Hello Breakthrough T1D Walkers!
The dog days of summer are here and with them comes the official start of 2013 Walk to Cure Diabetes walk season.
Our first official kickoff event was held June 26 when the Oakland A’s hosted their annual MUG Root Beer Float Day fundraiser to benefit Breakthrough T1D. While I and a dozen other volunteers were inside scooping ice cream for thousands of enthusiastic A’s fans, the Breakthrough T1D staff hosted an awesome team kickoff event just outside the stadium.
We had 230 loyal walkers show up to get fired up about this year’s walks. Walk ambassador Anya Khurana, a San Ramon eighth-grader, had some inspiring words about how diabetes has made her more compassionate, responsible and determined. Everyone enjoyed a trivia game with prizes courtesy of Walgreens. Eleven extremely lucky kids got to go out on the field with some A’s players before watching the home team crush the Cincinnati Reds with a shutout game of 5 to 0.
If you missed the A’s kickoff event, don’t fret. We have three more fun events this summer. Next up is the A&W Root Beer Float Night with the San Jose Earthquakes soccer team on Saturday, July 13. The summer fun wraps up in August with kickoff events at a San Francisco Giants evening game on August 9 and at the MY Museum Monterey County Youth Museum on August 24.
Click here for more details about these great events and to register for any or all events. All of our kickoff events are free to attend, but each person who attends must be registered for the walk and have raised at least $25. That per-person fundraising amount will, of course, count toward your team’s goal for the walk.
The walks are just three months away, so register your walk team and put your noggins together to brainstorm some great fundraising ideas. Check out this month’s newsletter for a story about two Pleasanton family teams that, independent of each other, came up with the same great walk fundraising idea.
If you have a creative fundraising idea that’s worked well for your walk team, please drop me a note at zoe.francis@me.com. It’s helpful to share your fantastic ideas with our other walkers.
Enjoy your summer, but keep your eye on the prize for this year’s Walk to Cure Diabetes walks in October. Choose the one that best fits your team. Each walk has its own distinct and fun personality.
Zoe Francis
Family team leader
