Q & A

I had asked a few days ago if anyone had any questions for me, so here are my answers. . .


Phenny's mom, Angela: Q: I would like to know more about the 65 rose garden?
A: I'm not sure if this is just something that my state does or not, b/c I had never heard of these before I moved here. They are stakes that you put in the ground. They have all different kinds. For example, I've seen 50 crows(you know, the big black birds) on a lawn before to say Happy 50th Birthday to whoever lives there. I guess it's kinda like a prank, a way to embarrass that person publicly. But ours is not like that. These are going to be in the shapes of roses. We have a corporate sponsor form with all different amounts for them to donate. And as long as they donate at least $125, their company name will be on one of the roses. The goal is to get 65 sponsors, b/c 65 roses is such a famous story for CF and 65 will make a nice lil' garden. If you don't know the story...one time a little boy with CF overheard his mother talking on the phone. The little boy thought she was saying 65 roses, but she was actually saying Cystic Fibrosis. It's a cute lil' story, and ever since then, roses have kinda meant a little bit more to all CF families. I'll try to find a pic from last year.


Zoe's mom: Q: How did you get CiCi's on board? Graciy: Q: How did you get the okay from CiCi's to do the fundraiser there? (I'll put these 2 questions together since they are the same;)
A: Last year when I was going around business to business asking for sponsors, CiCi's was one of them. I asked to talk to the manager and right off the bat he said that they do what they call a "Dough Raisers" which is when you pick a night(except Fri. or Sat.)from the hours between 4pm-9pm and 10% of the receipts that get put in a box by the register will goes towards your cause. You can also have a raffle, buss for tips, and spread the word about Cystic Fibrosis. It was too late by the time I had asked them last year, so I kept them in mind for this year. All we had to do was fill out a paper and return it to them. This paper needed the tax ID number or something like that, I'm not sure, our Great Strides(GS) coordinator, Erica, did that part. I guess you could say that is how we got them on board, b/c without that number, we wouldn't have been able to do it. You can call the number below to get your number I think.


Zoe's mom: What exactly did you do for the CiCi's fundraiser?
A: What we did for the fundraiser was make copies of the flyer that CiCi made up for us and passed them around town and let all our friends and family now about it. Alma(another local CF mom) made posters for us to hang on the doors for people to see as they entered. Daniel's parents made fact cards for the tables which really helped I think.

At the night of the fundraiser, we all bussed tables for tips and tried to sell the raffle tickets. For example, what I did, was I would go up to a table who had some plates that needed removed, and I would ask them if anyone had talked to them about our Cystic Fibrosis fundraiser yet. Most of them said No, so I would then go on to tell them what CF is and how it affects our kids and I would always talk about the life expectancy. This is when you can see their expression change. I would tell them about how 50 years ago they weren't expected to make it to elementary school, and now b/c of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation(CFF) and Great Strides and CF moms like myself doing fundraisers like this, the life expectancy is 37. But that's not good enough for me, I'm looking for a cure. Then I would tell them about us bussing tables for tips(which was very hard for me to say, b/c it is basically asking them to give you a tip), and I would also tell them about the raffle. I wasn't saying anything about the receipts for the first couple of hours, but by that last half hour, I started noticing that a lot of people weren't putting their receipts in the box. So that was when I changed my tactic. I starting going up to tables and saying," Hey, did you get your receipt in the box by the register? No? Well, did you know that just by putting your receipt in there, 10% of your total with go towards a cure for Cystic Fibrosis which is what all of our kids have." Then I would point to all of us CF parents there, and then I would go on about CF and their daily treatments, and so forth. Then when I was done, I took there empty plates and told them to let us know if they needed anything. I also gave stickers to the little kids, which I think helped break the ice too;) It was really a lot of fun!! We made only $76 in the receipts, but made $315 in tips and raffle money!! Overall not a bad night! Next time I am definitely going to talk about the receipts from the start.


Jessie, Breezy's mom: Q: Did you have to get permission to use the CFF and GS logo for your fundraiser?
A: We actually didn't really use the logo, other than the papers I had sitting out for people to take. These papers included info about the walk, info on being a corporate sponsor, and info about starting a team to walk and raise money. The logo was on each paper, but I don't think it was a problem to use it, b/c our GS coordinator was the one who gave them to us.


Q: How can I start a walk in my town?

A: You can get info from a GS coordinator near you by going to ...
6931 Arlington Road
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
Phone: (301) 951-4422
Toll-free: (800) FIGHT CF (344-4823)
Fax: (301) 951-6378
* E-mail: info@cff.org
I called the 800 number last year and they asked me what state and what chapter I was in, and they gave the phone number to my chapter. That is how I first met Erica. I originally called her to get info on starting a walk here in my town. I only knew to do this b/c of Nate. He posted about it once on his blog about starting a new walk, so it inspired me to call and try to get one in our town too. So, thanks to Nate for the encouragement, we are now going to have a walk in my town for the first time this year!!! YEA!!!! You can do it too, just call the number and ask!!

Q: How do I get my GS page linked to my blog/facebook?

A: Go to your GS page and on the left hand side click on "Get the GS Widget". Then you just follow the directions to link it. If you need help with it, just let me know and I can walk you through it.

Q: How can I get a Kohl's store near me involved?

A: Go to the nearest Kohl's store to where your walk is going to be(or call them), and ask to speak to the manager who sets up their A-Team events. If they are not there, either come back or ask to speak with any manager. Tell them that you have a great A-Team event for them, then go on and tell them about your walk. If they say "No, we don't do events like these", tell them "Yes you do, Kohl's is on the video that is on the GS website. If you watch the video, you will see people in black shirts with a big A in the upper left hand corner." If they still say No, just tell me and I will call them and get them involved, we have to act fast b/c they need time to get the approval from corporate and need time to get associates to sign up.

Q: What does Kohl's do for GS?

A: Kohl's will try to get a team of 5 or more associates to come to your walk and help out or just walk. As long as 5 associates go for at least 3 hours, Kohl's will donate $500 to your cause. It may not go directly towards your GS page/goal, but it will still go towards a cure. Kohl's is a great store which helps out the community all the time by doing fundraisers like GS. I'm very proud to work for them.

I hope I answered everyone's questions. If I missed one, or if another question arises, just let me know.

Thanks for all the great questions everyone! It was a lot of fun answering them:)

M

PS. I will try to post pics from last years walk soon:)