Here's hoping for some calm ...

This past week has just been crazy ... from an announcement that irritated/delighted, to a reversal that irritated/delighted, to a resignation that irritated/delighted. Go figure. Amid the chaos, two things became very clear to me this past week:

1) The personal support our team has for what we're doing is incredible and irreplaceable.
While watching all of the drama unfold through various channels (I was off last week, which gave me a lot of free time!), I saw some unbelievable behavior. People were saying/posting such incredibly hurtful things, toward the Komen organization and to Nancy Brinker herself. I get that this became a very personal issue for people, and I get that people have very strong feelings about issues such as abortion. But to express your opinion with such rudeness and hatred is just unacceptable in a civilized society.

With that said: The personal support our team has for what we're doing was incredible. Even though I have friends and family who may not agree with me personally, religiously or politically, the discourse was always civilized and respectful. I understand that my friends may not want to donate to Komen because of their ties to Planned Parenthood. Or because of concerns about the conservative direction the Board seems to be moving. I just hope that we can all agree on one thing: Breast cancer is a horrible disease and if I can do anything to help make a difference in the effort to put an end to it, I will.

2) The mission of the Komen Foundation, and our team, remains the same: Put an end to breast cancer. 
I was really impressed with the statement Komen made today on Facebook: 

"We have made mistakes in how we have handled recent decisions and take full accountability for what has resulted, but we cannot take our eye off the ball when it comes to our mission. To do this effectively, we must learn from what we've done right, what we've done wrong and achieve our goal for the millions of women who rely on us. The stakes are simply too high and providing hope for a cure must drive our efforts."

That statement summed up the entire issue pretty well for me. We screwed up. We're going to refocus. We'll try to do better. 

That's all we can ask for, isn't it? To do a little better each time we make a mistake? And have some faith that the mission is worth fighting for. 

Because that's what we owe to the the women I've encountered during my 3-Day experience. People like Allie, a single mom surviving breast cancer; or Bridget, who was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer when she was only 21 and had no family history; or young Zoie, who inspired so many 3-Day walkers. And more closely to home, to our teammates: Julie and Greg, whose lost their mothers because of breast cancer; and Jenn, whose mother-in-law died of breast cancer.

That's why we walk. Because we can envision a world where some day, breast cancer will be a distant memory. Because we found a cure. Or a preventive measure. Or a test. Or a treatment. Or something. Anything. We walk, because we can. It's the least I can do.

Look what happens while I vacay ...

I took a quick four-day trip with the family and some friends (Kalahari Resort - highly recommended!). While gone, two mind-boggling things happened... let's start with the good: I received more than $350 in donations while we were gone, thank you very much! I'm officially at 37 percent of my goal, which is deliriously exciting.

Then we came home. And I checked Facebook. Holy controversy Batman.

For those who haven't heard (yeah right), the Komen Foundation pulled its grants from Planned Parenthood. The official reasons (as best I can tell) is that Planned Parenthood is currently under investigation by Congress, and therefore does not meet the new criteria for being a grant recipient, and/or the SGK is moving grants to direct service providers instead of "pass through" services (no mammograms are actually done at any PP facilities).

Do I agree with this decision? No. I don't. I won't go into the myriad of reasons (because I don't think it's relevant... it's just my personal opinion), but there is one thing I want to say loud and clear:

I don't agree with the decision, but I still support the Komen Foundation. I will continue to support all of the good work that they do, from funding research grants to providing outreach, education and support to those who need it. At the same time, I will do whatever I can do to make sure that the Foundation knows I don't agree with this decision. I think it was driven by politics, which is a shame.

Because I think this decision will hurt women. Many of them. However, pulling my support entirely from Komen won't do any good either.

It makes me sad that we live in a society that is so polarized on one issue. Meanwhile, thousands of women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, and too many of them die. Early detection saves lives, regardless of where that service is provided.

Our pink posse is growing

I haven't had a chance to catch one of the 2012 3-Day for the Cure commercials yet, but from what I hear, they're great. (I have watched the "experience video" on the Komen site, and loved it.) And from what I can tell, they're working......

