Tuesday, July 29, 2008

When passions collide


Although I work in software, which I love, my heart is with education and mind and legs are with running. Recently I started volunteering with Girls on the Run and it’s the perfect morphing of the two. Girls on the Run is a non-profit organization aimed at helping young girls ages 8-13 learn a sense of community, health, and motivation through running.

While I’d like to be a coach, I can’t because the timing (software isn’t conducive to coaching at 3:20pm) so I am working instead with “Team Tiara” – very sorority, I know. Team Tiara is the fundraising wing that works towards getting “Team Tiara” members (people who donate to be a “tiara” wearer) and gaining bigger donations.

I’ve never been good at asking people for money or donations but this ask is much easier. In the past week I’ve reached out to local running stores and organizations and gained some pretty cool discount ops and mixer offers. The thinking in garnering discounts is it’s always easier to donate when you get something back (besides the warm fuzzy you get knowing you’re helping someone). In this case, “tiara” wearers get rad discounts and social meetups.

Now if only I could figure out how to add international travel to this mix of running and helping.