AYE, AYE CAPTAIN!

 

And our Team Captain Trainings Begin…

 

Did you know that Teams make up 75% of the participants at the Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure? And in 2010, we had over 1,000 Teams join in the fight! Leading each one of our fantastic Teams is a dedicated individual who serves as the Team Captain…someone who helps energize and motivate their friends, family and co-workers and also takes care of running Team reports, turning in all the funds that have been raised by their Team, and the part that everyone loves, distributing Race t-shirts!

 

Our Teams Committee co-chairs have been working hard to put together some great tools for those who are interested in starting a Team. They also host Team Captain Training Sessions where they share all the in’s and out’s needed to have a successful Team.

 

At these sessions, a PowerPoint presentation gives step by step instructions on how to form a Team, monitor your Teams progress and run the necessary reports. You’ll also hear from a few special guests such as:

• Our Friends for the Cure Pledge co-chairs who share some great ways to help your Team raise funds.
• The In the Pink committee who will tell you more about their Adpot-a-Tree program, the Community Puzzle and their NEW Tulip Garden project.
• Your Race Co-Chairs, myself (Karen Long) and Stacy Kingston.

All during the training, terrific attendance prizes are given away, including baseball tickets from our Teams Sponsor, the St. Louis Cardinals.

 

So what does it take to be a Team? All you need is 20 people or any number of people who raise at least $500. Pretty simple right? We have four training sessions remaining:

• Sunday, April 9, 11 am – Fairview Heights Library
• Wednesday, April 20, 6 pm – Missouri Baptist Hospital
• Wednesday, April 27, 6 pm – Bridgeton Community Center
• Saturday, May 14, 9 am – Missouri Baptist Hospital

A big thank you to all of you have volunteered to be a Team Captain. We look forward to seeing you at one the trainings. And for those of you that are looking to get your Teams started, just visit us at to get signed up. Well what are you waiting for?

Live from the Affiliate Conference

Hi everyone! Stacy here and I just wanted to check in with ya'll real quick. I am currently in Ft. Worth, TX at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Affiliate Conference. The conference has been amazing and I've had to chance to meet a lot of great people within the Komen organization from both our National office and from Affiliates world wide! We've had seminars and meetings and shared lots of great stories. I even had a chance to sit down with some Race Chairs from other Affiliates to talk about what works for our different Races and what doesn't and I've learned some great stuff!

I'm here with our Susan G. Komen for the Cure Executive Director, Helen Chesnut and Affiliate Board Member, DeDe Hoffman. Here's a picture of us heading out to the Western themed dinner last night.

We've also been enjoying the great warm weather down here but tomorrow, we will return to the snow! But I will return even more empowered than before...because no matter what role you play, be it a staff member, a volunteer or one of our Race participants, WE ARE MAKING AN IMPACT!!!
Ye'Ha for now folks!

Don't Forget!

Hi Everyone!
We just wanted to quickly remind you that you only have a few days left before we draw the big winner of the tickets to the Cardinals Opening Day!

In case you missed it when our Friends for the Cure co-chairs stopped by, here a quick recap...

“Now that registration is open for the Race we encourage all of you to step up the plate and jump start your fundraising.  Any Race participant who raises $500 or more between Friday, March 11^th and midnight on Thursday, March 24^th will be entered into a random drawing to win two great tickets to Opening Day for the St. Louis Cardinals!  So step up to the plate and knock one out of the park for Komen St. Louis!”

 

So get out there and get those pledges! Remember, every dollar Makes an Impact!!

Exciting Things Are Happening!

It's been just one week since registration opened and what an AMAZING week it has been! We already have well over 800 participants and are closing in on $30,000 raised! I am already addicted to hitting my refresh button and watching the numbers grow!

While everyone has been busy getting signed up, we have been busy putting the finishing touches on our paper registration form and brochure and wrapping up some exciting sponsorships.

One new sponsor that has signed on nationally that we are quite excited about is SELF Magazine. They are offering all participants that register ONLINE, a FREE one year subscription to either SELF or GQ Magazine! Pretty neat, isn't it? For as little as a $25 registration fee, not only do you get a Race t-shirt and a chance to be a part of the world's LARGEST 5K event, you can also get an entire year of SELF or GQ, delivered right to your door!

