My girlfriend and I are trying to ride in the Tour de Cure this coming Sunday. The Tour de Cure is a fund raising event/ride put on by and for the American Diabetes Association. Riders raise money in support of diabetes and then go on a bike ride of a certain length. The idea is a combination of raising money for diabetes research and to support patients with diabetes in need of assistance, and, I think, to get people exercising to lower the general risk of diabetes.
The American Diabetes Association website has this description of it:
quote:Tour de Cure is a series of fund-raising cycling events held in 40 states nationwide to benefit the American Diabetes Association.
The Tour is a ride, not a race, with routes designed for everyone from the occasional rider to the experienced cyclist. Whether participants ride 10 miles or 100 miles*, they will travel a route supported from start to finish with rest stops, food to fuel the journey and fans to cheer them on!
Last year, more than 38,000 cyclists in 78 Tour events raised nearly $16 million to support the mission of the ADA: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.
Michelle and I would like to do the 25 mile ride. The minimum fund raising goal for riders is $150. In order to ride we both have to raise at least $150, and if we can't raise that amount we have to make up the difference.
Normally I don't do this sort of thing unless I can just front the minimum fund raising goal myself. I have a very hard time asking anyone for money - even if it's for a very good cause such as this one. It's taking me all morning and then some to write this post.
However, my girlfriend, Michelle, really wants to do this. Her dad died when she was young of a stroke they think was caused by his diabetes. We're too poor to be able to front the $300 it would cost for both of us to ride.
So if the American Diabetes Association is an organization you can support, would like to support and can afford to support, I would deeply appreciate it if you would support it by sponsoring us to ride in the Tour.
You can sponsor us online and it goes directly to the ADA through sites they've set up. Here are the links:
We would both deeply appreciate any support of any size. If you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them.
Edit: Fixed the links.
[ June 01, 2009, 02:18 PM: Message edited by: Alcon ]
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
To whomever donated for both of us: Thank you so much!
Posted by Baron Samedi (Member # 9175) on :
I've always had a question about these sorts of fundraisers. I've never organized something like this, so I could be way off here. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
It seems to me, based on completely unresearched assumptions, that if I were to donate to your bike ride, part of the money would go toward the overhead of organizing the event, and the remainder would go toward researching diabetes.
I'm sure the ADA still comes out ahead, because people who want to go on a bike ride will come on forums like this and solicit donations in numbers that would never be matched with boring old non-fun-activity-related fund raising.
However, if I really believed in diabetes research and had an extra $20, wouldn't I be better off donating it directly to the ADA? It seems like that way they could put it directly toward the cause, rather than siphoning off part of it to pay for the bike ride.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
You know before I went to try and do this, that was exactly one of my concerns about events like this. But now that I think about it, all riders who participate in the event have to pay a $25 registration fee (in addition to raising the minimum donation of $150). I think - though I'm not sure - that the registration fee paid by the riders might be enough to completely fund the organization of the event. So then all donations can go straight to the research activities.
Also, getting people to go for the bike ride is part of the point for this event. I mean, when it's a walk for cancer or something like that then the event is purely for publicity and fund raising. However, in the case of diabetes, not getting enough exercise greatly increases people's risk of getting it. So part of the point is getting people out and going for bike rides in training for the big ride.
In any case, I'll understand if you still prefer to donate directly to the ADA rather than through the Tour de Cure and certainly won't complain if you choose to. You can go here to do that.
Posted by paigereader (Member # 2274) on :
Is this the ride in Iowa City? My sister-in-law is doing the 100 mile ride. Good luck to you.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
quote:Is this the ride in Iowa City? My sister-in-law is doing the 100 mile ride. Good luck to you.
No, this is the ride in Saratoga Springs, NY. And thank you
Good luck to your sister-in-law, 100 miles is one heck of a ride!
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