TO GO AUNT KATHLEEN!!!

I also see Kyia donated $20! What a great start to our fundraising!!!!

Fundraising idea #1- Contacting Friends & Family

2006-03-02T14:06:00.000-08:00

The first fundraising tip listed on the website is:

Sign up on this Web site to Relay Online! Once you have registered, you can start sending emails to friends and family. Then, sit back, relax, and let the donations roll in!
Go the tried and true route and mail letters to everyone telling them about Relay For Life and ask them to mail a donation within 10 days. Consider including a self-addresses stamped envelope to make it easy for people to donate. Ask your Relay For Life Committee for sample letters, and make sure to include your own story as to why you are participating.

Just asking for donations- How Novel is that?! :)

I really can't see sending letters with a stamped return envelope to people I know. I understand some people might be comfortable with that idea. I'm just not. I went with emailing. Somehow it feels more personal. I may include a brief snippit about the fundraiser during my bi-monthly update that I send to friends and family, but I think most would be offended at a self-addressed stamped envelope ;)

Here's the email I sent to a select group of my friends and family:

Hi all!
I'm sending this to everyone whom I thought might be interested.

I'm participating in the Relay for Life through work.

From the website at :
http://www.acsevents.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=141982&lis=1&kntae141982=254DAEED338E47B9847264DA5AA93B4F

"July 28-29 2006 noon to noon
Lane Community College

Relay For Life® is a fun-filled overnight event designed to celebrate survivorship and raise money to help the American Cancer Society save lives, help those who have been touched by cancer, and empower individuals to fight back against this disease. During the event, teams of people gather at schools, fairgrounds, or parks and take turns walking or running laps. Each team keeps at least one team member on the track at all times.

Relay is much more than a walk around a track. It is a time to remember those lost to cancer and celebrate those who have survived. It is a night for people who have shared the same experience to comfort and console one another.

Relay gives you the power to help accelerate the Society’s advancement toward a future where cancer doesn’t take the lives of our friends and family."

I'm not sure if many of you know, but I lost my Grandmother to cancer a few years ago. It was a really hard loss. I had helped care for her in conjunction with my Mom and hospice for the year and a half before her death. She went slowly and painfully- a horrific way to die.

Part of why I've enjoyed working for Molecular Probes, now owned by Invitrogen, has been because of its role in disease and drug research. The company has been a huge supporter of charitable organizations, as well as supplying detection technology to research organizations around the world.

I would LOVE for local friends and family to sign up and be a part of the Invitrogen Eugene team. You would be involved with fundraising and would take a section of time to walk during the event. Information on joining our team can be found on our blog site here:
http://relayivgneugene.blogspot.com/2006/03/join-up.html

If you're not interested or able to join the team, you could also donate here:
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=141982&lis=1&kntae141982=8E7B60AF8D70432DB473CA9EEAD1155F&supId=121056576
They take credit/debit cards with a $10 minimum. Anything less can be mailed to me at my home address, which most of you have (email me off list if you need it again.)

If you don't have the time or funds to do either, I totally feel ya. You can keep track of our progress and what we're doing with this event on our blog site at:

http://relayivgneugene.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading!
Brandy

Painless, and hopefully they won't hold it against me to solicit funds for the project.

Join Up!

2006-03-02T11:36:00.000-08:00

We're all signed up now. Thanks to Allegra and the Global Citizenship Team for providing us with the intial registration fee, we are now an official Relay for Life Team.

Our main page is here: http://www.acsevents.org/relay/or/eugene/relayivgneugene.

I set our group goal fairly low, considering the number of people actually on-site. I set the group goal at only $5000. Absolutely fluff since we have 'til July... or is it?

So here's how this works. If you want to WALK on the team, you need to sign up UNDER our team. You would go HERE - you'll click "JOIN A TEAM" and select "INVITROGEN EUGENE." From there, you will enter your information, including t-shirt size and personal goal.
I set my personal goal at $100. I know I can do more, and may raise my goal if I make that too quickly :)

Under "Personalized Web Page Link" you will need to choose a username. This is important and you HAVE to do this because you won't be able to edit this later. What this is, is your personal page INSIDE of the Invitrogen Eugene page. Your friends, family, or poker buddies will be able to make donations towards your goal via credit/debit card on this site. The money that each of us raises personally goes toward BOTH our goal, and towards our group goal.

Under "FEES" you will select "General Participant," which does not charge a fee. Hit continue and you're set. It will give you the address for our main site, as well as the site address for your personal Relay page that you can give to people for your blackmail errr... donation requests.

As far as the blog goes, I can have posts emailed to you if you'd rather go that route than checking back with the website- just send me an email and let me know if you want on the "email blog posts" list. I'm going to post pertinent email discussions and fundraising ideas that people send to me so we can keep track of everything in one convenient location.

