At the BCC year-end party last October, I volunteered to take part in the 2023 Tour Alberta for Cancer ride. It used to be known as the Ride to Conquer Cancer, but I guess they re-branded a couple years ago.
I’d been aware of this ride for a long time, and known people who have done it. I was always scared off by the amount you needed to fundraise in order to take part: $2500 minimum. In 2017, I doubted I would be able to make the $500 minimum for the Cycle of Life Tour, and ended up clearing $1300. Last year, when I signed up for the Cancervive ride, I was confident of making the $1000 goal I set, and cleared that. When I signed up for TAFC, I put down $250 of my own money and decided that the worst case was that I’d have to cover the rest, too.
I really am not very good at fundraising, I just happen to work for a company where charitable giving is part of the culture. I put out an email asking for help, and the donations came. Family and friends covered the rest. Knowing this, I stewed over when was the right time to send the email. The end of the year leading into Christmas is the United Way drive, so competing with that wouldn’t be right. Then it was the depths of winter and post-holiday malaise. I chose to send the email yesterday, before I headed out to get a haircut.
Later in the afternoon, I was puzzled by why I had 58 emails in my inbox. I was happy to find a lot of emails with the title “Someone made a donation to your page!” from the TAFC. In one day, I went from $250 donated to over $2200.
I still have more to go to meet the minimum, so if you are interested here is the link to my fundraising page:
https://support.touralbertaforcancer.ca/fundraiser/4220374
Thanks to Dad for a generous contribution last night.
My Update that I posted on the fundraising website:
I am feeling overwhelmed knowing that I’ve gotten such support fundraising for the Tour Alberta for Cancer ride. You all helped me cross the line tonight, with my sister putting up the donation that pushed the total over $2500. There’s still a lot more to do, including helping my teammates with their fundraising.
Not to mention actually riding the 200 km, of course.
Thank you to all who have donated so far.
Simon
