Thank you!

Thanks to everyone who came to the Walk n' Roll and/or donated to the National Ataxia Foundation. Also thanks to the volunteers that helped the day go smoothly! We had a great turnout of about 75 people and everyone seemed to have a good time. There were families that came from many hours away to join our event and we even had a few four-legged participants. We stretched, walked, rolled, socialized together, all for one purpose - to spread awareness about ataxia. It is inspiring to see the determination of the participants with ataxia and to be a part of such a supportive group. So far, we have counted about $7000 in donations, but once all donations are added together, we will likely reach over $8,000 in donations! Not bad for our first year!

Walk n' Roll for Ataxia 2008 - Success!

International Ataxia Awareness Day

Happy International Ataxia Awareness Day! Hopefully, you have had a chance to tell someone about ataxia today and invite them to the walk n' roll! I'm getting excited and took tomorrow off of work to take care of last minute logistics.

Our goal: $5,000

I was looking back at the application that NAF created to help Walk n' Roll coordinators to set goals for their fundraising. I had filled in $5,000 as our fundraising goal. It may be wishful thinking, but it may be possible to reach that goal. Please remember to contact friends and family for sponsorships. I am working on my last minute reminder emails tonight. If there is anybody you know that said that they would donate but hasn't done so yet, they may just need a gentle reminder. ;)

New File - Directions to Baylands Park

Please see that there is a new file that has been added on the upper left of this blog, titled "Directions". Click on it to get directions to Baylands Park.

Thanks to Deb's family!

We have a raffle prize donated by Deb's family that I am very excited about - a weekend at her family's Tahoe cabin! I don't think that I will be eligible to win raffle prizes myself, but I am hoping that someone I know will win this so that I can enjoy it too!

Update

So far, we have raised $2325 in contributions for NAF! Good job everyone!
We are hoping to raise more funds on the day of the walk from donations and the raffle. Some of the prizes in the raffle so far are Adobe Photoshop software, an Electronic Arts game package, a Macy's gift certificate, and a gift certificate for the Nail Shop. More to come...

T-shirts ordered

The t-shirts have been ordered!

Pleasant Surprise

After getting several rejection letters from companies that I requested contributions from, it was a pleasant surprise to get a positive response from Costco. They donated a $50 gift card for our event! Thank you Costco!

We got water and coffee!

We received donations from my friend's company, Crunchyroll and Peet's coffee, thanks to Jody's connection.

We got Clif bars!

I tried but have been unable to get water and energy bars donated directly from the companies that produce them. However, a friend of mine who has his own company and coincidentally lives off of Clif bars (and a few other nutrients) agreed to donate Clif bars for a post walk snack! Thanks Frozenbear! Now for the water...

Rumor has it...

Rumor has it that the ataxia group members and friends are motivated and actively raising funds and awareness for the Walk n' Roll. I know that there has been significant effort to get employers, disability lawyers, assisted living facilities, and other businesses to sponsor the event. Thank you to everyone that is investing time and energy into this effort! If there is anything that I can do to support you, please let me know.

Sponsors

This weekend marks 2 months until the Walk n' Roll! We really need to work on getting more participants and sponsors. I suggest making a list of everyone you know and mark whether they will be participating and/or sponsoring you. If everyone could also reach out to at least one company contact for a sponsorship, that would be great.
I know many of my friends are participating, but I have to create a list to keep track. I have sent out about ten corporate sponsor letters so far.

Updates

Mailing. Lori at NAF will be sending a mailing to all Northern California Ataxia Support Group members on the roster next week. The mailing will include a cover letter, a flyer, a registration form, a pledge form and a parking pass. Lets hope that individuals will make an effort to come to the event and/or get family and friends to come. Further, maybe we can get some more help in planning and/or fundraising.

Delegating. Delegating jobs is very challenging for me. So if anyone wants to help with any aspect of this event, please volunteer. I have attempted to create a list (on the left side of this blog) of tasks that could be done by anyone.

