Come help with a PF fundraiser in Florida!!!

[timelessbeauty]

Fantastic Alli! You are going the extreme mile and I know I appreciate your efforts even if I cannot make it there from my state. I know your event will be a great success as you posess the enthusiasm and drive to accomplish your goals. Maybe you and I could talk sometime about your successes in obtaining such great sponsors and how you have had success in the media. Let me know if we could talk via phone sometime. :-)

[allic]

Absolutely, give me a call, but honestly, I've gotten most of my contacts through other charity work my husband and I have done. Doug met Jeff Carson at a hunting for charity type event, and then again at an event that Charlie Daniels does here in FL for the disabled.

The sponsors I've gotten mostly through the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series. I became involved with the PTTS when I just happened to hear that the guy who runs the tournament was looking for a charity to benefit from a banquet he wanted to create to go with his tournament and...I jumped on it. It was definitely God who put me in the "right place at the right time," because those of you who have looked for sponsors and gotten the "Pre-e-what?" or the "we're interested in supporting more established/mainstream, etc. charities", know how unlikely it is to hear that a guy doesn't want to support the same old charities, but wants to be able to acutally make a huge difference to a less known about one. So, I presented us to him and we went from there.

I have some ideas for everyone, that I'll eventually get around to putting into written form, get approval from our foundation and distribute. And if you didn't know, my husband just retired from major league baseball, so that is a big ace in my pocket right now and we're taking full advantage of it while we can.

My biggest piece of advice is to get involved, on a small scale in other area charities. Attend other events to see how they do things and make a note of some of their sponsors and some of the auction items they have. That's where I got many of my ideas from.

Send me an email with your phone number. I'd be glad to have a brainstorming session with you...but it will have to be in July sometime (you don't have any events coming up, do you?) My event is Saturday, then I'll have to do all the wrapping up, and then I'm going to make myself invisible for awhile. [:p]

[timelessbeauty]

Hey Alli,

I just finished up trying to do a garage sale last weekend but the rains were enough to scare off most of the people from coming. We did make some money but I will be trying this again in the near future. Now granted that compares in NO way with what you are working on but it does make me thinking and pray for your event as I have noticed hurricane warnings for FL recently on the news.
I understand about becoming invisible after you are done as we all need to take a break and recharge from our efforts. You can only go full steam for so long on a project if you don't have a lot of help. I will send you an email and you can call me when you feel up to it. I am compiling information that we can use in our conference and I am always looking for more brainstormers like myself to make it fun and creative!
I wish you a WONDERFUL turn out and you are doing a fantastic job! No Whammies! hehe

[allic]

No Whammies! That's hysterical!!! I never thought of a garage sale...that's a good idea to get my church involved with. [;)] Hurricane warnings are just an every day occurance around here it seems, so I don't think it will affect the banquet at all. They did have to cancel the tournament last Sunday and reschedule it for this Saturday because of "Alberto," which BTW didn't even hit near my house. But yet, we get a rain storm the day before that lasted for about 20 minutes and it blew over a 70 foot sand pine that landed right on the crepe myrtles I just planted! [:(!] figures!

Silver King Banquet Update: 193 tickets and counting (final count has to be in by tomorrow, so I'm projecting about 200 as my end total)...over $15,000 in auction items donated and more trickling in. I'm turning off this computer until Sunday, but I'll give a final tally then. Thanks for all the prayers and crossed fingers!!! I'll be thinking of you all!

[jillmushet]

Looking forward to hearing all about the tournament!

[allic]

Ok...the dinnner cost a bit, so after that was paid for, I have a little over $8,000 to give our Foundation, (unless, after some sleep, I remember another expense that has to be accounted for.) It was fun, but exhausting. I ran the entire thing by myself, so, like a dummy, I forgot to take pictures. I think I saw someone else with a camera, so we'll see if I can get some from them.

Unfortunately, I'm softspoken and I'm on my way to laryngitis (spelled wrong, I'm sure), so I didn't get to make my big speech. I literally had to yell just so everyone in back could hear me call off the winning raffle tickets. Definitely 200 people there, every one had a great time. One woman even came up to me to thank me for putting the banquet together and mentioned that her sister-in-law had died from PE 25 years ago!!! They are on my mailing list to help out for next year.

AND the Marketing executive at Century Boat Company has approached me and said they want to join me and are going to help make this thing HUGE next year. [:p]

Overall: a very good night. Looking forward to next year....after I take short break from Fundraising. I'm so tired, my eyes hurt. [xx(]

Much Love to you all!
Your PE Sister,

[caryn]

Go Alli!!!!

Get some sleep, and THANK YOU!

[timelessbeauty]

You deserve rest and I also say Thank you! Your time and energy are appreciated! Job Well Done!

[jillmushet]

This is awesome! Thank you!

[hmoore]

That is wonderful Alli!! Great job and thank you!