Susan G. Komen 3 day walk. Anybody do it?

[eliza61]

My friends and I were thinking about doing the 3 day walk for cancer research but they require you to raise $2800 bucks and if you can't from what I understand youhave to give up a credit card and they bill you the rest.

Does anyone understand why this is? or if it's true?

[Nancy]

Yes, they do require this. Why? Most likely to make sure that people follow through on their pledges so they get the money they need and count on.

2. Before You Register: The Important Things to Know

• In order to register for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure as a walker, you must be 16 years old by the end of the year in which the event takes place. Minors 15, 16 and 17 years of age must provide a minor consent form signed by a parent or guardian and be accompanied by a parent or guardian for the duration of the 3-Day for the Cure event and any official training walks.
• All walkers must agree to raise a minimum of $2,300 for the 3-Day in order to walk. If you haven’t raised the minimum requirement by the time you check in for the event, you can make a donation to your own fundraising account, put up a credit card to insure the balance and allow yourself four weeks after the event to continue to fundraise, or you can choose not to participate in the event.
• Each walker (whether you are on a team or not) is responsible for her or his own fundraising commitment in order to participate.
• The registration fee and all donations are non-refundable and non-transferable.
• All participants must have medical insurance at the time of the event in order to participate.
• The 3-Day reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to refuse registration and/or participation to anyone at any time before or during the event.

[marydmjj]

I walked the 3-Day in Seattle a few years ago. It was one of the best experiences in my life so far. I intend to do it again in the next couple of years.

You do have to raise or donate the entire amount before you walk or they won't let you walk. You can give your credit card for the remaining balance but you do have an additional month (I think) after the walk to collect more donations before they bill you for the balance. The fundraising part was the most difficult and that's one of the reasons I haven't done it again sooner.

Sign up ~ it's so worth it.

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Originally Posted by eliza61

My friends and I were thinking about doing the 3 day walk for cancer research but they require you to raise $2800 bucks and if you can't from what I understand youhave to give up a credit card and they bill you the rest.

Does anyone understand why this is? or if it's true?

I've been watching the commercials for it the last few days.....I would love to do it. Sadly I don't have anyone in NNJ that will do it with me.

Yes they do require the financial commitment.

[Mickey527]

I saw the 3 day walk last year when I was visiting my sister in Tampa and we both said it would be nice to do. I am now a 6 year survivor and although I have some disabilities from the chemo I think I could do the walk in the warmer weather of Tampa.
I went to sign up and the $2,800 stopped me in my tracks. There is no way I could collect that much. I would have to get 28 of my friends to give $100 each and I know that would never happen, and one month of my SSDI would not cover 1/2 that amount.
So, if 56 of you want to give $50.... guess that the walk is not in my future.

[tiggger1]

Same here. I would love to do it but the $2800 stopped me also. Its not that I couldn't raise it but I volunteer for The Relay for Life, and a few other non profits. If I did manage to raise the $2800 for the SGK walk, then no one else would donate to the other ones....

You would like they would rather get more money!!

[PatsMom]

I did the walk last year in Boston. I walked in honor of my best friend, her sister, and my co-worker, all of who had battled and beat breast cancer in the two years prior. My friend and her sister also walked. We had a team of about 10 and helped each other out with fundraising, etc.

I was able to raise quite a lot of my own money through solicitations to friends and relatives. My company also made a contribution. We were also fortunate that one of the team captains was married to a man who had run AAU sanctioned events before. He had a friend who gave us the opportunity to run a girls basketball tournament that had been around for a few years. Between entry fees, gate fees, and concessions, we raised alot of money! We also had a couple of group yardsales that were very successful.

It is important to train. We kept each other on track and encouraged each other to do our walking.

I had a medical evaluation because of the diabetes and was determined as OK to go. But three weeks before the walk I was diagnosed with bladder cancer. I was extremely anemic due to the tumor bleeding profusely. I never told the Susan G Komen people about that since my medical clearance was on file. The doctors were kind of mixed - the urological people said don't walk, it could start the tumor bleeding again. My primary care said go for it - if the tumor starts bleeding again, just quit. I am so glad I did the walk. The positive energy in camp and the great people I met had a great influence on my attitude and my approach to fighting the cancer.

It is a tough walk - by day three you are pretty wiped out. But it is very rewarding.

[Klismania]

IMO, if/when charities start telling you how much you have to donate in order to participate in one of their events, it's time for the government to step in and do an audit to determine just how "non-profit" this charity really is.

I can't believe you have to pony up $2,300 in order to walk.

Roche must raise $2,300 to participate in a walk, totalling $34,500 for all 15 walks. He's paying his own travel expenses.

He has raised about $16,000 so far, "so I still have a ways to go."

"The fundraising, I think, is the biggest challenge because I'm still a little stressed out," said Roche, who co-owns Norfolk Auto with his father, Paul.

