Melissa's TNT Cycling Page
Bicycle, Bicycle... I want to ride my bicycle to save lives!!
Thank you for visiting my fundraising website!
I am participating in The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training program to train for a century ride on June 1, 2008. All of us on Team In Training (TNT) are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I will complete this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers and in memory of those who have lost their battle. These people are the real heroes on our team, but we cannot cross the ultimate finish line - a cure - without the support of people like you!
My goal... ok, two goals, are 1) to raise $5,500 to help fund research to find a cure for blood cancers, and 2) to ride 100 miles around Lake Tahoe as a TNT volunteer participant in America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride.
I have been inspired by so many people for various reasons. First of all by Don, my boyfriend, who introduced me to TNT. Participating in 17 events and volunteering as a Mentor and now Coach is very motivating! He does this in honor of his mom who recently celebrated the 7th anniversary of her bone marrow transplant and doing well thanks to the generosity of donors like you!
As Don's guest at a few TNT events over the past year, I have had the pleasure of experiencing how much these events effect the lives of those who have been touched by blood cancers. At each event you learn of a new patient and their story; and at each event you are brought to tears. There is never a dry eye in the house! You realize that your obstacles pale in comparison to what they are doing... fighting and praying for their health & their lives. People like Amy Katz, my Team's patient hero and a fifteen year-old girl who has been waiting since 2003 to find a matching donor with not a single match to be found; or my older stepbrother who is “Daddy” to two little girls and recently learned of his Leukemia diagnosis.
Knowing people who are battling cancer leaves the rest of us feeling helpless, but there is something we can do to help... raise money to fund further research and help patients as they go through their treatments. I am asking you to help! Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the Society's mission. I will be cycling 100 miles around Lake Tahoe in early June with a goal to raise $55 for each mile I ride! I hope you will help to reach that goal and make a difference in the fight against blood cancers!
Your donations will be put to great use:
$1,000 Will help The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fund a researcher to find a cure.
$500 Will provide patient aid to a person with leukemia or a related cancer for a year.
$100 Will provide a patient with transportation cost associated with traveling from home to the cancer center.
$75 Will provide bone morrow typing for a family member of a patient with leukemia.
$50 Will register one person to be a bone marrow donor.
$25 Will pay for the cost of a patient's chemotherapy drug prescription co-pay.
$ Any donation will help continue the research needed to find a cure.
So, go ahead and click that DONATE NOW button on the left side of this page and make a difference today!!
Please be sure to check back frequently to check on my progress as I'll be posting updates on our training and you can view the fundraising progress at the top of the page. Thanks for your support!
UPDATES
04/28/2008: It's been a while since I've updated. Things have been busy with fundraising. The training, not so much. But I did do a 50-mile group training ride yesterday and am good to go. Only minor aches... nothing near what I was expecting which means I'm feeling confident that Tahoe will be a long but enjoyable ride! I'm excited & cannot wait.
On the fundraising front, I have been helping Don organize his annual Charity Bar Crawl. This is the 5th year he has done this and he has been very busy working on securing sponsors and getting the bars on board. He's doing a great job. Please plan on attending! 5th Annual Fill The Mug Charity Bar Crawl
03/20/2008: Training has slowed down a bit. Last week I was just too busy planning my fundraising event and this week I have caught a bug which is leaving me with little to no energy. The event was a fun time, though. I held a Game-A-Thon and, while the number in attendance was disappointing, the generosity of those who came was beyond expectation and nothing less than an inspiring success! So a HUGE THANKS to all that came out to help and those that donated to this wonderful and worthy cause both financially and in-kind!!
02/25/08: I added a spin class at my gym to my routine. That was Tuesday; I ached until Friday. Must've been a good workout! Saturday our team 'trained' at the Race To Any Place at the USX tower. I wish I could bottle up the enthusiasm, friendliness and experience of these events and TNT so you all could see why this is such a great cause and how motivating it is to see everyone involved and hear their stories. A special thank you to all of my donors this week... it was a great motivator to see I'm on my way to reaching the goal!
02/09/08: My first spin class & team group training. My quads are a little sore. I'm sure I can only get better! Its a bit intimidating & a lot exciting to see where I am now and knowing that in a few months I'll have worked my way up to 100 miles! Definitely looking forward to seeing the progress. Thanks to all of you who have made donations so far in support of this great event!
02/02/08 Today started the team training. 7:30 a.m! Unfortunately, I didn't make it because the kids were home. I did, however, work out on the trainer for an hour ... an extra 15 minutes to make up for starting at 8:30 instead of 7:30! :o) Next training, I will be there! Can't wait to meet up with the Team.
