Do YOU have the dollar??

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Do YOU have the dollar??

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May 13, 2008 at 2:33am

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If so my friends I need it! Somewhere out there, maybe in your pocket is the dollar that will tip the scales from research to cures, from death to life for hundreds of thousands of people battling blood cancers. In the twenty years since Team in Training was formed they have raised over $800,000,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It’s not enough! All across this country and around the world there are thousands of people like my husband, Bill, who are still waiting. People who are still hearing “There is nothing we can do.”

Great strides have been made since the inception of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in 1949. While leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer in children and young adults it’s survival rates have tripled in the past 46 years to more than 80%. In non-Hodgkin Lymphoma the age adjusted incidence rates have risen by nearly 84% yet the five year survival rates are also on the rise, 86%. Some blood cancers though are still a long way from those numbers. Myeloma survival rates are less than 40%, Myelodysplastic Syndromes even less. There is much work left to be done!

Things have changed a great deal since I sat at this desk crafting last year’s fundraising letter. Last August in the middle of training for the Nike Women’s Marathon we were told Bill was unlikely to live another six months. We left the doctor’s office that day with me in tears and him angry. He swore he’d go back in six years and “kick the doctor’s ass” for making me cry. Bill buzzed through the six month mark feeling fine and continues to work and enjoy himself as much as possible. The need for blood transfusions and a badly functioning immune system mean the leukemia is never far from our minds. He is no longer receiving any chemotherapy though as it was only making him worse. Unless research brings something new to the fore quickly we will remain focused on quality of life and making the most of every day that we have together.

We are committed to doing all we can to raise awareness and funds, to making this journey an easier one for those who follow in our footsteps. We can’t do it without you though, your friendship, prayers, hugs are all invaluable to us. Money flowing in to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and back out to researchers across the country is our most cherished desire. Because that money ensures that one day everyone will be told “We can cure this!” Blood cancers will first become a tiny bump on life’s pathway then it will disappear forever.

To make that happen I’m willing to endure blisters, sunburn, sweat, (chafing), and thousands of man eating mosquitoes while putting in hours of training covering hundreds of miles. Those miles will carry me back to San Francisco in October to run the Nike Women’s Half Marathon. Your donations on my behalf are what will get me there. My personal goal is to raise $10,000 this year. That goal means enough to me that I’ve been saving my pennies since last fall and have committed to matching the first $1500 in donations received.

Somewhere out there, deep in someone’s pocket, is the dollar that will save a life … if it’s given the chance. Please, take a moment right now while it’s fresh in your heart and on your mind and donate. You can do so quickly and securely online (and save me lots of paperwork) at www.active.com/donate/tntwaak/virginia I’ve already donated the first $100 towards my goal! Come make me donate more … PLEASE! Once you’ve done that why not pass this letter along to someone else and ask them to donate as well.

Thank you in advance!

Virginia Gill

The Nike Women’s Marathon and Half Marathon are fundraisers for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society it brought in $18.5 million in 2007!

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6 Stars to "Do YOU have the dollar??"

10 Comments to "Do YOU have the dollar??"

Virginia

May 17, 2008 at 1:46pm

YAY!!! Received my first donation this week from a friend in Canada. God willing it will be but the first of many.

voice_in_dc

May 17, 2008 at 2:32pm

Just put mine in the pot...

Wolf Spirit Child

May 17, 2008 at 2:52pm

If I could I would donate to you..Good luck.

Virginia

May 17, 2008 at 3:02pm

Voice - THANK YOU!!! That is a wonderful blessing!

Angel - Prayers are just as valuable! Thanks for the good wishes!

Miz Joey

May 17, 2008 at 3:07pm

I'm going to the site. Virginia, rest in the Lord. We are praying.

Virginia

May 17, 2008 at 3:09pm

Thank you Joey!!

Dennis_oldHowe

May 17, 2008 at 3:42pm

Mines in, and I think my company will match!

Virginia

May 17, 2008 at 3:45pm

Dennis that would be awesome! I have paperwork here somewhere for that I'll dig it out and email it to you.

YAY!!

Virginia

June 30, 2008 at 6:14pm

Hey everyone ... I still very much need donations but am excited to report I've reached the $1500 mark already...that means in a couple weeks when my CD matures I will be praising God for his blessing of my business this past year and matching that amount. Still a long way from my goal of $10,000 but God willing I WILL get there!