One of our team members is confused as to what a blog is. I'll explain. "Blog" is short for web-based log (journal.) You can post a daily entry, or make a new page every day. You can see on the right-hand side the link to previous entries, sorted by their subject lines. The blog also contains whatever other information we consider pertinent. I have links up to the Invitrogen website, if anyone wanders across this blog and wonders "what the heck is Invitrogen?!" and a link to the Eugene Relay for Life site for easy access. I might add more links.
Basically, and at its heart, a blog is just another website. You don't have to be a master coder to blog, all I do is type in the editor. You don't have to make blog posts to participate, you can just read and email me with any comments, or you can sign up for a username and post a comment below the initial post. I hope that makes sense...

So far, parties that have expressed interest in participating are:
Brandy
Bethany
Ginger
Dawn
Jolene
Kyia

That's it. I'm a little disappointed more aren't turning out, but maybe with a little cheerleading on our part we can drum up more interest and support from the company at large. I was thinking of getting permission to send out a bi-weeklyish informational update to the company, maybe monthly would be more the way to go :)

We could show how Invitrogen, and Molecular Probes specifically supports and helps in Cancer Research- does anyone have specific information on that? I'm not a technical person so I don't have exacts... or if you have ideas of who I could email for information?

Maybe send updates on how much our team has raised thus far and encourage people to join in. I would say we could designate someone to be our "cheerleader" and to be the person who is in charge of recruiting new members, but honestly we should ALL be doing that. :)

The GREAT news is, any of our friends and family are more than welcome to participate and walk on our team. That means I can volunteer my husband (mwahahah.) I'm not sure about volunteering my 2 year old, but wouldn't it be SO CUTE to push her around the track for an hour in a stroller? Okay, losing focus...

Anyway, feel free to encourage friends and family to sign up under our flag and participate.
As far as fundraising goes, we can do the fundraisers, dep the money into our account, and just use the site's credit/debit card to transfer the funds... I think that's easiest.

When is a good meeting day/time for everyone? I'm best evenings and weekends, customer service sure is hoppin'!

Fundraising part 1

2006-03-01T16:20:00.000-08:00

Per the Relay for Life agreement, found on its website:

"The American Cancer Society provides Relay For Life® participant ("Relay participant") Web pages as a service. All donations received through the Relay participant pages are contributions for which no goods and services have been provided. Therefore, Relay participant pages shall not contain any language which suggests that merchandise will be provided in exchange for their contribution. Relay participants are expressly prohibited from offering merchandise sales, prizes, raffles, giveaways, lotteries, contests, tournaments, lucky draws, or any games of chance on their Relay participant pages either as an outright token action or as an inducement to solicit donations."

That may throw a wrench in ... well almost all of my ideas actually. They do have a page set up for fundraising ideas here.

What's confusing is, the fundraising idea page lists raffles, etc as a fundraising idea. My thought is that the language in the agreement refers ONLY to our Relay for Life website, like we can't sell stuff off of it in exchange for donations, but they don't care what we do outside our personal Relay for Life website.

I think the first, and most basic thing to do is setting up donation jars in the lunchrooms and at strategic locations throughout campus. Can I get volunteers to set up and monitor jars? Please comment below or email me- I will see about getting some jars asap!

Brandy//Organizer

Welcome Post!

2006-03-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

Emailed to !Eug-AllUsers Group today:

Good Morning/Afternoon!

I've agreed to serve as the point person and organizer for this year's Relay for Life!
From the website, located at:

http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=141982

July 28-29 2006 noon to noon
Lane Community College

"Relay For Life® is a fun-filled overnight event designed to celebrate survivorship and raise money to help the American Cancer Society save lives, help those who have been touched by cancer, and empower individuals to fight back against this disease. During the event, teams of people gather at schools, fairgrounds, or parks and take turns walking or running laps. Each team keeps at least one team member on the track at all times.

Relay is much more than a walk around a track. It is a time to remember those lost to cancer and celebrate those who have survived. It is a night for people who have shared the same experience to comfort and console one another.

Relay gives you the power to help accelerate the Society’s advancement toward a future where cancer doesn’t take the lives of our friends and family."

One of my friends is the point person/organizer for Semperian, over on Country Club Road, and she's got a head start!

We need your help. I'd like to set up bi-weekly meetings to discuss fundraisers and build our team.

You don't have to walk to be on our team. You can help post fliers, help with fundraising, donate, or just offer words of support and encouragement. If you're interested in joining, please shoot me an email (do NOT reply all ;) .) I'm hoping to have our first meeting at the end of this week, or the beginning of next, on a weekend-day or evening. I will set up a blogspot page so that everyone can keep track of our progress/meeting notes/what have you. Please visit http://relayivgneugene.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading, I hope to hear from MANY of you soon!

(anyone else get the willies when you have to post to everyone in the company?!)

Also got the news from Allegra on the Global Citizenship Committee:

Our proposed sponsorship of the 2006 Relay to Life team has been approved, for $100 registration fee and $500 matching funds. BETHANY is our GC team member that is your liaison, so just let her know what you need!

thx, Allegra

Well begun is half done!!!

Brandy//Organizer