The past two weeks, our team has grown ... our little pink posse has become a team of six! From our tiny team of two (Stef and I), we added Stef's husband (Kraig), Kraig & Stef's friend (Greg, whose mother died of breast cancer), our friend Jenn, and today, our friend Julie (whose mother also died of breast cancer).

Each of us is walking for a different reason, yet we're united in our efforts to raise awareness and funding for breast cancer research, education, prevention and treatment. And by August 17, we will have raised at least $13,800 to contribute to those efforts

In the meantime, we're still trying to figure out an appropriate initiation ritual....

It's time to shuffle up and deal ...

OK, it's not quite the right phrase, but it's time for our annual Euchre Tournament, on Saturday, March 3! Last year's event was a hugely successful fundraiser for the 3-Day for the Cure, and from what we heard, it was a great time...

If you participated last year, it's time to register again, and this time, bring a friend! If you didn't participate last year, what are you waiting for?

Let's start with allaying your concerns...

1) You don't need to be a "good" euchre player to participate.
Seriously, this is a low-stakes, fun tournament. You just need to know the basics. The way the tournament is structured, you'll rotate tables (and partners) every eight hands (twice around the table). There's no guarantee you'll be partnered with someone who has a clue, so it won't matter much if you don't have a clue!  And remember, it's all for charity, so it really doesn't matter. 

2) You don't have to have a partner to play.
The schedule is completely random, and you'll play with different people throughout the night. (OK, no comments on that one.) 

3) It won't cost you a fortune.
The entry fee is only $20 per person. That's it. It's BYOB, but we'll have pop/water. We'll hold a 50/50 raffle, but you're under no obligation to participate. With the donated space, and partially donated pizza, nearly 100% of the entry fee goes directly to our walk fund.

This year, we're really fortunate to have a great space to host the Euchre Tournament -- thanks to Keith's cousin's husband's sister-in-law's stepdaughter (follow that bouncing ball!), we are able to host the tournament at the clubhouse for an apartment complex .. it's absolutely beautiful and incredibly spacious ...

So think about it ... actually, do more than think about it. Check out the details for the event, and send me (or Stef) an e-mail today to let us know that you're registering for the Euchre Tournament. Last year's event was a tremendous success, and it's a crucial piece of our fundraising efforts. (In fact, this year, it may be our one "big" event that we're hosting.) Participating in the Euchre Tournament is a great way to have a fun night out and help us out at the same time.

Hope to see you there!

Fundraising with Tastefully Simple: A win-win proposal

Raising $2,300 for the Susan G Komen 3-Day for the Cure isn't an easy task. (Neither is walking 400+ miles to train for it, but that comes later!) And my fundraising efforts for the year kick off today with a Tastefully Simple "virtual" party.

So here's the deal ... Thanks to the generosity of a friend/consultant, Stephanie Jurva, with my Tastefully Simple catalog party, you get some fabulous food, and the 3-Day for the Cure gets 20% of what you spend. Easy peasy.

If you're new to Tastefully Simple, or not sure what to order, I recommend:

• Beer Bread mix -- Absolutely awesome. It's easy, it's delicious. The kids love it (the alcohol cooks off), and the crust is just to die for. This is a must have in my kitchen.
• Wahoo! Chili seasoning -- Just the right amount of zest ... seriously gives a little kick to your dish.
• Any of the dips, but especially the "Trio"  -- "Onion Onion," "Garlic Garlic" and "Bacon Bacon." It does not get better than this. You get the dry mix from Tastefully Simple, and mix it with mayo and sour cream. It's easy to make it "light," and they're awesome with crackers and veggies.

I'm going to surf the site for a few days and see what new things there are to try -- it's great stuff, reasonably priced, and with 20% going to the 3-Day, it's a win-win for me!

Ordering is easy: Just visit www.tastefullysimple.com. Shop. When you get to the checkout/shopping cart, select "Find Host/Event" on the bottom right of your screen. Type in my name (Jennifer Carbary). Select my party. Voila. 20% of what you just bought is donated directly to the 3-Day, thank you very much!  Your items are shipped right away, so you don't even have to wait for everyone else to order.

