The Race is On: Support Our Cause Today!

It’s been a while since I’ve update you all on what Give A Spit is currently working on. The permits have all passed through the town and state boards, including traffic control, so the fundraiser race is happening!

The event, Woodbridge Be The Match 5K, is scheduled for April 15th, 2017 on the Woodbridge Town Green (Meetinghouse Lane, across from the public library.) This event will feature pre-registration at 8:30am and a Children’s Fun Run at 9:45am. The 5K and walk starts at 10:30am. The post-race festival offers food, entertainment, and an awards ceremony at 11:45am. It is a rain or shine event.

I am very excited that Give A Spit will finally be able to host their very own charity 5K! I myself have been planning for this idea since my sophomore year in high school. It’s great to finally see it in action!

The 5K is held in honor of a local Woodbridge resident who has been battling cancer but recently has been matched to a donor received a bone marrow transplant through Be The Match.

We are working on getting flyers designed. Currently, we are seeking volunteers and sponsors, so if you are interested in supporting our cause, please contact me!

Event Info

Woodbridge Be The Match 5K
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Woodbridge Town
Meeting House Lane, Woodbridge, CT

http://www.bethematchfoundation.org/WoodbridgeBeTheMatch5K

Register as a team or an individual! Virtual runs are also available if you cannot attend on race day! We are also fundraising for the goal of $5,000—so a small contribution of $10 would be much appreciated.

https://runsignup.com/Race/CT/Woodbridge/WoodbridgeBeTheMatch5K

Schedule of Events on Race Day:

8:00am – 9:30am Pre-registration
9:45am – 10:00am Children’s Fun Run (Half Mile Run)
10:30am – 12:00pm 5K Run and Walk
10:45am – 12:00pm Post-race food, entertainment, raffle
11:45am – 12:00pm Awards Ceremony

Other Important Dates and Times:

Register by March 20^th for Early Bird pricing! Onsite registration is available. The first 200 registrants will receive free T-Shirts!
Packet pick-up location and dates TBD

• Adult Early Bird (before March 21st )    $20
• Adult                                                                $25
• Child (5K, 12 and under)                            $20
• Child (Fun Run, 12 and under)                $15
• Virtual Run                                                    $25

Sponsorships:

We invite you or your company to be a partner of our Woodbridge Be The Match 5K Walk and Run. Enclosed you will find event information and sponsorship opportunities that can provide your business with excellent exposure in our community.

In Kind Donations are accepted and greatly appreciated.  Our goal is to defray expenses through in-kind contributions.

Items needed include:

• Advertising and Marketing
• Awards and Prizes
• Gift certificates (raffle and prizes)
• Event Equipment (e.g. tents, chairs, tables)
• Food and Beverages
• Portable Restrooms
• Printing and Signage
• Sound Systems

Volunteer:

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! We need your help on race day: SIGN UP HERE

Volunteers can be of any age! If you are 13 and older (and have parental consent if under 18), you are eligible to volunteer. Those younger than 13 need to have a parent, guardian, or mature older family or friend with them. Groups (school or organizations) are welcome!

• Local Planning Committee (weekly meetings, planning race logistics)
• Registration Packet Pickup (before race day, dates TBD)
• Registration Area
• Bone Marrow Drive Assistant (Race Day Only)
• Early Setup Crew
• Afternoon Breakdown Crew
• Hospitality/Refreshment Station

You’ll receive a race volunteer shirt, food, and live entertainment! If you need volunteer hours, we can sign your forms.

More information to be shown soon!

Thank you,

Lillian Zhang

New Year, New Beginnings

Happy New Year! It brings me great joy that 2016 has finally ended and a new year full of potential and possibilities is just waiting to be fulfilled! I must admit, I did not intend to leave 2016 on a sad note by not posting monthly. It had come to my attention that the updates were not needed at the time, because I would rather present to you small steps accomplished over the course of a few months. But now, the weightless feeling of opportunity to spend 365 more days was too exciting to ignore.

Since the summer, Give A Spit has reactivated the club at Amity Regional High School and on Club Day, we had over 70 people sign up. But, as most people are aware, approximately 15% of that number actually are involved in the club over the school year. Despite this, I’ve brought up some ideas that the club could expand on for a strong finish my last year at Amity with Give A Spit (unless a younger member decides to step up to the plate). In addition to the monthly club meetings, Give A Spit has been working on a lot of projects that will culminate in a final fundraiser this year.

