Relay For Life Letter Writing - Worksheets to help you through the process!

It's that time of the year RELAY SEASON!  This is the time of the year my blog and pinterest pages go wild with new views, and I spend a lot of time visiting communities and getting them all set for an amazing year.

You may have noticed that you are not getting the response you have gotten in precious years by asking for donations on Facebook.  If you haven't read it yet- this blog post explains why that is happening.   It is more important than EVER that you are actually writing and sending out fundraising letters.

Most of you have awesome staff that bring you pre written letters that you can send out- BUT GUYS.  What would entice you more to donate- a personal letter, or one that is pre done? 

I know that it is hard to figure out where to start, and what to include in a letter, so I have made up some easy to use work sheets to help you through the process.  Feel free to print these and take them to your team meetings or event meeting to share. 

Step one- fill out this worksheet!

































Step two- use this letter format to transform your answers into a letter! 

Here is an example of what your finished product could look like!

That was easy, right?

While I have you here, let me fill you in on this awesome little tip.  For some reason, when I include a self addressed envelope, I get more donations back!  So take the extra time to do that to- it just takes a few minutes!

Need more letter ideas?  Check out some of ours from previous years here!

With HOPE,
Cassi

RFL 2015 is here! AKA- Chad writes the best "Why I Relay" pages EVER.

Our Relay For Life Of Custer County 2015 website went live last week (HAPPY DANCE!) Even though we Relay all year at my house, we always get excited when the website goes up, because we can see who all is returning to our team, all of the new teams... and of course we get to size up our competition ;) Just kidding Maria and Krisha. 

Anyway, Chad (my husband) always writes the most amazing "Why I Relay" story every year for his page.  It's kind of a tradition for him- each year he sits down in his big ol brown recliner and writes a post explaining what Relay means to him at the moment.  After losing his mom this year- I am sure it was harder than ever. 

So, not to put him on front street or anything, but you guys should totally read this.  You can see his actual relay page here (and that's also where you can donate to him- hint hint)  ENJOY!

XO
Cassi

Why I Relay!!!

Time once again for the relay excitement to begin. Well officially that is. My family does Relay For Life all year, because we have been touched by this group more than the words that I am going to us in this message to you will ever be able to tell you. Every year I sit in my chair and write out why we do what we do at the Selby Household. So here we go- this is why we RELAY

R-------Represents
E-------Extreme
L-------Love
A-------All
Y-------Year

Six years ago my father was diagnosed with stomach cancer. It was at this time my life changed. At the time I was a young man running around without a since of reality what so ever. When I got the phone call from my mother letting me know that my father was in the hospital, I knew that there was something wrong. My father would never go to the doctor- let alone the hospital. So with no details I left OKC to travel back home to Arkansas to be with my family so we could find out what was going on. When I arrived they had discovered that my father had a tumor in his stomach that had grown to where it had 90% blockage of his esophagus. The moment I heard this was the only time I can remember feeling beaten. The man that was my family’s rock was sick, and none of us knew how to handle it.
        
Once we got our bearing, we all decided we were going to fight. We are Selby’s that is what we do. We may not win every time, but we never give up. I returned to Oklahoma, because my father said there was nothing I could do for him in Arkansas. This was a challenge for me. I felt helpless, and couldn’t concentrate on things.  I couldn’t believe what kind of control my father illness had on me. Three weeks later I got a phone call from my father.  It was a call that I will never forget. He was telling about what was going on with him, and that they had just put a feeding tube into his stomach, because he wasn’t able to swallow food. He had done his first round of chemo that was an in-patient week long ordeal. He was down and sounded like a man that had been through hell. He said, “Son I don’t know if I am going to be able to do this. I may need your help later down the road.”
         
I hate to admit this, but this was not an easy decision. I had recently started a relationship at the time with a wonderful woman. My heart wouldn’t let me abandon the man who had given me so much in my life. So I called my girlfriend to try to explain to her why I had to leave her in Oklahoma while I moved back to Arkansas to help my family. She didn’t even hesitate.  She told me if I stayed in Oklahoma, I wouldn’t be the man she wanted to date. With that, I put my career on hold by taking a step down so that I could be with my family.
         
With that the worst year of my life started. There are so many details that I could put here that honestly I still to this day don’t believe I can really think about. Things that I watched, things that I wished I could close my eyes and forget, but when I do close my eyes they still to this day flash at me in a horrible nightmare that doesn’t seem to stop.  So, I will not go into them. I will say that the saying “You are stronger because you lived through it” is the most untrue thing I have ever heard.  I watched cancer destroy the strongest man I have ever known in a blink of an eye. When he started treatment he was at least 180lbs, and towards the end he was lucky if he was 90lbs. After a year of battling this horrible disease my father passed away.
         
There was a glimmer of good that came out of this situation.  The woman that I was dating in Oklahoma decided that she didn’t want me to fight this battle alone.   She moved to Arkansas and brought her 2 year old son with her.  She was truly amazing at helping with the caregiving that my father required. We had to do things in shifts when my mother and I were at work she would care for him, and then we would take up when we got off work.
         