"If I don't raise enough money, I have to stop walking," he said. "I'm willing to walk the whole 900 miles, but I just can't afford to take that kind of money out of my pocket with all the other travel expenses besides." Roche said he had participated in fundraisers for a while, including the MS bike ride for 15 to 20 years, when he heard about the Komen walk on the radio a few years ago.

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/artic...ws/7806175.txt

[PatsMom]

I think the Komen walk wants to highlight a couple of things. One is that the walkers are doing something big, so people should donate big. Also, they have a certain amount of overhead. Mostly the crew is volunteer but someone has to pay for the equipment they provide (tents mostly and portapotties). A lot of the medical staff are volunteer but I imagine they have to pay the bill for blister bandaids and moleskin. And they use a lot of that! They also feed you - breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

The fund raising hurdle may prevent some people from participating, as does the training you should be doing for the walks. This year my team has a lot of personal stuff going on and since my diagnosis we wanted to do something that wasn't exclusively for breast cancer. So we are opting to do the Relay for Life. But we have set our fundraising goal at $3,000 each, same as we did for the $60 mile walk.

[DisneyOHFan]

Originally Posted by PatsMom

I think the Komen walk wants to highlight a couple of things. One is that the walkers are doing something big, so people should donate big. Also, they have a certain amount of overhead. Mostly the crew is volunteer but someone has to pay for the equipment they provide (tents mostly and portapotties). A lot of the medical staff are volunteer but I imagine they have to pay the bill for blister bandaids and moleskin. And they use a lot of that! They also feed you - breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

The fund raising hurdle may prevent some people from participating, as does the training you should be doing for the walks. This year my team has a lot of personal stuff going on and since my diagnosis we wanted to do something that wasn't exclusively for breast cancer. So we are opting to do the Relay for Life. But we have set our fundraising goal at $3,000 each, same as we did for the $60 mile walk.

I agree with you 100%. The cost to put each walk on is tremendous and it does show that people really have a commitment to the training the fundraising.

I participated for the first time last year in the Twin Cities and it was an incredible experience. I immediately signed up to do it this year in Cleveland. The fundraising is the hardest part, but if it helps save even 1 persons life, it is worth the effort.

[Big Cuddly Bear]

I want to do it... but I have concerns...

1. The $2800 is an awful lot of money. And I don't have that many people I would feel comfortable asking for donations... I would probably donate $250 of the $2800. We usually donate $100 every year.

2. I would be a guy walking with nobody else. And I'm not especially chatty with people I don't know.

For me, the charity part would almost be the secondary reason for going. The 60 miles would be a like personal challenge to me.

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Originally Posted by Klismania

IMO, if/when charities start telling you how much you have to donate in order to participate in one of their events, it's time for the government to step in and do an audit to determine just how "non-profit" this charity really is.

I can't believe you have to pony up $2,300 in order to walk.

Do you have any idea of logistics/advertising/etc costs are?
Having thrown these types of events for many years you would be very surprised. Also in order for a non-profit to make difference a portion of the monies is spent on research where you want you money to go if there is going to be any change.

Also 501(c) 3 are audited and graded every year.

[DisneyOHFan]

Originally Posted by Big Cuddly Bear

I want to do it... but I have concerns...

1. The $2800 is an awful lot of money. And I don't have that many people I would feel comfortable asking for donations... I would probably donate $250 of the $2800. We usually donate $100 every year.

2. I would be a guy walking with nobody else. And I'm not especially chatty with people I don't know.

For me, the charity part would almost be the secondary reason for going. The 60 miles would be a like personal challenge to me.

Here is my blog. There is a post that talks about fundraising ideas. I also have a VERY hard time asking people for money, but I was surprised how many people were so generous. The 2nd year I have found is harder because I don't want to keep going back to the same people asking for more money. The blog also has a couple of posts about my experience on the walk.

If you go to My3DayJourney.com you will find the blog. Hopefully it will help to answer some of your questions.

[eliza61]

Originally Posted by DisneyOHFan

Here is my blog. There is a post that talks about fundraising ideas. I also have a VERY hard time asking people for money, but I was surprised how many people were so generous. The 2nd year I have found is harder because I don't want to keep going back to the same people asking for more money. The blog also has a couple of posts about my experience on the walk.

If you go to My3DayJourney.com you will find the blog. Hopefully it will help to answer some of your questions.

Thanxs!!

I would love to do it but I simply can afford to take the chance. Is there a certain point where if you havent raised the money you can bow out.

[DisneyOHFan]

From my understanding, as long as you don't start out on the walk, you don't need to complete your financial obligation. The money that you raised to that point does go to Susan G Komen, though. But I would suggest calling the coaches line to verify that, but one of my girlfriends had to back out last year for another reason, but she didn't have to come up with the total $2300.