Here’s what has happened since August:

1. Ms. Barnych was happy to be Give A Spit’s club advisor again.
2. Give A Spit added over 70 members to the club, of which 15% are continually involved. Although small in number, it’s the effort that counts!
3. VP Katie Handler managed her first donor drive on her own at the Halloween Hoopla in Ansonia, CT and recruited three additional donors.
4. A club member and I both volunteered at a locally run donor drive that would benefit a local Woodbridge resident who has children attending Beecher Road School and is looking to find a match for her bone marrow transplant. We assisted the fundraiser and donor drive to help 40 people sign up for the registry!
5. I had decided to push for a local 5K held on the same course as the Woodbridge 5K Race that is annually run. Since September 2016, I’ve been in contact with Ms. Chase, a wonderful Events Manager of Be The Match.

Whew! That was a handful. I’ll explain a little more in depth concerning #5:

If you’ve been following the blog, you understand that in the past, I’ve tried to initiate a fundraiser with the same intention; motivating the local community to get involved in to support Be The Match through a 5K and Walk. Two years ago, I attempted to host a “school” run right at Amity Regional High School. Unfortunately, the request was immediately shut down. This really weakened my confidence that I could possibly maybe be able to contribute on a larger scale. But on the plus side, I realized one rejection doesn’t hurt because there are plenty more chances to take outside of the school. Last year, I attempted to do the same but in a different direction; a color run. It made complete sense to me how a color run would not only increase participation and thus funds, but also present it as a more family friendly event. In time, I found this to be too expensive and an intangible dream for a teenager. In addition, many of the local parks I contacted could not risk the notion of the difficulty in cleaning the area after severely coated with color powder. After ditching the idea, I thought, “These two years of ideas and dreams had no outcome.”

But that grieving mentality changed over the summer of 2016. I knew I had interest in this fundraiser, and I knew I had to do something before I leave for college. Although now a time crunch, I decided the time was NOW. And so, the difficult journey of getting permits began.

*Correction-Half Mile Fun Run

To tell you the truth, when I envisioned planning and directing a 5K and Walk and spent some spare time looking up race items, I hadn’t put much thought into the traffic and road logistics. Now, I am much aware of the consequences of not planning much earlier. Bureaucracy is very slow. I sent a field request to the Woodbridge Town to hold the race, and Mr. Franco who is in charge of the field requests reminded me and Ms. Chase that there are other forms/permits needed for “state highways”. This was new to me; routes are called state highways! After that revelation, I wrote a permit request letter and sent it into the the Woodbridge Traffic Control for them to approve or reject the proposal. The December town meeting was delayed to January, and that put a time crunch on getting approval so our club can start planning.

Today, I received good news from the Committee! Our request to hold the Be The Match 5K & Walk was approved unanimously by the Board! Next steps include mailing the letter and confirmation to the District office and the last step approval will let Give A Spit to immediately start planning the 5K. The fundraiser is scheduled for April 15th, 2016 from 9:45am to 1:00pm. There will be a half mile children’s fun run from 9:45 to 10:00am and the 5K Walk will start by 10:30am and end whenever all racers have crossed the finish line.

More details to come. I’m excited to plan this out with the club! I am a little disappointed the race can’t cater the funds to a Woodbridge resident in need of a transplant, but it is possible to raise funds through other methods for the Woodbridge resident.

May the New Year be a fresh start for Give A Spit! And you, of course!

Lillian Zhang

 

 

Past Two Summer DREs

The second summer DRE was at Beat the Heak 5K held at Woodbridge Town Hall on June 18th from 8am to 1pm. The charity race and walk event was organized by One Innocent Life, a non-profit organization advocating fire safety awareness. The founder of the non-profit, Jeff Block, has been campaigning for fire safety standards in homes since 2012, when his daughter, Eva, and her two friends, Kerry and Kevin, died in a fire in off-campus housing at college. Recently, Block has accomplished implementing a requirement for any dwelling unit to have an operative fire sprinkler system, whether it be a public or private property.

Block allowed Give A Spit to join the 5K event to participate in the festival behind the town hall, where Eggy played upbeat summer band music and local artisans displayed their crafts for spectators. There were also two food trucks present for post race runners who wanted to get a quick victory meal.

Because this was the first (probably annual) 5K race One Innocent Life held, the attendance was minimal but it was a lively crowd. Eggy provided great music so many runners and their family and friends stayed after the race to stop by the festival, sat on the grass, or walked around  to visit each artisan or vendor. I, unfortunately, place my table facing directly the sun. While other vendors had brought a full set of table and tent, I had my fold-up table and I literally had to “beat the heat”! However, I did talk to a few runners and spectators who were all very friendly and supportive of what I am doing, but none were really committed to register yet–which is understandable!

