Coasting for Kids 2010?

I just kind of assumed that no one used cash anymore, these days. :)

I only use cash, except to fill up the gas tank and pay for vacations, normally. I like to be able to count how much money I have at any time. I find it easier to keep track of. :)

Jeff, I was talking about my own ability to raise funds. I am down from last years total and even then, LK & I are the largest fund raisers for KI. People seem to be even tighter this year then last. I didn't think that was possible.

Carrie M. said:
Aw, does that mean you aren't going to attend the event at Dorney? I was hoping to see you there.

I thought about participating this year, but I wasn't able. I've been looking into starting my own business, which is kind of exciting, but has taken up a lot of my time this month. Maybe I'll make it down to A-town on Tuesday and see you there.

Probably not, though, 'cause the event's on Thursday. ;)

But I really hope you do. It would be great to see you there! :)

LostKause said:Sorry for the apparent negativity in my last post. I don't even have any checks. The bank gave me a box of them 4 years ago when I opened my account, but I can't find them. It wouldn't matter though, because I had to overdraw (borrow) from the bank for an unexpected, yet urgent, auto repair, so that wouldn't have worked either.

Even though she said you can use a Money Order. You can check with your bank about providing Checks for you to use. I know mine does that. It's cheaper than using a Money Order and it might not cost you a dime. I would check to see if Kara would accept those kinds of checks though.

Thanks Sawblade.

DaveStroem said:
Jeff, I was talking about my own ability to raise funds. I am down from last years total and even then, LK & I are the largest fund raisers for KI. People seem to be even tighter this year then last. I didn't think that was possible.

Ohhh the irony:

I am probably one of the "brokest" CoasterBuzzer, but one of the top fundraisers in my group.

But the biggest irony would be (and I really wanted to save it until the end to see if I win or not) if I was one of the top two prize winners. I could hear it now... "Did LK just win the VIP experience?" lol

Oh man, that would be amazing. I'm tempted to donate the difference, just to see it for myself. :)

LostKause said:
But the biggest irony would be (and I really wanted to save it until the end to see if I win or not) if I was one of the top two prize winners. I could hear it now... "Did LK just win the VIP experience?" lol

Classic. :)

Alrighty then...

www.firstgiving.com/travissaunders

;)

Carrie M. said:
Probably not, though, 'cause the event's on Thursday. ;)

But I really hope you do. It would be great to see you there! :)

Oops, I had Tuesday on my mind for something else. Thursday is actually more doable. It would be great to see you too. Maybe I'll hop on Steel Force with you just to make Moosh and Josh green with envy.

Awesome! Though depending on what time you get there, it might be me who's green. :(

:)

^^Me...jealous of you RGB? HA! :)

I'm jealous of Carrie. I want to ride with the Bear. :(

I just though I would share this with everyone. Upon receiving e-mail request for donation, my cousin viewed the GKTW website and realized she knew a family that recently spent some time at the village. I thought I'd share the story with you all.

"Hi Jason, I just now/finally got my contribution in for the fund raiser. I was doing it because I wanted to support your effort in helping others. In the process of doing it, I reread what the charity was and realized that "coincidentally" (not really a coincidence, but a blessing) one of the blog stories I have been following for a year on Caring Bridge is a boy who just stayed there last week! His name is Sam Bish. I copied his mom's paragraph from the blog. The poignant part of this is that they have been home for one week now, and have just realized that the cancer has returned aggressively, so the stay at the village may be their last happy family time together. Bobbi

E-Mail from the Bish's:

My updates about our trip will have to be in a few different journal entries but I will do my best. Give Kids The World Village is amazing. Our family stayed in a 2 bedroom villa for the entire week we were there. It had all the comforts of home in it and we were very comfortable there. All of the food at the village is free to the families for the week you are there. There is a restaurant called the Gingerbread House where we ate our breakfast most mornings. So many people volunteer at Give Kids The World and they were all wonderful. Characters from many of the theme parks come to the Village throughout the week for pictures and to meet the kids. The mayor of the village is a 6 foot rabbit named Mayor Clayton. Mayor Clayton tucked the kids into bed the first night at the village. Sam and Aubrey both really enjoyed this...Caitlin was not so sure about the situation. :) The kids really enjoyed having Ice Cream for Breakfast last Friday morning. This was a special event that they had at the village to celebrate Mayor Clayton's birthday. Never have my kids had ice cream for breakfast before so they really enjoyed it. Sam now has a star with his name on it on the ceiling of the castle of miracles at Give Kids The World. It will remain there forever. We were able to find his star before we left to come home. So many wonderful memories from the village. Sam and Caitlin both cried when we left. The staff there really made it so special for our family. There were gifts for the kids left in the villa every day....I am really glad we brought an empty duffel bag with us to bring souvenirs home in. We had a wonderful time and hope to come back there to visit the next time we are in Orlando."

A rabbit for mayor and Ice Cream for breakfast. How cool! I'm glad I can be involved with such an organization.

My best friend who lives in Orlando just revealed to me that he was the project manager for the recent redesign of GKTW Village. I thought that was pretty cool. It's strange how things are always linked.

Current total - $18,408.14

Jeff is the only one I'm aware of raising money but not participating. He's at $505

10 people of unknown parks have raised $1,063.14 - 3 are still at $0

Cedar Point - 40 people have raised $9,722.50 - 21 people are still at $0

Dorney Park - 16 people have raised 2,858 - 9 people are still at $0

Kings Island - 17 people have raised $1,572 - 11 people are still at $0

Canada's Wonderland - 14 people have raised $803 - 23 people are still at $0

Valleyfair 8 people have raised $561.50 - 1 is still at $0

Knotts Berry Farm - 6 people have raised $512 - 9 people are still at $0

Worlds of Fun - 7 people have raised $385 - 3 people are still at $0

Kings Dominion - 2 people have raised $291 - 8 people are still at $0

Carowinds 3 people have raised $110

Michigan's Adventure 1 person has raised $25 - 5 are still at $0

Great America 3 people are still at $0

Man that's great, so it looks like Cedar Point is almost to last years total, and the event is still 4 days away!

And the overall total is amazing!

Feel free to add to that by donating here http://firstgiving.com/mattdrake

Or add to it here instead! (Sorry Morté) If I win a VIP (which I honestly don't care about, because I can usually score free tickets from my job anyways), I promise to write a TR about my VIP experience. Now that's definitely not a lost kause. :)

Thanks for doing all of that time-consuming, and tedious, work. Really, why doesn't First Giving offer tools to figure this stuff out? Even MySpace and Facebook, as well as other websites, offer comprehensive info like this to their music pages.

First giving, if you are reading this, you might want to look into that. It'd be awesome!

I can't believe that I have raised so much money. I have a feeling that I may be able to reach my goal of $500, or at least close to it!