CF Great Strides Walk Tips & Tricks

Phewwwwww...I got a lot done today for our walk for a cure for Cystic Fibrosis coming up on May 1st!! I'm not sure how, b/c I only got about 4 hours of sleep this morning. I had an overnight shift at work last night, so I got home at 6:30am and then got to sleep until about 10:30 or 11am when my hubby had to go to work. For some strange reason I wasn't tired at all and had lots of energy:) ANDDDDD for some strange reason the kiddos were especially good and playing quietly!!! :) So I took advantage and started making some calls and got food, water, and entertainment for our walk!!! YEA!!

Here are some tips if you are starting a walk in your area, or are part of the planning team;)....

1. Set a goal for yourself....example: "Today I am going to get all the food we need for our walk!"
2. Make connections...the first year is very important. Last year was our first year and I went around town from store to store trying to get food, drinks, ice, and prizes donated. It was a lot of work and time away from the family, but it definitely made this year A LOT easier. Instead of going out to each place...I just called them up and asked to speak with the manager, and then asked if they would be able to donate again like last year! Most of them said..."Well, how much did we do last year?" I told them and they said "We can do that again:)" It was that easy!!! I was shocked!
3. Store contacts in your phone for next year...Last year I wrote down all my connections so I knew who to call this year(that was a HUGE help;). This year, I saved all the phone numbers in my cell phone with the contact name, so I know who to ask for next year. For example: April is my contact at Domino's, so I stored her in my phone as "Domino's Pizza April". So next year when I call, I'll just ask to speak with April instead of the manager, plus she may remember me and that may make it easier to get the donation;-)
4. Start your "walk day/week before list of things to do" now...as you are making your calls, you will have to set up different times to pick up the products and whatnot. So start your list of who is going to pick up what, when, and where. For example: My husband is going to pick up the water on Thursday before our walk at Culligan's. This list will help you not to forget about anything. Don't forget to add calling the local radio stations, local newspaper, and local TV station a week or 2 before your walk to get them to advertise it;-)
5. Make a reminder call the day before your walk...last year I didn't, and it ended up biting us in the butt!! There was one pizza place that didn't show, and when I called them they said they had no record of it. If I would have called, there wouldn't have been a problem. Luckily we got pizza from 2 other places too and 30 happy meals for the kids:)
6. Remember to have fun...don't let the stress get to you, delegate if you can. Your walk day is a day of celebration! Join in and celebrate all the wonderful money raised to help find a CURE for Cystic Fibrosis!!
7. Send Thank You cards...Don't forget to send thank you cards to all your sponsors and donors;) You can even make them up ahead of time and give them to your sponsors as you pick up the pizza for instance;)

I hope this helps someone, somewhere;) Let me know if you have any questions.

So as of right now, we have the following for our walk...

1. 100 bagels from Panera Bread
2. 5 large pizza's from Domino's
3. 5 large pizza's from Papa John's
4. 5 gallon cooler of water from Culligan's
5. 2 cases of water bottles from Gary's Liquor Store
6. Fire Truck coming for the kids
7. Pat Catan's craft store doing a craft table for the kids
8. Our local TV station is going to air our commercial for our walk starting in April

Things still to do...

1. Get about 5 more pizza's, chips, clown/chemist to make balloon animals, contact local newspapers, and radio station.
2. And of course...get more donations;-)

I'll keep you posted. Have a GREAT week:)

M