Updates

Since I started the facebook group, I've been running full steam ahead with the fundraiser and putting a significant amount of time into it. It may not seem like a lot gets done on the surface, but behind the scenes I am constantly writing emails to people in important places, brainstorming new ways to get our message out, training for the ride, and working on the media side of the equation. This weekend I put a lot of hours in at work and had family engagements and, thus, wasn't able to spend as much time on this as I have been. March is also a crazy month, for example, I have three major papers due in the next week and a half. There won't be as many updates over the next two weeks, but I promise I'm not sleeping at the wheel and we've had some great concrete developments over the past few days!

The first is that thanks to Juan Morales, we now have a flyer which I have already begun to distribute in my classes. I'm really excited about the flyer because it's an easy way for people to spread the word in a non-intense way. The flyer is a great thing to distribute in classes, post in public places, post in work places, email as an attachment, etc.

Another great development is that I've received confirmation from the owner of a bar in Toronto that they will host an end-of-bike-ride party for us and all cover will go directly to our fundraising efforts. I will post more specifics once he and I have covered all the necessary details, but I'm really excited about this as it's going to be a great way to wind down after the bike ride, have fun, and raise a lot of money at the same time!

A third awesome development is that The Mike, the student run paper of St. Michael's College, has asked me to write an article about my sister and about my efforts to spread the word and raise money, so I'm really excited about getting to work on that article and hearing the response from students.

Both my parents have also asked me to draft a letter about what I'm doing so that they can send it out to their contacts, most of whom don't use facebook.

So, essentially there is a lot going on right now in my own personal life, but also a lot going on with the fundraiser, so stay tuned everybody!

Thanks again for all your support!