Jeff Block came by after the festival had ended (around 12:15pm), which was much earlier than the supposed 1pm closure time, and was appreciative of me volunteering for the great cause but also apologetic for the low turnout for the festival. I thanked him for the opportunity of being there and explained I also like to spread awareness and that it’s not just all about finding donors to register! He is an great person, and I’m very happy that he turned a unpleasant memory into an inspiring goal of spreading awareness with a non-profit organization. Check it out at www.oneinnocentlife.org.

The third and final DRE of the summer was held recently on August 13th, a Saturday, at West Haven High School. The race was called Hope Is Coming 5K, and it is the 8th annual charity run where proceeds benefited the Healing Environment Patient Care Initiative at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

The race director, Tracey Sullivan, was very generous and helped publicize Give A Spit and other vendors at the start of the race, hoping that after the race the runners and spectators will visit the tables set in front of the school. The race has grown over several years where local businesses helped to support the event by their sponsorships and local residents have come out to celebrate and ignite the feelings of hope. Visit www.hopeiscoming5k.com.

The weather was terrific and my fellow vendors were all really friendly. I talked with several people who have heard of Be The Match and one woman mentioned she had not received any mailings from BTM, even though she was well within the age requirements for registration. I advised her to sign up again, and she happily agreed. On that day, I had 3 new donor registrations in the box. Tracey was the prime reason for that day’s success, because without her persuasions for the runners and spectators to visit all the sponsors and vendors, the tables wouldn’t have gotten the attention they deserved! I thanked Tracey for the opportunity and I hope Give A Spit will make its way back next year.

August 13th, 2016 marked the last DRE of the summer, but there are still many more to come. As school begins in a couple days, I plan to make senior year of my high school career and of Give A Spit a terrific year! There will be many DREs and fundraisers so get ready for many updates!

Race Start

Thank you for reading! Please spread the word on my mission and campaign, “Give A Spit”, adapted from Give A Spit About Cancer, DoSomething.org, to raise awareness about blood cancers and recruit donors for Be The Match’s bone marrow donor registry. There will be a social media account for Give A Spit soon-I am undecided between Facebook and Instagram-too keep you even more updated with insider news and pictures!

Lillian Zhang

 

DRE @ Valley YMCA Sunset 5K in Ansonia

 

On Wednesday, June 15th, I packed up my fold-able table and my box of BTM goodies and headed to John Pendergast School in Ansonia to set up and find more potential donors to sign up for the registry. What made this day unique was this was the first DRE I will hold under my club’s name, it is the first DRE held after school ends, and it is the first DRE I’ve attended that is held during evening hours.

There are two more summer DRE I will be attending and they are all optional for the club members because many of the club members’ summer schedules are busy and full. I held very low expectations for this DRE because it wasn’t a large event but event the smallest scaled events can attract a large population of people to ask or read over the material on the table. Yet, even after I set up, many pre-registered runners lingered about an imaginary bubble that had a radius of maybe 6-8 feet from my table.

I was happy to find a couple of passerbys who came by to ask if the set up referred to bone marrow donations, and I chatted with them for a bit before they head off to the 5K. One woman respected me for volunteering and dived into how her family relative was diagnosed by blood cancer who was lucky to receive a transplant. She then noted how it was a shame many didn’t stop by the table. I was very glad she reached out to talk to me and was open-minded about my efforts as a whole.

By the end of the day there, I’ve helped two people register for the registry which exceeded my very low expectations I had set coming into the event! I was also able to inform a young woman who was hesitating whether to join or not about the myths and facts of donating marrow and the benefits she’ll be able to provide a patient. Although her mom was egging her on to as well, I noticed she felt peer-pressured and politely declined but took home many flyers in case she changes her mind in the future. Because of that, I’m happy to contribute in her decision to think about joining the registry. It is a lengthy time commitment compared to a simple blood donation for the Red Cross but it is a life-saving opportunity!

Tomorrow is the second DRE at the Woodbridge Town Hall and I will definitely give an update.

 

-Lillian Zhang

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Post DRE @ Cheshire Half & 5K

April 24th 2016

Lillian Zhang and Katie Schittina from AHS are ready to recruit donors

The weather this morning was colder than the past few mornings. My mom and I arrived at at 6:50am at Cheshire High School and looked for a parking space in the VIP parking area. There was a limited number a parking spaces even though it was “VIP” for the vendors and sponsors at the event. When we couldn’t find one, I took my swab box with info sheets and went out to find our table. This year our location is much better compared to the event we went to two years ago in 2014. We were situated at the end of the crowd for the festival, but we weren’t the absolute last table and this enabled us to be with the crowd. The only drawback to our location was we would face the sun the entire 5 hours there.