If you have any questions, just ask. If you want to invite me over for dinner and try some of your new favorite things, I'm there!!

A weekend of endings and new beginnings

This weekend marks our first official "Save the Toucans" fundraiser (Wiegand's Ladies Night - come see us!!), but it also marks the end of the 2011 3-Day for the Cure walk season.

As I write this, walkers are arriving at the Opening Ceremony in San Diego ... thousands of walkers and crew (last year's number? 4,000!) are gathering to walk the 14th Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure this year. I've met some of them through Twitter (love the 3DayTweeps, but more about that later!), and have even met a few "live" ... including Jim Hillman, who completes his 14th walk this year. I'm so excited for all of them, yet sad that it means the end of a 3-Day season.

But it's also a great time to reflect on the wonderful community the 3-Day is. Whether it was the outpouring of support when Jim lost his father last weekend, or the celebration of a cancer survivor's two-year mark as a survivor, the 3-Day community is just that ... a community. And yesterday, I had the chance to experience it in person.

Wednesday night, I saw a fellow 3DayTweep's post that she was in the metro Detroit area. We ended up meeting over coffee Thursday afternoon. It was a really bizarre experience -- on the one hand I felt as if I already knew her (I guess Twitter and reading blogs will do that!), but at the same time had an intense desire to ask a million questions about her 3-Day experience. I wish we had hours to talk, instead of the quick hour...

So this weekend, I'm going to remember how grateful I am to be a part of this amazing community. And tonight, as Stefanie, Kraig and I kick off our fundraising at Ladies Night, I'll try my hardest to be an ambassador for the community I am a part of...

Save the Toucans: Because two cans are better than none!

Say "ciao" to Sisters Saving the Sistahs ... last night kicked off our official 2012 Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure effort with the unveiling of our new team: Save the Toucans! (Because two cans are better than none.)

Our 2012 team includes the usual suspects (Stef and Jen) along with two newbies ... Stef's husband Kraig and one of our friends, Greg.

You'll get to meet each of them over the next few weeks, but the short version of how they came to join us: Kraig got roped in (because he looooves his wife and he was such a great cheerleader/supporter for the 2011 event) and Greg's mom died of breast cancer.

We kicked off our team with a team meeting on Saturday, and had a great time brainstorming ideas for the 2012 walk ... everything from where to train (Greg works at a cemetary, which makes for a great training location), when to start training (Stef and I are diehard advocates for the 24-week program) and how to fundraise.

That's probably where we spent most of our time... talking about how to raise $9,200 for the 2012 event. We had lots of ideas, but we also need your feedback ... are you interested? Would you come? What sounds like fun???

Some ideas for you to ponder:

• Dinner nights -- Local restaurants offer a percentage of sales. We thought about doing a monthly fundraiser at local places (January through July), including Abuelos, Buffalo Wild Wings, Bagger Dave's, Black Finn, National Coney Island, Ram's Horn and Dooley's.  Any others you know of?
• Gold Party -- Stef wants to host a Gold Party (Bling for Boobies!) ... you bring your unwanted/unused gold, and a local jeweler buys it from you. We (the hosts) get a percentage of the total payout. The event won't cost you a dime, and you'll actually walk out with money! Interested?
• Tastefully Simple -- A perennial favorite, probably at the end of January. Want some?
• Euchre Party -- We had a great time hosting a euchre tournament last year and want to do it again, probably March 3. How about it: Want to come? Know of a bigger place we can use for free?
• Comedy Club -- Greg's wife hosted a fundraiser at Go Comedy in Ferndale. We'd like to consider doing a comedy club night where we buy out the theatre and enjoy the improv. We were thinking of doing this in May. What do you think?
• Brackets for Boobies -- March Madness can be a lot of fun, even if you're not a college hoops fan. Look for Brackets for Boobies in mid March! Want in?
• Cans for a Cure -- We're considering another neighborhood bottle drive, along with our ongoing willingness to come pick up your bottles and cans. Holla!

So that's where we are ... our first team meeting brought a lot of ideas and we had a lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to getting to know Greg and his wife Megan more, and sharing all the fun of a 3-Day for the Cure experience with new friends.