As I said before, this offer is only good for those registering online. For those of you that have already signed-up, I am sorry to report that you unable to participate in this offer with your original registration. BUT, you could always register a second time if you'd like. Just think of it as a great excuse to join that second Team that you've always wanted to join, but didn't!
So don't delay, just visit us at http://www.komenstlouis.org/ and sign up TODAY!

I hope that everyone has had a great week and that you enjoy the weekend! 
Until next time,
Stacy Kingston
2010/2011 Race Co-Chair 

The Big Day - Are You Ready?

The big day is almost here! Friday, March 11 is the official launch of the 2011 Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure Race season and we couldn’t be more excited. Visit us online, starting tomorrow morning at http://www.komenstlouis.org/ to sign up for the largest 5K event in the WORLD, taking place right here in St. Louis on Saturday, June 11! There are plenty of ways to participate…You can form or join a Team, sign up to participate in our Timed Run or register as an individual. You can even Sleep In for the Cure if you are unable to join us on Race Day. And be sure to visit our Web site often as we are continually updating it with new and exciting information.

We are also excited to announce that tomorrow kicks-off a great fundraising incentive but you have to act fast! Our Friends for the Cure Pledge Program co-chairs, Karyn Creedon and Laura Roeseler, stopped by to share all of the details!

“Now that registration is open for the Race we encourage all of you to step up the plate and jump start your fundraising.  Any Race participant who raises $500 or more between Friday, March 11^th and midnight on Thursday, March 24^th will be entered into a random drawing to win two great tickets to Opening Day for the St. Louis Cardinals!  So step up to the plate and knock one out of the park for Komen St. Louis!”

So start your Friday off right and visit http://www.komenstlouis.org/ to get involved!

How Do We Do It?

In just a few short days we will be kicking off the 2011 Race Season when our Web site goes live and is open for registrations. But in order to prepare for the big kick off, our planning committee has been working behind the scenes since August. Yep, you read that right, I said August! Our planning committee, called the Steering Committee, is made up of 33 awesome people, ALL of whom are VOLUNTEERS! We also receive tremendous support from the six staff members of the St. Louis Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. After the record setting 2010 Race, our Steering Committee took roughly 6 weeks "off" before we were at it again, preparing for what we hope will be even bigger and better in 2011.

It all starts with getting our Steering Committee in place with some key volunteers, determining who will have the leadership skills to co-chair each of our 14 individual committees. From Friends for the Cure to Race Operations, we have a committee to cover all the major aspects of Race Day and the months leading up to it. In St. Louis, we are so fortunate to have a great group of leaders that volunteer their time to put this amazing event together. Along with some of the Affiliate staff, we all meet and brainstorm and discuss what we can do to make Race Day a day that you, our participants, will NEVER forget.  While it may take a lot of hours and a lot of sweat, we do this because we know that we are Making an Impact! We know that our efforts ARE making a difference. And when we see that parade of over 4,500 SURVIVORS make their way to the stage on Race Day, we are proud of our hard work.

Many thanks to all of you who come out and support us and take part in an event that is like none other. Although it might take a lot of planning, we LOVE putting on this event and know that one day, together, we will find the cures!

Can you believe that we are even out there planning in the cold sometimes? Here is one of our Race co-chairs, Karen Long (left,) and some members of our Teams committee looking over part of the Race site on a cold January morning.

Welcome to Our Brand New Blog!

Greetings everyone and welcome to our brand new blog for the 2011 Susan G. Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of time and energy to plan the WORLD'S LARGEST Race for the Cure and we thought that you might like a sneak peek into the planning process. We will also be updating the blog with important dates to remember, tips to help with fundraising, photos, stories and more!

This year's adventure will be guided by Stacy Kingston and Karen Long. We are the co-chairs for this year's Race and can't wait to share with you just what it takes to put on this amazing event! We may also have some special guests pop in from time to time.

Be sure to check in often or better yet, follow us by clicking the link over there to your right. See it, the one that says Follow....there, you got it! We also hope that you will leave comments for us. We always love hearing from our participants.

So lace up those tennis shoes and get ready to join us as we prepare to Make an Impact!

Race Date - Saturday, June 11

Registration Opens - Friday, March 11