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Today there were many spectators and runners- close to 4,000 runners running either the Half marathon or the 5K and around 1,000+ spectators. The atmosphere was amazing- people were getting ready for their race and visiting families were wandering around the festival area. There was even a live band that would play some select songs from The Killers, Blink-182, and Maroon. There was even a VIP Hospitality tent for us vendors/sponsors and provided us treats like bagels and coffee (and I needed that after skipping breakfast)!

The 5K began at 8:30am, a little off than the supposed 8am start. Although there were more people who attended this year, not a lot of people stopped by our table. Reflecting on this, I think by not bringing the usual “Give A Spit-Help Cancer Patients” sign may have been a cause for this. Usually, the sign would draw attention and those who come by would inquire what the sign meant and would be intrigued by the project of mine enough to join the registry. I also noticed most of the people who did come by the table had already signed up with Be The Match and already knew about the donor registry. I even learned one woman’s brother’s life was saved by a bone marrow transplant from Be The Match!

Results:

In the end, we had 4 interested people sign up and swab!

And we sold $8 more worth of cookies and donations! (read more about the bake sale held the day before: Post April Bake Sale)

That means we have raised a total of $100 for Be The Match, and will be able to provide funding to do HLA tissue typing tests for a potential donor to be added to the registry and thus giving blood cancer patients another set of tissue type DNA to match with!

Today was a great experience! I’d like to give a shoutout to my mom for helping me as well as Katie S. from the AHS Give A Spit Club for volunteering.

Thanks for reading!

Lillian Zhang

Give A Spit, Amity High School

Post April Bake Sale

Bake Sale April 23rd, 2016

The most ironic part about the bake sale was bringing baked goods such as cupcakes, sugar cookies, M&M cookies, as well as rice krispy treats to sell in front of a “natural foods” Edge of the Woods in New Haven. People who shop here usually avoid sugary foods or are allergic to some ingredients used like eggs or milk. Some are also vegan. On top of that, this weekend was Passover, so those who celebrate that holiday would avoid flour and flour is essential to a baked good.

Despite the obstacles, Katie Schittina (a volunteer) and I adapted the bake sale into a donation stop for bills and short change. The turnout was unexpectedly low, but we were thankful the weather didn’t change on us and the 10am cloudy skies soon became sunny skies. The heat threw us off, and did do harm to our cupcakes. The homemade frosting of one tray of the cupcakes melted! Unfortunately, we didn’t sell many cupcakes, but the large cookies and rice krispy treats were a hit!

The ironic location for the bake sale

Delicious treats sold

We present to you AHS Give A Spit Club’s first bake sale!

Katie S. and I raised $92 today for Be The Match and although we didn’t hit the $100 mark, we will aim higher next year!

$100 will allow one potential donor who signed up to join the registry to have their swab kit be tested using HLA tissue typing. This allows a person to be added to the registry increasing the chances cancer patients have to finding a match to receive a marrow donation.

Thanks,

Lillian Zhang

April Update

Hello Readers!

April will be a busy month for the club. The club held a meeting recently on April 14th. I established two key events we are attending.

1. Bake Sale at Edge of the Woods: April 23rd, from 10am to 2pm
2. DRE @ Cheshire Half Marathon and 5K: April 24th from 7am to 12pm

I realize that both of these events take place during the April vacation break. Not all club members will be able to attend but I encouraged all to participate in some way whether by baking something or volunteering for a couple of hours!

There will be post-event summaries to follow up on what occurred and gauge our success. I am especially excited for the Cheshire Half DRE because two years ago I attended the race and recruited the most donors from that single day as compared to other events I’ve been to!

As for May, it will be another busy month for students with exams, and preparation for finals. However, I expect to have another meeting with a club activity. May is also the month when Relay for Life takes place, and this may conflict with our club goals. I am trying to squeeze in another DRE in May, and if that doesn’t happen, I will try for June!

I am thinking about about holding a walk to raise money for Be The Match after the little success we had to passing the plan for holding a race. The logistics are similar but operating a walk should be less worrisome when there won’t be any worrying to do with the runners’ insurance and possible accidents. This is still in the works! The possibility of getting this plan passed by administration is difficult because the school does not want to get mixed up in our business if we fail to execute the walk correctly. To view this optimistically, there is another option of changing the location to avoid the administration hassle. I’ve contacted the New Haven Lighthouse Park director who mentions there are forms that need to be filled out but the application process is not as intensive as the school board’s. Of course, this idea needs to be brought to the club first to see if there is any support to back up the proposal. Once the initial review is completed, I will keep you all up to date with fundraiser walk! If anyone has had prior experience, please contact me at giveaspit@gmail.com. I appreciate your time for reading!