T-shirts. I have gotten a very reasonable quote for T-shirts from Westwind in Campbell. It looks like we will need all artwork (including company logos) submitted by early Sept. in order to be sure to get the shirts printed in time. This means that we need to 'step on the gas' in terms of getting company sponsors in the next month. I will try to send out some letters to my "potential sponsor list" on Monday.

Parking. I am going to ask Sunnyvale Parks and Rec for a deeper discount on parking. They give a 10% discount for groups, but we could use more of a discount. It doesn't hurt to beg, right?

7/12 NCASG meeting

I attended the Northern California Ataxia Support Group meeting on Saturday in Lafeyette. I was able to re-introduce myself to some people and met new members, too. I announced the Walk n' Roll event and we had a discussion about it. It was great to hear everyone's input and to see that people are interested. It felt invigorating to be part of an intergenerational group with a strong purpose. I have high hopes for this event and future events to come.

Friday crunch day

Friday will be a busy day! I have a phone meeting with Mike Parent from NAF about the Walk n' Roll event and expenses. I also need to make copies of the flyer, registration form, pledge form, sample letter and parking passes for the Northern California Ataxia Support Group meeting on Saturday.

Need Sponsors

We need to start looking for sponsor companies now. If you have suggestions about a company that may be willing to donate money, goods/services (for the raffle), or goods (water/snacks for post-walk) please post them as a comment or let me know. For example, we will ask Adobe, where Ikue used to work for a sponsorship. I started the process of completing an online grant application for Clif Bar, a local health bar company. Ikue also suggested Mimi's Cafe (where she used to frequent) and AMC theatres came up as a possibility (for gift certificates as raffle prizes). Here are some other links for grant applications:
wells fargo
safeway
Here is a list of sponsors for an Alzheimer's walk in L.A. The companies seem to be all over the board.
Any local companies, companies doing business related to health/human service, medical research, disability products, or companies where friends/family work could be potential sponsors. As a sponsor, the company would get free advertising by their logo being posted on our flyers, website, and t-shirts. If anybody has experience with getting sponsorships or wants to help with this part of the planning, I welcome volunteers.
If anybody has time, please do a google search to find other similar charity walks and see who they had as sponsor companies.
I am working on a template letter to potential sponsor companies that can be customized and distributed - I will post the template here when it is ready (later this week).

Flyer and Website

Now that we have a location set, I'm having a friend design a flyer for the walk n' roll. The goal is to have flyers printed for the Northern California Ataxia support group meeting in Lafayette on the 12th so that everyone at the meeting will have some flyers to take home and give to friends and family.
Also, my husband helped me to set-up the site "www.walkforataxia.com" (and .org), so if you go here it will eventually link to the flyer (coming soon), the registration form (coming soon) and this blog.

What time can you be there?

The most recent debate about the planning has been the time of the event. Some people just won't be able to wake-up early and get there by 9am. But all runs, walks n' rolls that I know of start early - at 8 or 9 am. Part of the reason that we need to start early is because we do not have exclusive use of the trail. The trail is open to the public and we will be "hogging" it for a portion of the morning, so the earlier the better (fewer people from general public). I think starting the walk n' roll at 9am is reasonable. Any opinions?

Confirmed!

I have confirmed Baylands Park in Sunnyvale for the Walk n' Roll for Ataxia on Sept. 27th! First, I had to verify that we could rent accessible portable toilets to put nearby the picnic area since the bathrooms are not very close to the picnic area. I was surprised to get the ok to do that! I have already paid a (hefty) reservation fee, so now I am motivated to find sponsors to cover the costs! I think this location will work out well because it has a short and long walk option and a large picnic area for the raffle and gathering afterwards.

Baylands Park

I called Baylands Park in Sunnyvale today and there is one large picnic area available to reserve on 9/27. There is also no need to get special permits for the trail - since they do not rent it out for exclusive use, we are free to share it. But, there is one concern - the bathrooms are not close to the picnic area. I will need to ask if they will let me rent accessible portable toilets...

