A Boy & His Blog: Urgent Request for Prayers!

A Boy & His Blog: Urgent Request for Prayers!

Running4FA Google Discussion Group

Join our discussion group today to participate or start in some brainstorming idea opportunities. Joining is easy, even if you do not have a Google account. To simply use your existing email address to register click here. It is a quick process and you can choose your own settings for email updates, daily digest or simply read on the web only. The choice is yours!

A few things we need to really get started and are discussing are:

• Logo ideas
• Color scheme
• Catch phrase/motto

We would love your input, ideas and suggestions on these or any other ideas you may have. Also, take a moment to fill out our Running4FA Interest Form. Look forward to hearing from you!

Working for a Cause Worthy of the Patients We’re Fighting For!

The last several days here have not been very training friendly. We have had rain for the last 5 days, with little relief. Now I do not mind running in the rain if it is light, but these have been downpours. The types of days where a treadmill would have been a great thing to have around.  I am hoping tomorrow I can get out, I’m sure it will be a light day since I have not run since Friday. I have done some strength training over the weekend though, so maybe that will help the lay-off.

Enough about that! Let’s move in to our purpose for being here in the first place. The site has now been up and going four days and there have been quite a few first time visitors. A huge thank you to all that have shared the link with your contacts. In order for this to be successful, several things need to occur. First off and this is paramount, support. Support may come in many forms. Here are a few examples of how you can be a part and contribute without physically running:

• Creating & Suggesting Ideas
• Help research events in your area
• Contribute an article to this blog
• Organize a small group to volunteer at a local race event & wear our shirts, once we have them of course.

The possibilities are endless on the ways you can contribute. That is the beauty of this concept. Reaching out in a unique venue that brings together people of all backgrounds. To really get this group off and running, no pun intended, we need people to help come up with some of the basic ideas and help to refine and perfect the ones we already have. In order to properly delegate work to be done we need to define each members strengths and desires. This is the purpose of the interest form and also the Google group. The group will help us all to put our two cents in and perfect the stream of ideas that are flowing into our project. We can not do this alone, so please take a moment to at least join the group. Even if you cannot physically volunteer to run or go to events, you can contribute thoughts and ideas to discussion. Those are just as important, especially in the early stages of this project. We need designs for a logo, shirts to sport at events or even around town. We need color schemes and materials to help launch this project off the web and into the streets. There are many other basic framework ideas necessary to get this project off the ground floor. We want you to be a part of helping to create that. If you have any questions at all do not hesitate to email them to me, FA_Father@live.com I am looking forward to seeing you all in our discussion groups.

Amazing Response

Thank you all for the terrific response to our idea and launch of the website and discussion group. A special thank you to everyone who filled out an interest form. It was amazing to watch the responses pour in. We have received some excellent suggestions already. One of my favorites was from Peg, who suggested “Relay for FA.”  Could you imagine organizing a cross country relay for Fanconi Anemia? Think of the number of people our cause for a cure will reach with something like that. These are exactly the types of ideas, visions, and dreams we are hoping to accomplish.  We  also have a few discussions started already in the group so please take a moment to join and put in your input. We received many emails as well about the site and our mission informing us how exciting and inspirational our idea is. I can not stress enough though how important it is to have help if this is going to be successful. Please share this link on any of your social groups, facebook, twitter, myspace, etc. email your friends and ask that they do the same. The interest form on the right is very brief and lets us know what talents we have available.  We are looking forward to seeing more support from volunteers like you in the coming weeks. Remember you are helping a cause worthy of the patients we are fighting for!

The Starting Line

I hope you have taken the opportunity to read the Welcome post first. If not I would recommend doing so at this time before proceeding.

Thank you all for taking the time to stop by and check this out. I hope that most or all of you will contribute in some way to the success of this new organization. This is literally Day one of our group, so we are starting from the ground and working our way up. I purposefully launched this website and group today because it is Elias first birthday. After all, he is one of the inspirations for coming up with this idea.

As I mentioned this is the very beginning and for this to be a success, it will take all kinds of individual talents. Besides runners, we need great organizers & planners, writers, researchers, artists, dreamers, idea makers, well-connected people, and enthusiastic do it all/whatever you need types. No contribution is too small if it works towards our goal of raising awareness for FA. Also, being from all over the place helps us cover more ground and more events. That equates to more awareness for our cause. You would be amazed how the power of a well designed shirt, or a catchy logo can have on engraining something in someone's mind. When they remember a cause, they donate and the more money we can raise the more we can help the individuals battling this disease.

I hope that you will all take a moment to fill out the interest form, the link is in the Want to Join the Cause section on the right. Also, please join our discussion group too. There is more information there about just how much positive we can do for so many people, with FA and without. I am extremely open to input in these beginning stages to make this yet another FAntastic FA organization aimed at having the same positive effects and success. Welcome to the starting line of a race against a terrible disease and the quest to make more individuals aware of this. To educate people on the importance of bone marrow donation and the many other ways individuals can help without having to give financially. Thank you all again for your interest and talents towards making the dream of a cure a step closer to the finish line and a reality.

Welcome: My Mission, My Goal, My Purpose

I began running a few weeks ago and while my schedule has been difficult to maintain, my drive has not. There have been several sources of inspiration for me to begin. First off is my son Elias, who is afflicted with Fanconi Anemia. Secondly, was my experience in January of 2008 on a trip to Disney World just after learning prenatally that Elias would have some issues, potentially life-threatening. We were there for marathon weekend and watching many of the runners wearing shirts and flair of different sorts to promote their causes gave me the initial idea. It also was something I wanted to be a part of. Finally, one of my two best friends from high school has been running for several years now. He loves it and after just two weeks, I can understand why. I have always admired anyone I have known that has had the ability to commit to this activity. This is something I have been wanting to do for many years, but never had the motivation...until now.

This is a personal expereince that I hope to grow into a group or organization of not only fellow runners, but support people as well. Our Mission will ultimately be to run in events nationwide, 5k to marathons, to help raise awareness for FA. There are several families and groups that host runs to benefit FA specifically and I hope that our group will be able to assist in making these events more widely known, which in turn will create success for those benefits. Over the next few months I will be continuing my training and sharing my progress. I will also be sharing my thoughts, ideas, and visions for this group. I would also like to collect ideas and begin compiling a list of members and their "talents." Anything in any capacity you feel like you can offer will be received with open arms. Maybe you have always wanted to run, but like myself never really had the motivation. Running for a cause is great motivation, especially if you have a family member or close friend impacted by this disease. It feels great, your body feels the benefits, and best of all you are increasing the awareness for a rare disease many doctors are not familiar with. Because of this there is always a need to promote and raise money for research towards better management and ultimately a cure for FA. 

Thank you for taking a little time to check this out. I hope that you are interested in helping. Please email me or leave comments with your thoughts, ideas, and interest in being a part of what I know will be a fantastic and worthy community of individuals looking to share their passion and talents towards the advancement of a cure for Fanconi Anemia.