 

Lillian Zhang

March 2016 Update

Give A Spit Club went on a hiatus for a a bit, but is currently up and running again!

Last Tuesday March 8th, Give A Spit made an appearance at the University of New Haven’s Wellness & Benefits Fair. Fair attendees had the opportunity to learn more about our organization and our volunteer efforts for Be The Match. Attendees got to take home promotional flyers to contact Be The Match if interested in becoming a bone marrow donor in the future.

At the March club meeting, we established that GAS will attend (for the third time in a row) the United Health Care Healthy Living Festival at the Cheshire Half Marathon and 5K on April 24th. From past experience, the club gained a lot of exposure from attending the event and recruited many donors! We hope to match or even exceed the past donor recruit numbers this year. In addition, this year will be the first year club members at AHS will be able to volunteer as well.

The final update is a bake sale is planned for April 30th at one of the 3 local Stop and Shop locations. We will be donating all proceeds to Be The Match! BTM will use the donations to help patients overcome financial barriers to their transplants they need, in order for those patients to survive.

Thank you for reading! Happy Early Pi-Day!

Lillian

 

Give A Spit: New Year, New Goals

Hello everyone!

In my previous post, I stressed upon the idea of a color run of some sort. Unfortunately, I’ve decided the idea was too ambitious (and it was…). However, this new school year will be terrific to bring about changes in the current club.

I’m happy to announce that the first club donor drive will take place on October 30th! Yes, it is the day before Halloween! Club members will be attending the Annual Health Fair at Griffin Hospital this year during the shifts anywhere from 3:00pm to 8:00pm. Because it is a Halloween themed fair for children, we’re all encouraged to wear our costumes! This is will be super exciting for our club as we are focusing on the interaction between community and members to help Be The Match and bone marrow cancer patients. In the past years, only I have been attending events and fairs to recruit potential donors…but now club members can participate in their free time! At the first club meeting, I will disclose more information to our new members about the event as well as brainstorm ideas to attract children and their parents to the booth.

I am still contemplating a race type fundraiser for our club this year. I’ve decided that maybe a walkathon will suffice? If any of you have any ideas, please comment! Our club needs to find a interactive way to fundraiser money for BTM. (If you’re thinking of bake sales, I’ve already thought of that.)

Thanks again for reading and I’m happy to return to my blogger self again! It’s been a while since I’ve updated everyone about Give A Spit.

Lillian

Our Fundraiser Race Has Been Canceled: The Backup Plan

To represent my club, Give A Spit, I approached the principal of my school only to be turned down from the idea of a fundraiser race.

Upon hearing that, I felt devastated that my weeks on researching and planning the logistics of the fundraiser went down the drain. Certainly, there was no other way to get past the school’s strict rules that holding a race under the school’s name will cause further problems dealing with permits and insurance.

However, I recovered quickly from the downfall, because I knew that there will be a possibility next year! Because of the cancellation of the race, our club will not be doing much for the remainder of the year. Most likely, we will hold a bake sale or a donor drive to make up for the fundraiser race.

Next year, our club will not work in partnership with the school and head on to Madison, CT. Hammonasset State Park is located in Madison, CT and is a widely popular destination for local events. The park also serves as a weekend vacation spot for campers and has a beach as well! The park will be an ideal location for our fundraiser event. Planning will start the next following school year and the main focus will be the race taking place in April or early May of 2016. The event will not be a “race”, because we will be holding a color run! Modeled after the first annual Westport’s Color Flash 5K, runners will participate in a beautiful colorful run in the park and get color powder thrown on them. At the festival area, people can listen to music and in every 20-30 minutes participate in the “color throw”, using color packets given in the registration packet! The run will not be a race, because the race promotes a healthy lifestyle with exercise while enjoying it, and the purpose of the race will benefit the cause of cancer patients from Be The Match. I am super excited for the club to be following to this plan! This event will take a lot of preparation and commitment, I’m sure that this fundraiser produce better results than the fundraiser race previously presented. Westport’s Color Flash 5K raised over $65,000 with over 1,700 runners! Our club’s run will not be successful, but our goal is to have at least 1,000 runners and raise at least $30,000!

The more participants that attend, the more money raised towards Be The Match, and the dream of helping cancer patients receiving bone marrow transplants will become a reality. 

Become a volunteer for us today!

Email giveaspit@gmail.com for questions or to sign up. Please suscribe for more updates! I only post once a month. 🙂