Guess Which Celebrities will be at the Komen Indianapolis Race for the Cure?

In the past few days the Komen Indianapolis office has confirmed several celebrity participants at this year’s Race for the Cure. Of course, I think the true celebrities and the heroes of the Race are the survivors – the truly amazing women and men who will be wearing pink survivor shirts in celebration of their fight against breast cancer. I also think the women, men and families walking in memory of a loved one are special celebrities.

I am, however, very excited to hear that several other celebrities will be our guests on Saturday, April 17. Can you guess who they are? (answers found at the end of the hints)

1. This celebrity has been involved with Komen Indianapolis Race for the Cure since 2004 and has served as Honorary Race Chair since 2007. He sports #63 on the football field, has been with the NFL for the past 11 years and is a mainstay on the Colts offensive line as Center.
2. This celebrity is a native Hoosier, a graduate of Cathedral High School, a former Marine and on November 6, 2007 was elected the 48th Mayor of Indianapolis.
3. This celebrity will represent the Hoosier state at the annual MISS USA Pageant, which will be broadcast live on NBC the day after our Race. In addition to being named Miss Photogenic, she also won the distinguished title of Miss Indiana 2010.
4. This celebrity is the third generation to lead the number-one brand premium fresh chicken in the eastern U.S. His company is the third largest poultry company in the U.S.
5. This “celebrity” was featured in today’s Indianapolis Star special insert. She’s my favorite celebrity because she’s one of my best friends from college and a 2-year breast cancer survivor. She’s also my motivation for becoming the chair for the 2010 Komen Indianapolis Race for the Cure. Click here for her story.

Answers:

1. Jeff Saturday
2. Mayor Greg Ballard
3. Allison Biehle
4. Jim Perdue, Chairman of Perdue Farms
5. Sheri Miller Story

If you haven’t already signed-up for the Komen Indianapolis Race for the Cure, please sign-up today. Not only will you be helping us find a cure for breast cancer, but you just may bump into one of these special celebrities. Click here to register.

On the Road to Our Own Final Four (four weeks)

With March Madness upon us, I thought it would be fun to incorporate some basketball terms into this week’s blog. Although all eyes may be on the brackets, at Komen Indy, we’re focused on the Race. So for us, the “Final Four” actually means the final four weeks before thousands of runners and walkers take to the streets of downtown to help us raise money for breast cancer research and programs (technically, we’re five weeks from Race day, but that didn’t play into my theme).

This week we are focusing our game plan on registration. On a serious note … Race registrations are down 20 % from last year. That’s nearly 8,400 fewer participants. What does this mean for Komen – and for the community? It means $235,200 less to fund mammograms, clinical breast exams, education and screening services for those in our community. Imagine if your mom, sister, daughter, best friend, neighbor or co-worker needed these services. Please sign-up today.

This could mean 8,400 fewer participants and $235,200 less to fund education, screening and early detection services for those in our community.

So, we’re trying hard this week to increase the number of registrations. We’re letting people know our numbers are down. And we’re asking for our friends and family to join our team – the “Dream Team” that will help us find a cure to end breast cancer before the final buzzer.

It’s been fun to see some of the support we’ve received:

• Our friends at Entercom – one of our media sponsors, have invited us to join them at Smiley’s Prom and at their Easter Egg Hunt to hand out information. They also are offering you the opportunity to share who you are walking in memory or celebration of through their Memory Wall. You may even get a phone call to share your story...on the radio!


• The Indianapolis Indians have invited us to be a part of their opening weekend, which is the same weekend as the Race. We will be at Victory Field on Opening Night to sign-up last minute participants and raise awareness of Komen Indy among Indians’ fans. Visit this blog before the Race for a blog from Rowdie.


• Our partners at WTHR have created fantastic PSAs, featuring Jeff and Karen Saturday, and Andrea Morehead and John Stehr, which will begin running on their station. They also have featured Komen Indy on Focus and featuring survivor stories on their program.


• The Indianapolis Star special insert will help raise awareness – and has some great stories highlighting the Race, survivors and breast cancer. Look for that issue to hit newsstands on March 31.

We also have 11 national sponsors and 65 local sponsors who are Komen Indy’s MVPs. Without the generosity and support of our sponsors the Indianapolis Race for the Cure would not be possible. While all of our sponsors are doing amazing things to support the Race, these are a few plays that I think score big points:

• Hoosier Lottery will be handing out free lottery tickets at the Race. One per person.


• McAlister’s Deli is sponsoring the Race with an in-kind donation of food and beverages for all of the Komen Indianapolis meetings.


• Omni Severin Indianapolis has donated several weekend stays at their hotel, as well as 5 night/6 day stay at the Omni Cancun, as prizes for fundraising incentives. They also are offering a special room rate of $109 per night to Race participants the weekend of the Race and donating $10 of that back to Komen Indy. Click here for reservations.

There’s a lot happening – and we want you to be a part of the fun; to be a part of the Race for the Cure. It’s a slam dunk, really. Just sign up today and be a part of the Cure!

Komen Puts Fun in Fundraising

I must say, I think the fundraising efforts of Komen Indianapolis Race for the Cure this year are pretty cool. And from what I understand, there is a much needed emphasis placed on our fundraising efforts. As it turns out, the Indianapolis Race is the 6th largest in size, but we’re actually 70th (give or take a few) in terms of dollars raised.

With the creativity of a few staff and executive committee members, Komen Indy has created the Power of Ten. You’ve probably already heard about it, so if you know what it is feel free to skip down to some of the prizes and ideas on how you can increase your own fundraising efforts. If you don’t know what it is let me tell you briefly … The Power of 10 is the basic idea of asking 10 friends for $10. If 40,000 of our participants were successful in the Power of Ten challenge we would raise an additional $4 million to be used to fund grants for local organizations. Remember, 75% of the money raised stays local! That’s pretty powerful!

Here’s another message I really like about the Power of 10 … The Power of 10 is the power to fund a mammogram for a woman in need! It is the power to help fund the cure! It is the power to save a life!

About the prizes… laptop computers, weekend stays at the Omni Severin Indianapolis, Hoosier Lottery gift baskets filled with lottery tickets, Komen gift baskets and more will be given away weekly between now and the Race as incentives for fundraising. Everyone that raises $100 will be entered into a drawing to win the grand prize – a 6 day/5 night stay at the Omni Cancun in Cancun, Mexico. After the Race, everyone who raised at least $150 will receive really cool flair (buttons) and for those that raised $500 or more will receive a $25 MainGate gift card. These are just some of the ways we want to thank Race participants for going above and beyond to help us find a cure.

About the fundraising… there are some really creative ideas that teams and individuals are doing to fund raise. Below are a few things that the team, Karen’s Angels, have planned to help their team raise additional dollars for Komen Indy.

• Sleep for the Cure - a slumber party where everyone pays $10 to attend. Party goers will be wearing Pink pajamas and drinking Pink cocktails all night long!!


• Prayer for the Cure - a portion of their church services will have prayer for survivors, and then will ask for a $10 donation (or whatever one can give).


• Dine for the Cure - the team will meet for dinner with guests, and everyone will pay for their own meal, and then donate $10 toward their fundraising goal.

What fundraising ideas do you have in place? Please share some of your fundraising tips so others can be successful. Click here to get some ideas on fundraising. Remember, registration gets you to the start line; fundraising helps get us to a cure.