This was not our only battle with cancer in my life. When I was five my mother also had cancer. Back than we were nowhere near the advance medicine that we have today (thanks in a big part to American Cancer Society’s funding of research to develop new drugs and treatments). She went through countless treatments of radiation and other things that I was honestly too young to remember. I can say that my earliest memories as a child is of walking down St. Edwards Hospitals to see my mother in a hospital room countless times.
        

 My mother won her battle with cancer that time, but not without her battle scars. She ended up with major heart issues from the radiation that was used to battle the disease. We didn’t find out until 10 years later about the damage that was caused. When we were told that the walls of her heart were paper thin, the doctor said that is why you probably struggle with things around the house such as vacuuming and anything that requires physical activity. My whole family laughs at this. At that time in my mother was mowing the 4 acres of land that we owned every weekend, throwing bags of grass over the fence to the cows, and many other amazing things. Truly the strongest women on earth.
        

 A year ago they found cancer in my mothers leg. Her outlook on it was about the same as my dad’s- well time to start fighting. She went to the Mayo Clinic, and started getting doctors opinions on how to treat her cancer. They found that the only real way to get rid of the cancer was to do a full knee replacement including some of her thigh bone.  She went through the procedure and the healing of the complete knee replacement. She went through this at the age of 60 which is amazing to me- I don’t believe I could do it now. After only 3 weeks post op, she went back to work. Something that the doctors told her would take her at least two months.
         

One week before our Relay For Life last year I got another phone call from my mother saying that she wasn’t feeling good, and was going to go ahead and go to the doctor. She said that it had been a struggle to get to and from work all week and wanted to feel better before she had to return to work on Monday. I said, “Well I am going to go to be on vacation. I’ll drive down and see you.”  On the way down they admitted my mother into the hospital because of her heart. She passed away at 4:00 am that morning. The doctors say that her heart just finally gave out. I would also like to say as a testament to my mother resolve the week before my mothers passing she missed one day of work. Can you imagine doing that?  Your heart and liver failing and you are at work because that is what you do.  Such an amazing woman. As a matter of fact the love that my mother had in her heart was amazing. An hour before she passed away, she was lecturing me (something she did very well I may add) about getting some sleep, because I had been up for 24 hours, and she didn’t want me to be too tired. What an amazing women she was.  The loss of this great woman is a tragic loss to the world. Cancer may not have been the bullet that killed my mother, but it was the gun that fired the bullet.
         
This is why we Relay.  To give people hope.  Fighting the good fight can make a difference. You may say that my story doesn’t sound as if there is a chance to win against cancer. Well, to that I say you are wrong. This is how my family thinks of CANCER.


C------Create
A------A

N------New

C------Change
E-------Every
R-------Relay

         
The way we have won is because we have grown. The woman that moved to Arkansas to help me is now my wife. We have a son that is named Wes- some of you may know him as Cancer Man. The super hero that has dedicated his life to winning the fight against cancer through Relay For Life.  Last year he raised over $7,000 dollars on his own towards winning the fight against cancer. My favorite saying that he has is “I’m eight, what’s your excuse?” With that being said, I don’t think any of us can have anything to say about that except your right I better get started. Every day I watch what he does, and it warms my heart to think I have had a hand in raising this amazing boy, soon to be a man. It reminds me of the great things about my parents, because through him he helps me forget the last couple of years filled with bad memories.
         
With that being said Relay For Life is all about hope. Hope for a cure, hope that there is an end in sight, and hope that one day peoples lives will not dramatically change because of cancer. So what do you say?   Lets help other people have HOPE!!

H-------Hope
O-------Offers
P--------People
E--------Everything!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank You,
Chad

Gma's Boxing Gloves

During Relay season I have been sharing some of my favorite Relay stories with you.  These stories that touch my heart, and explain WHY someone Relay's.  I shared my husband's, my friend Denice's, and today I want to share Jacy's with you.  Jacy is on my Relay team this year, and we hit it off right away, because we can relate to each others care giver stories. 

This story is posted on Jacy's personal Relay page and is another great example of why it is so important to take the time to customize your page.  When you open up and tell your Relay story, you inspire others to join the fight with you.

And without further adduce - Jacy's Relay story-

Cancer is a word that hits very close to my heart. It has become a disease that has overpowered the world. You hear is every day every min every second that someone has or is being affected by it. Thinking of it you hear the word Cancer more than I love you, family, or any kind words in general.  Which a couple of those being the strongest words created.  We all take life for granted sometimes and not realizing our surroundings until it might be a little too late.

Just after becoming a new mommy my family and I learned my gma had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. It was a gloomy day. But she was destine to fight and pulled out her boxing gloves. April fool’s day she received her double mastectomy. While that is the day of joking for most people, our family was starting a serious new journey. Recovery, chemo and radiation. We were on our way.

