Sunday, November 15, 2009

100% miles / 57% funds

This is my last official appeal for this year. For everyone that has been waiting to donate until they see if I am serious, this is it. I have completed well over 100 miles today with a final walk of around three miles. I would like to thank everyone that donated, everyone that walked with me and everyone that told someone else about the MS Society.

As of this point I am 57% of the way to the goal set of $750. I understand that funds are tight, in spite of the "economic turnaround", but this is less than half of what I have raised in previous years. So, here is my offer:

If everyone on my email list that has not yet donated were to donate $5, I would be well above my stated goal. Please consider using the donate link (it still works) on the right and donating $5 to a cause that will help people right here in the Grand Rapids area and fund important research to fight MS. I can not offer much more than a few words on my blog, so if anyone has a burning question about the walk, I will post the answer for a mere $5 donation. Let me know if I should post your name or just leave a comment here on my blog.

If funds are just too tight, consider finding out about MS and the MS Society and tell someone else about it.

Thanks for your consideration. Plans are in the works for next year's walk, covering at least another 100 miles!

Friday, September 25, 2009

Ok, so it has been a long while since I posted. I apologize.

88% of the way there in miles, 50% in pledges.

Please consider pledging $5. If everyone on my email list that has not donated pledged just $5 we would be over the goal of $750. Please consider a pledge today.

I am loving the walks. I have covered a large portion of NW Grand Rapids and have ventured outside familiar neighborhoods (I thought that would take longer). My pace was 1 mile a day through 50 miles until I fell behind. September came with about 75 miles. The past two weeks have been too busy to walk. I will finish soon (100 miles this year), so get in your pledges today!

It will take several years to walk every street, yes, every street in Grand Rapids. That will be 600 miles total. I am already planning for next year (200-250 miles total?)!

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

25%

I am little over 25% of the way there on miles covered.

I am a little over 15% of the way to the fund raising goal.

Walking has been fun so far, I have had many volunteer to walk with me.

The most beautiful walk so far has been across the Sixth Street bridge.

Thanks to everyone that has supported me so far! Tell your friends and neighbors! Read the information at the MS Society page. Send them the link to this blog (it is the cheapest way to support the cause!)

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Frequently asked questions

The walking is going pretty well. I am a little behind schedule, though I am catching up fast. I am hearing a lot of questions that I would like to answer here.
  1. Are you going to walk every street or will you use your bike? I am going to walk each and every street. I will use my bike to avoid overlapping streets, to get out of my neighborhood and to avoid walking cul de sacs and turnarounds twice. It will take a number of years, so my goal this year is 100 miles or more.
  2. Are you going to walk both sides of the street? No, once is enough. There are 600 miles of streets. I want to finish before my son graduates high school.
  3. Will you repeat streets? I am trying to avoid overlapping on streets by walking the length of as many streets as possible. I record as few overlaps as possible.
  4. Some streets are not very safe. Will you walk those streets? Grand Rapids is pretty safe. I will be smart about walking streets in the daylight and with a phone. I hope that some friends will join me. (Chris T. and Barry and Jon W. have offered. Thanks guys! Please let me know if you want to walk too!) I will only walk legal, non-private streets. No walking the S-curve unless they open it again for foot traffic.
  5. Has anyone walked with you yet? My son and wife have walked with me. I walk too fast and too long for my son, so he usually joins me on his bike.
  6. How are you tracking your progress? I am using a pedometer, a AAA map and a pencil, a calculation of 1980 steps to a mile and a spreadsheet to track and translate steps to miles. I am playing with Google Maps to track progress, though it is not really designed for this kind of mapping, and it does not appear to display all the paths on one page.
  7. Is that pedometer really accurate? It really is. I went on a four mile walk the other day and the number of steps was right on. I did have a short reading the other day, so I generally check against a map. The readings are never too long, so everyone will get their money's worth.
  8. Did you really see a guy on a bike get hit by a car? Yup. He was about 2 feet from me. He got up and walked away. Neither he nor the guy in the car were paying attention to where they were going.
  9. Why are you doing this? MS attacks the central nervous systems, sometimes stops people from moving as they want, sometimes causes memory failures or blurry vision. The MS Society does a good job of helping people that need it. I can not raise money riding a bike, so I walk, or shave my head. People actually donate money to the MS Society because of these silly things I do. So I keep doing them.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Taking a long walk

Friends,

I am starting late on the fundraiser this year. I am not shaving my head. I have a new stunt that actually involves more work on my part.

The fundraiser went pretty well last year, considering the economy. I have noticed that not as many people are interested in my shaved head since my hair is not long anymore. I also got a lot of attention with my bald head at the end of the fundraiser instead of the beginning, when I really needed it.

So, this year's agenda is:
  1. Get noticed early in the campaign, not later
  2. Let more people know
  3. Make it easier to donate
  4. Update the blog more often
I hope the orange hair helps objective number one (It is no "Super Blonde" like the package said. It is more of a "Patchy Orange Highlights").

Letting more people know means starting a walk that leads down every street in Grand Rapids. Every street within the city limits that legally and safely carries pedestrians is on my map. Since there are 600 miles of roads in Grand Rapids, this is a multi-year project. This year my pedometer and I are planning on covering 100-150 miles of the the good old Northwest of GR. Let me know where your neighborhood is and you can walk with me. Most importantly, let other people know how to donate, even if you can not spare a dime. Also, if you know how to map my walk progress nicely online, please let me know.

Steve and Team AOSE helped me get my own donation spot on the Bike MS Website this year, so I can track donations in my name. So donating will be as easy as clicking the Donate link to the right. This is a safe and secure site and a very large portion of the money actually ends up helping people instead of paying administrators. Thanks to Steve and Team AOSE for letting this slacker join the effort as a virtual rider.

The donation site is available now for your donating pleasure!

Thanks again for your support and God Bless!