Running the Boston Marathon for Children’s Hospital Boston — Update

As I first wrote in this space about three months ago, on April 17, I’ll be pounding the pavement once again from Hopkinton to Boston, determinedly putting one foot in front of another for more than 26 long, arduous miles.

It’ll be the 8th time I’ve taken the same exhausting journey. And I’ll be tired and sore most of the way. But it doesn’t get any better than crossing the finish line of what is arguably the most prestigious road race in the world, the Boston Marathon, especially when you’re running as a member of Children’s Hospital’s Miles for Miracles Team Boston, raising funds for one of the best pediatric hospitals in the country, located right here in my home state of Massachusetts.

This time around, I have committed to raise a minimum of $3,500 for Children’s, and I’m more than halfway there.

Between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I mailed about 120 homemade direct mail packages to my friends, relatives and colleagues, asking them to sponsor my Boston Marathon run with a gift of $30, $15, $50 or more to Children’s Hospital Boston.

In each package, I included three photos of me and my patient partner, Hailey (in whose honor I am running), a cute, little girl living with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a rare genetic disorder – characterized by bones that break easily, often from little or no apparent cause – for which there is not yet a cure.

(To see a couple of pictures of Hailey, click here and here.)

I also included a note letting donors know that if they sponsored my run with a gift of $30 or more (by March 1), they would be entered into a drawing to win one of a handful of fabulous gift certificates donated by restaurants and stores. (Of course, that meant I had to go door-to-door soliciting such in-kind donations from local business establishments, no small challenge in and of itself.)

The results of this small grassroots fundraising campaign have been extremely positive so far. I have received 44 contributions to the cause for a total of $1,995. What’s particularly telling – and personally gratifying – is just how many have given $30, apparently as a result of the promised drawing. Sixteen of the 44 gifts (36%) have been for $30, an amount I would have to assume would have been a more typical $25 if it were not for the added incentive.

(For comparison’s sake, in my fundraising campaign last year, out of a total of 76 donors, only three made a gift in the amount of $30 and 27 gave a gift of $25; this year, so far only two donors have given $25 gifts.)

The bottom line is that, yes, I am grateful more than you can imagine to those who are supporting my campaign, whether through financial gifts to Children’s Hospital Boston or by contributing gift certificates.

Speaking of the latter, I have approached more than a dozen businesses about my philanthropic efforts and six – Boston Market (Framingham, MA), The Longfellow Club (Wayland, MA), Ben & Jerry’s (Natick, MA), Target (Framingham, MA), Panera Bread (Framingham, MA) and The Clean Machine (Framingham, MA) – have already provided me with something with which to reward my $30+ donors. (And if I can’t get either Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks to donate at least one or two gift cards, I promise to buy at least a few myself to put into the drawing.) When all is said and done, I hope to have about 20 gift certificates and cards to give away to my donors.

If you would like to contribute to the cause, I certainly would appreciate it. To make a secure, online donation, simply click here or follow these directions…

1. Go to http://www.childrenshospital.org/bostonmarathon.
2. Click on “Sponsor a Runner/Give Online” on the right-hand side
of the screen.
3. Enter my name, “Bob Cargill” and/or my Profile ID (CB0022) in
the “Search for a Runner to Sponsor” fields.
4. Click on my name, “Bob Cargill,” under Search Results, in the middle of the page.
5. Donate to Children’s Hospital Boston.

Of course, if you prefer, you may write a check – payable to Children’s Hospital Boston – and return it to my attention at 33 Oakwood Avenue, Sudbury, MA 01776. Thank you.

Note: Thanks again, by the way, for indulging me while I share all this with you. It’s my own personal fundraising campaign — which I do hope you can support — on behalf of Children’s Hospital Boston. To read about the other four times I’ve run the Boston Marathon for charity, click here, here, here, here and here.

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