You just never know who might be inspired by something. Before this training cycle I was running for my own personal benefit (health) and pretty much for no other reason. Now I am running with a purpose, and for a specific reason - helping to teach others about autism and to raise funds for autism research. I have been inspired by my son to run.
There are a myriad of charities with which people can give towards, and for the most part, they are usually great causes. If I thought I could raise enough money to support my family by running I would do so as quickly as I could run a 5k race! However, I am pretty sure that will not be the case. So I will raise money for someone else, and this is where sponsorship comes into play.
Having recently joined up with the Organization for Autism Research (OAR), I have been given a small amount of funds as a goal. The basic requirements are $250 raised, but I have raised that bar on myself to reach at least $500 before October 10th. In addition to this goal I would like to raise the bar even higher by seeking sponsors that will push me beyond the $1,000 mark so I can continue to raise funds for OAR and get myself into running the 2011 Marine Corps Marathon. By raising over $1,000 OAR will provide me with an entry into the Marine Corps Marathon the following year, but that isn’t the real reason I want to go beyond my $500 goal. The more money I receive through donations for the Chicago Marathon this year, the more money that goes into research activities for autism - funding that is so lacking in the public sector. While many other less diagnosed diseases or less life threatening diseases are granted more money, autism, being an incredibly prevalent disorder, receives far less of the funding necessary for adequate research.
If you, your family, your business, church, etc. would like to help push me beyond my expected goals please feel free to do so. If online giving spooks you, I totally understand, and you can direct message me here through the blog, through Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Runner-With-a-Reason), or through Twitter(twitter.com/mundya1). If you want to remain anonymous about your giving, I understand that as well. I hope to set up an account soon that will be for cash/anonymous donations that will be forwarded directly to my OAR giving site (which can be found in the sidebar on the blog, or here; http://www.firstgiving.com/aaronmundy).
Throughout the summer I plan on having a few special events to help raise funds. Keep your eyes opened here for things like aluminum can recycling, bracelet sales, bake sales, etc. When I have these special events I will be sure to post something at least 2 weeks prior to and a week prior to the event. I also have a Facebook Fan page set up so more people can follow me in this endeavor. Thanks (in advance) for your awesome support!
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