Things looked wonderful. A few years went by and the Dr. noticed some tumors surfacing. She knew it would be another fight.  But she was willing to go round 2. This time multiple tumors were diagnosed in her spine and radiation treatments burnt a hole in her esophagus. Walking skeleton she became. Thanksgiving Day I wasn’t happy with gma not being able to have Turkey Dinner. So I pureed turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy.  Ew.  But gma loved it. I knew she wasn’t giving up and I wasn’t giving in. Gma pulled through once again.

Through all her Dr appointments, treatments, and medications stood the sweetheart of her life, my gpa. He always was right there by her side loving her. Crushed her meds, worked, and kept up with the house.  His health suddenly wore him down. Months and months of him trying to keep strong we lost him a few days before Christmas. We always worried gpa couldn’t live a day without gma. I believe she knew that to.

Now our family was faced with many decisions on how gma would be taken care of. There’s where my journey of a caretaker began. I had a man tell me don’t put your life on hold she won’t live 6 months. Well, I was bound and determined to prove him wrong. I quit my job of many years and picked my lil family up and moved gma to her home. Her house my gpa built her in Fay, Ok. We had the time of our lives. Gardening, cooking, pedicures, manicures, Dr Phil, Cheetos, Dr Pepper, late night chats, swimming at age 79, road trips, make-up and hair every day, and lots of quality time. Memories I will cherish forever. Seeing her smile everyday was the best thing in the world.

My husband and I always take a trip to Red River and debating to take it that year was hard. We decided a few days would kind of be nice. The day of leaving was approaching fast. Four days before gma took a turn for the worse. Very few hours of sleep, but lots of hours of holding her hand and lying right next to her. I debated not leaving. Hospice assured me they would be at her side with my mom and take care of everything.  My last words to her were "Gma, stay strong until I get back in 3 days."

Six hours after we left my mom called  and gma hung up those boxing gloves and decided she needed a vacation to.

I miss her bright smiling face every day. But, I know she’s on my shoulder. That’s when I decided to become part of the fight for cancer.  I’m just beginning my list but I have accomplished the Susan Komen 5k race, participating on a Relay for Life team, and I have a journal I’m planning to finish this year.

Sometimes we are faced with tough times, but never realize someone else could have it worse. I challenge you, my family, my friends, and to everyone else in this world to be part of One Family. The Family Fighting to Cure Cancer. Come together as one. Put our boxing gloves on. WE can conquer this awful disease. We are the World. Only WE can make it a better place. Make a donation, participate on a Relay team, or walk with us.

P.S. Gpa passed away 12/17/2010   Gma passed away 2/16/2012. I proved the man wrong.

Together, we can finish the fight!!!!!

Relay For Life Fundraising Letters - make it fun and personal!

It's a new year, and Cancer Man and I have been busy getting letters ready to go out to potential donors for Relay For Life!  I thought I would take a break from all of the folding and stuffing to share this years letters with you guys.  It is really amazing to me to see how much Wesley's letter writing skills have grown over the years.  Since he started Relaying on his own in kindergarten, the first ones were short and sweet.  But as he has grown they have gotten more detailed and informative!  To see previous years letters, look here!

First let's talk about some key points in fundraising letters that are effective.   I am known to encourage people all day long to ask online through email and Facebook, but there is something about getting an actual letter in the mail that really means something during our technology driven age.  Here's how to make the most of the letters you are writing once you get them in someones hands.

-Make it personal.  Why is Relay important to you?  How have you been personally affected by cancer?  Who are you walking for? Your friends and family know you- speak from your heart!

-Make it unique.  How many times have you just glanced over a letter asking for a donation because it looks boring?  Let's face it, we have short attention spans.  How can you make your letter unique to draw people in?  Some of my favorite letter have had a really creative edge.  A drawing, a picture, and hand made paper have topped the list on my favorites from kids- but you grown ups can do that to! Not into drawing?  Write from a creative edge (check out my letter from my dogs!)

-Share the details.  When is the event?  How can they donate online?  Who should the check be made out to?

Cancer Man writes a LOT of letters, and they are a huge part of what makes him the top fundraiser for our event.  We separate his letters into three categories- previous donors, in town friends, and out of town family and friends.  Check them out!

Previous donors:

In town friends:

Out of town family and friends:

So now that you know what direction we are going for the year- let me share my favorite little secret for speeding things up.  Adding a return envelope with your address on it increases your likelihood of getting a donation back.  But addressing them all (on top of putting your return address on all of the envelopes you are sending) is a lot of work.  We have streamlined that process by having Jessica Lynn Original create a custom return address stamp for us.  Let me tell you, it saves my hands!  So check her out- she has even created a special Relay for Life stamp, and will donate to Cancer Man every time one is sold.  If you are going to spend money, it might as well come back to the cause, right!?  She even made us one with his face on it, which he adores!

It is always more fun to write letters, and stuff envelopes with friends.  So, think about hosting a letter writing party at your next team captain or team meeting!  It's a great time to sit and talk about your upcoming Relay plans, and get ideas from other Relayers to!

So get out your favorite purple pen, and get to writing!  Together, we can finish the fight against cancer.

Peace, love, CURE!
Cassi