Mission Statement Takes On New Relevance

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to find this site and comment as you have. I am so blessed to have such a strong support group; the depth and breadth of well wishers is truly amazing. Thank you all and know that you are making a difference in my life.

For several months now, I've been mulling over how do I make a tangible difference in the lives of others. I have always believed in charitable work and donations. However you can't fully appreciate the impact of charitable organizations until you are on the inside looking out. I now get what drives Lance Armstrong to raise millions for cancer research. When I go to ALS meetings I realize that PALS can't afford wheel chairs and speech equipment much less home adaptations for a wheel chair, a bi-pap machine or a custom bed. Luckily I'm not in that position financially but many PALS are.

What I have concluded is that active fund raising is likely my most valuable weapon for beating ALS and helping other PALS in need. As a start, the partners of Tavernier Capital raised over $12,000 in late spring for the ALS Association. While that was a great way to kick off a capital campaign it was just the start of things to come. I would describe it as sticking a toe in the pool before jumping in. Over the past few weeks, I have had a gut instinct to venture out on something big and bold. This weekend it hit me. I have a developed a personal mission statement focusing on my goal of living well 1 day past my 50th birthday on 2/04/2020. Why not use the same title for fundraising for the ALS Association? As such, going forward Project 2/04/2020 will have both a private and public purpose if you will. The public purpose will be to raise $2,042,020 over the next 3 year period. This money will be coordinated through the ALS Association and will go to fund ALS research as well as provide funds for continued care of PALS vis-a-vis equipment purchases, home adaptations, communication devices, respite care, care giver "burn out" assistance, etc.

Yes, this is an ambitious goal. However, ALS is an ambitious disease that takes no quarter. It has occurred to me that the truly lucky among us find life's calling and make it a career. The truly genius among us find life's calling very early in life and make it a passion. In my case, life's calling came knocking on my door in the form of 3 short letters: ALS. With your help, I hope to one day be described as having found my calling early in life as well.

In the upcoming weeks and months, you will be hearing about my fund raising plans as several things are in the hopper at this time. In the interim, I would like to hear from any of you that might have a creative fund raising idea. I'm looking to get away from the standard formats of golf tournaments, jail breaks, cookie sales, etc. Instead, I'm trying to focus on larger audiences, creative concepts and warm calls as we say in the sales world. I look forward to your thoughts and God Bless to all.

Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods - Albert Einstein