I wanted to share with you this email I sent to my local church last week after Team in Training invaded Anchorage for the Mayor's Marathon. I hope the words will touch your hearts and help keep all the teammates in your prayers.

Blessed be
Virginia

( sent 6/24/08)

Good morning everyone!

Thank you for all the prayers last week. I wish I could have had all of you with me this weekend so you could see everything I was seeing. Since that wasn't possible I'll just try to share some of the stand out moments.

The first came Friday evening after the pre-race pasta party. We were putting up "Bill says ..." signs on the race courses with the help of some friends. I've never before gotten to see the reaction of any runners to my signs in person. But just after we hung one at Westchester Lagoon and were planning our next stop a group of people came up, saw it and got all excited. One man in the group was explaining the signs, Team in Training, ect and they all looked so happy. Was neat!

One very cool moment (out of a weekend full of them) on race day was a woman telling me how much the "Bill says ..." signs on the race course meant. At mile 22 we had placed a sign that said "Bill says: Right, left, right, left, right left, right left ...it's that simple. That precious." She said she had already decided to drop out of the race at the next aid station when she came to that sign (there were 15 signs in the 26.2 miles) and she just stopped and stared and started crying. Then decided she was finishing no matter what.

Seeing my friend Marline's face at the finish line was amazing. She has been on the team for several years but always did the half marathons (13.1 miles) because she didn't think she could do 26.2. This time she said if Bill can do everything he has, she can conquer that distance. But even the night before she still had doubts that she'd finish. When she crossed the line she looked stunned and lost. I asked her if she was OK and this amazing smile spread slowly across her face until she just glowed and she said "I ... AM ... A ... MARATHONER" Then we both cried LOL

Watching Bill struggle to spend a single hour greeting finishers and thanking them before he was too exhausted to do anything but go home to sleep really brought home how fragile he's getting. But the glow on his face and the excitement of the runners from other states as they realized he'd been the one cheering him on from all those signs was an amazing blessing. The executive director of TNT for Washington & Alaska presented Bill with a TNT 20th Anniversary medal as a thank you for all he's done for the team. It was painful to stand there knowing it was probably the last time he'd do that.

One really funny moment came at the Victory Party Saturday night. As my friend Gene and I stood in the buffet line a woman standing across from us suddenly recognized Gene. Her jaw dropped, her eyes got huge and she said "YOU! You gave me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! I LOVE YOU!!!" LOL When I pointed out that he'd gotten up and started making all those sandwiches at 630 AM she just kept saying "Thank you thank you thank you"

Yesterday we dragged our tired bodies out of bed (14 hours of standing makes for sore feet!) and went to man a TNT fundraising booth at the downtown market (in the pouring rain and cold). The whole time we were there runners who were out taking a last tour of town before heading home kept stopping by to tell us we'd made the best pb&j sandwiches ever. ( It's amazing how good those things taste after 26.2 miles LOL) I told them it was all the love we had for them poured into the sandwiches that made them taste that way.

Now it's time to rest, regroup, do laundry (!!!) and refocus on my fundraising for this season. Oh!! the top fundraiser for the Alaska chapter raised almost $11,000. The top one for the whole event was a man from Indiana who raised $21,605 As a whole the 1100 TNT members who came to run this weekend raised $4.4 million dollars for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. YAY!!!

Anyway please pray donations pick up again for me, haven't had any in a couple weeks. Also please pray for all the teammates returning to flood ravaged areas. That this cause meant enough to them to set aside what was happening in the own lives and come here means more to me than words could ever express.

Virginia

August 13, 2008 at 7:09pm

Hard to believe it's been two months since I posted in here. Training is going fairly well, though I'm struggling with personality differences between myself and my training buddy/ friend. Could use some serious prayer on that front.

The fundraising side of things has not been going well. With less than two months remaining I'm still roughly $700 from the minimum I must raise and a long way for the $10,000 that was my personal goal. Gas prices, the mortgage mess, and an uncertain economy have many people hesitant to part with spare cash. Unfortunately cancer doesn't care what the economy looks like. Please pray for a flurry of donations. Between the $1500 I already donated and the extra expenses involved in making the trip as risk free as possible (like not sharing a hotel room ect) so the chance of bringing home a germ to Bill will be lessened my budget isn't up to stretching another $700.

Please keep me wrapped in your prayers its going to be a long few months.

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