More to check out

People are volunteering more possibilities for locations. I guess I will be busy this weekend checking them out. Anyone want to join me? I will upload some photos of the places I visit.
If anyone is already familiar with these trails and knows whether they would be suitable, please let me know.
-Baylands Park, Sunnyvale
-Chickadee Nature Trail, Huddart Park, San Mateo
Keeping fingers crossed!

location, location, location

I found out today that Santa Clara's Fremont Park is not available for 9/27. Since I work for Parks and Recreation in Santa Clara, I'm looking into other possibilities there.
On a positive note, I got more help in my search. My mom's friend Hideko volunteered to help me to find a location. She suggested Central Park in Fremont, which has a lake.
I am staying in the east bay this weekend and hope to check out the Berkeley and San Leandro marina.
Here are a couple of other possibilities: Los Alamitos Shoreline-Mountain View
It would be ideal to secure a location by 3 months prior to the event date - 6/27.

Temporary discouragement

I got a little discouraged about the planning yesterday.
The challenge of finding the right location is getting overwhelming. I visited Lake Cunningham park and although the path is nice and flat, the setting is hot and barren with no shade. Central Park in Santa Clara is nicer, but the loop is only about 0.3 miles around... Redwood City marina's path is also too short. Maybe we could walk it more than once? Then, even if I find a path that works, there is no guarantee that I will be able to get permits...
Also, someone criticized my efforts by saying that there are better ways to fundraise and promote the cause than by doing a walk. But, the walk actually has many functions besides fundraising. Having people affected with ataxia and their families present and actively participating makes the event inspiring and meaningful. I'm not trying to break any fundraising records. I'm just trying to start a team effort that will have a small effect with the potential to grow in the future.

Name the Event

I am already feeling plenty of support with this project! My friends have started contributing efforts toward the success of the walk and I'm finding myself trying to keep up with the pace of help from people. I have a bunch of potential locations to check out this weekend. My art/design friend who is already thinking about the flyers and t-shirts, tells me that I need to confirm a name for the event. So, if you are reading, please help me out by voting for one of the following titles or suggesting a variation of one.

#1 The 1st Annual San Francisco Bay Area Walk n' Roll for Ataxia
#2 The First Annual SF Bay Area Walk n' Roll for Ataxia
#3 2008 S.F. Bay Area Walk n' Roll for Ataxia
#4 The 1st Annual SF Bay Area Walk n' Roll for Ataxia

Which do you think would look best on flyers and t-shirts?

Ready, Set, Go!

I have told enough people about the plan for the 1st Annual SF Bay Area Walk n' Roll for ataxia on Saturday, Sept. 27th, 2008 that I am committed to coordinating it now. Funny how that works. I have talked with Earl, who runs the San Diego walk about how to get started, I have communicated with a few of the key local ataxia group members about it, and I have contacted the National Ataxia Foundation (NAF), the organization that will receive the proceeds from the event.
Also, I have announced to my friends that I will be taking on this project. After all, the key to success for this event will be from the support of people I know and volunteer power. I am lucky to know a lot of talented people including artists, engineers, event planners, and marketing people. Thank you in advance if you are reading this.
First thing to do is to organize a planning committee. I have Ikue, Mike, and Deb on board.
Next, we need to find a location for the event. It sounds simple enough, but there are many requirements to make this a fun and accessible walk for all. Many of the participants will be individuals with ataxia, who may be using assistive devices or wheelchairs. We need a flat, wide, accessible path of about one mile. Ideally, it will be a loop path so that if people want to turn back in the middle, they won't be like a salmon swimming upstream against traffic. I am open to anywhere in the bay area. So far, I have three places in mind:
1. Central Park in Santa Clara
2. Redwood City harbor area
3. Crissy Field in SF
I have also gotten other suggestions, like , the San Leandro marina and Lake Cunningham Park in San Jose, or using a high school track. Please keep the input and ideas coming!