+- Beckett Message Boards (https://www.beckett.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Hobby Talk (https://www.beckett.com/forums/forum-1.html)
+--- Forum: Baseball (https://www.beckett.com/forums/forum-2.html)
+--- Thread: OT: what a week - my charity auction plus way more (WITH HUGE UPDATE) (/thread-1554509.html)
OT: what a week - my charity auction plus way more (WITH HUGE UPDATE) - jacobystealshome - 02-09-2014
SO, a bit of background for those that dont know:
Me and my wife run a charity called "Project Cupid", which raises money for for cancer research and cancer care. we started it 5 years ago after my wife lost her cousin isaias to acute myloid leukemia, shortly before his 10th birthday. Over 5 years, between our annual date auction, our trivia nights, our walk team, my ebay auctions and now, through Lyft driving (it' a ridesharing app in large cities, like uber), we have raised - after friday - almost 90 thousand dollars for cancer research
After last year's event - we hold it the weekend before valentine's day (isaias' last name was "valentin") - me and my wife had decided not to do our big annual date auction again. he was about to go on fertility treatments, and frankly, this event is 5 months of planning and begging for 3 hours of an event.
However, a member of the jimmy fund council said she would run it for us, with me and my wife doing small stuff, like picking the bachelorettes and bachelors, doing the social media...small stuff. she would do all the wrangling for donations, etc. so we agreed to do it again for this year
that turned out to be a mistake
by the time thanksgiving hit, she had already doinked us. she hadnt done anything. december is the month when most things should be wrapped up, so that we can advertise in January. none of that happened
Then last week happened - we still didnt have enough gift certificates for restaurants for our dates, and then everything started to happen in our personal lives.
On monday, my wife went to the hospital so they could do an IVF extraction. we got a huge storm on Wednesday that dumped almost a foot of snow on us. On thursday, Isiaias's mom gave birth to a 6 pound baby girl. later on thursday, my wife was back in the hospital for the IVF implementation (basically, through ultrasound, i got to see the eggs placed into her uterus - i sa life being conceived. it was unreal)
But our event on friday was circling the drain. let me give you a comparison:
Last year, our event raised 16 thousand dollar. this was after being delayed for a month because of Snowicane Nemo. we only had 17 bachelors and bachelorettes. considering the circumstances, we did really well
this year we had 25 planned bachelors and bachelorettes, plus an additional 4 more surprise ones that happened as the event went along. we had really cool stuff we auctioned off, like a dustin pedroia signed bat and a really unique david ortiz autographed item.
and we only made 16 grand. i know we should say "yay! we made 16 grand for cancer research!". it should have been 25k, if not for the sheer laziness and incompetence of the person that was supposed to run it
Ive been trying to see this as half glass full, but im too pissed off to do so. i wsnt even supposed to be involved at all, and i had to take two weeks off from all my jobs to get the event done, and i had to pay over 600 dollars out of my pocket for items for the event.
the only thing i was supposed to do was do our "biographies" of our bachelors and bachelorettes (a farcical take on an actual biography. theyre actually kind of funny www.tinyurl.com/cupid2014 )
so while it got done, i cant say im happy. we will not be doing it again. period.
so, in one week: the mother of the child who inspired project cupid gave birth to a baby girl, me and my wife finally started our path to having a child (we'll know on the 18th if we were successful), and i raised 16k to kick cancer's *****.
Hard to complain about all that
<img src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2706506/isaias.gif">
RE: OT: what a week - Project Cupid's annual date auction plus way more - DrMitchJ - 02-09-2014
Okay, sorry to hear it, glad to hear it, congrats, Mozel Tov, and outstanding!
Sorry to hear about your 'helper' not helping.
Glad to hear about your raising of funds despite her lack of help.
Congrats on the IVF .... Hope it 'takes' and starts your family!
MozelTov to Isaias Mom's newborn!
... And outstanding job raising those funds with all the hurdles and distractions in the way.
I think I covered everything.
That all just proves that your heart is in the right place and your efforts aren't for naught!
Keep up the great work, Josh!
RE: OT: what a week - Project Cupid's annual date auction plus way more - zeprock - 02-09-2014
I've heard it said that no good deed goes unpunished. Take pride in what you DID accomplish. You did a good thing.
RE: OT: what a week - Project Cupid's annual date auction plus way more - jacobystealshome - 02-09-2014
just frustrated with the process...it's definitely the last time we ever let someone use our name. we'll consult for folks that want to create their own event, show them our playbook, but im never doing it again.
it's hard to ***** about 16k, but it should have been more. i fail to see how someone can justify half-assing for kids with cancer, but yet...here we are
9k more. it should have been 9k more. maybe that pays for a couple days of research, a couple days closer to finding something to help kids with leukemia. and that aint gonna happen because we trusted someone to run our event
if you cant tell: im pissed off. at the person who was supposed to run it, and at myself. i want to be happy about it.
RE: OT: what a week - Project Cupid's annual date auction plus way more - DrMitchJ - 02-09-2014
(02-09-2014, 02:39 PM)jacobystealshome Wrote: it's hard to ***** about 16k, but it should have been more. i fail to see how someone can justify half-assing for kids with cancer, but yet...here we are
9k more. it should have been 9k more. maybe that pays for a couple days of research, a couple days closer to finding something to help kids with leukemia. and that aint gonna happen because we trusted someone to run our event
if you cant tell: im pissed off. at the person who was supposed to run it, and at myself. i want to be happy about it.
I can Fully Understand the frustration level. You won't be happy, but you can Be happier about it. Its really a matter of perspective. Don't focus on the 9K that shoulda been. Look at it this way .... It's 16K more than there would have been if you didn't do anything. Stop kicking yourself, Josh .... You did more to help than 95% of the rest of the population!
You've got to Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, etc, etc. hmmmm, that should be a song
RE: OT: what a week - Project Cupid's annual date auction plus way more - jacobystealshome - 02-09-2014
more my style
<iframe width="640" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9ogQ0uge06o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
RE: OT: what a week - my charity auction plus way more - DrMitchJ - 02-09-2014
Classic!
Pretty much in the same vein!
"And don't spend your time lookin' around
For something you want that can't be found
When you find out you can live without it
And go along not thinkin' about it
I'll tell you something true
The bare necessities of life will come to you "
RE: OT: what a week - my charity auction plus way more - Phillies_Joe - 02-09-2014
Thanks for the requested post. Wasn't aware of the situation. As per above...your a glass is 1/2 full not empty guy so look at the positive. You now have something else to focus your positive energy into (wishing the best, your both in our prayers) for a bit.
You both do great work so keep it up.
RE: OT: what a week - my charity auction plus way more - jacobystealshome - 02-09-2014
im not a half glass full or a half glass empty guy: im just thirsty, and the glass just needs more guinness
im an opti-pessimist (and irish)
RE: OT: what a week - my charity auction plus way more - johnxgodfree - 02-10-2014
sorry to hear it didn't make what it should have/could have had the person not totally flopped on you - haven't signed on in a while just had a bout of being in the hospital/ICU for 8 days myself kicking back relaxing getting back to 100% and here I am.
glad you all at least made another 16k towards the cause