Tag Archives: Teams

BC Babes: Fundraising Powerhouse

Spaghetti dinners. Car washes. Restaurant nights. Bake sales. Garage sales. Facebook. These are all ways that the BC Babes, a Michigan powerhouse team that is currently 42 members strong, have raised money for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day. They boldly set their goal high – aiming to get as close to $1,000,000 as they could.

The BC Babes includes 25 walkers, 16 crew members, and 1 Youth Corps member, and is led by co-captains Beth and Heather. We had some time to talk to Beth about the BC Babes and their quest for reaching this goal (as of the time I write this, they’ve currently raised nearly $946,000), and we hope you find their story as inspiring as we do!

Members of the BC Babes at the 2014 Michigan 3-Day

Members of the BC Babes at the 2014 Michigan 3-Day

Beth’s Komen 3-Day journey began as a family affair.

“The first year I walked with my oldest sister, Debbie, then my youngest sister, Michelle, (2003) and my third year walking (2005) I convinced by middle sister, Jeanne, to walk with me, and the BC Babes were born. I had met several other first time walkers at a Get Started Meeting and they asked if they could train with us since I had already done the walk several times and over the course of the first few months of training my sister and I formed the team.

“Over the years, I’ve had four teammates diagnosed with breast cancer, either during or after their 3-Day experience (thankfully, all are survivors today). Last year we lost our first teammate, Sr. Carol Juhasz, to breast cancer,” she said. “One of our newest Babes, Tracey A., walked in her first 3-Day last year. Her mother was a breast cancer survivor and she also had a cousin undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Tracey was walking to support these wonderful women in her life and came to our team through a 3-Day Meet-Up. After that evening Tracey came out and trained with the Babes, joining our team shortly after that first meeting. Her mom’s cancer came back late last year and has undergone treatment/surgery since that time and is doing very well. Tracey will once again be a part of the BC Babes family knowing the monies raised through this amazing weekend is one of the reasons her mom and cousin are here with her today,” she said.

These very personal reasons serve as a driving force for how Beth is able to manage her team and inspire them all to fundraise and train. “I monitor the fundraising of the team on a regular basis. If I see someone is not progressing I talk with them to make sure they’ve got a letter our or a fundraising strategy in place. As team, while training, we offer a variety of suggestions to help them if they’ve hit a dry spell. We’re always there to help anyone who is truly making their best effort to fundraise, and we do want to see that you have put this [fundraising] as a priority in your 3-Day adventure,” she said.

Beth is also quick to point out that she couldn’t lead the team on her own, and applauds her co-captain, Heather, for helping to keep this amazing team on track. “Heather has been my co-captain and fellow training walk leader for about 6 years now. We mostly keep in contact with the team through emails, but since both Heather and I are training walk leaders we see the Babes on a regular basis at training walks and keep up with them while walking,” she said.

Members of the BC Babes yesterday with Dr. Sheri Prentiss, National Spokesperson for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day

Members of the BC Babes yesterday with Dr. Sheri Prentiss, National Spokesperson for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day

And what does it feel like, to look out among the sea of pink on Friday morning, and know that more than 42 people in the crowd are part of the BC babes? “It’s an amazing feeling. I’ve been blessed to have been a part of the Opening Ceremony several times and seeing my Babes family out there warms my heart! The love, dedication and kindness they show not only to fellow Babes but to the entire 3-Day family just makes me happy!” On behalf of the entire 3-Day family, we thank people like the BC Babes and all of you, for doing everything you can to help end breast cancer forever.

Time Tested Tips from 3-Day Team Captains: Part 1

Whether you’re a super solo walker or part of a team, there’s no doubt that you’ll have an amazing time on the Susan G. Komen 3-Day®. But if you are looking to captain a team, a handful of our top Komen 3-Day team captains from last year have shared their advice for leading a  team to success. Check out what 3-Day® team captains Mary and Roxanne have to say about recruiting new teammates, keeping team members motivated to fundraise and train and engaging with their teams at all points along the way.

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Team: No Walker Left Behind (Dallas/Fort Worth)

To recruit new walkers: Have a friendly get together with photos of past events. Put your walking pack, the pins you earned and your fun Komen 3-Day costume on display. Talk about why you do the 3-Day.

To encourage and retain long-time participants: Do something in the off-season. Short walks are a good time to ask potential team members to come out. Keep your training going and register for some fun runs as a team. Keep in touch with your team members; send Christmas and birthday cards.

During the event: Keep track of your team. Eat dinner together, check their tents, show you care. After the event, have an end-of-season get together with family members.

Training: Vary the time and place to keep things interesting, and to figure out what works best for your team members. Get some local running stores to provide water and a restroom stop. Keep the training walks as simple as possible with easy-to-follow directions or maps. Make sure everyone is walking at a comfortable pace and not having to keep up with fast walkers or having to hang back with slower walkers. Ask the faster walkers to sign off when they arrive at the finish if you are not there yet, and be sure you are waiting at the finish for the slower walkers.

Fundraising: When your team members get close to the $2,300 mark, encourage them to raise their goal to $3,000. Ask crew members to help with fundraising efforts to help walkers.

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Team: OB Walkers (San Diego)

If you have a small team of family and friends, it is important to keep in touch and help everyone stay motivated, especially if you have team members who live far apart.

Fundraising: Group fundraisers can be a lot of fun, but they can also be a lot of work, so it is important to delegate tasks to each team member. Realize that the bigger the “team” participation is in a fundraising event, the less each person can realize from the effort. So make it simple. Always decide first and foremost: What will our potential donors like to do, and what will bring them all together to support our team so that we can raise the most amount of money? This sounds simple but can get lost in the excitement to create a special event.

There are plenty of shops, markets and service providers that will donate to your event, so have each person ask five locations for food, raffle items or a donated space. Each team member should have a personal list of friends, family, co-workers and providers that they can draw from as donors. Even if you are a family team, each of you brings a different list of contacts into the mix.

Start fundraising now! November seems like a long way off, but training season starts in June (for our participation in the San Diego event) and you don’t want to spend precious weekend training time on fundraisers. I found it useful to tell donors that my participation is a HUGE commitment but I don’t tell them exactly when the walk is – not for a while, anyway. When you tell your prospective donors in February that you are walking in November, they think they have all the time in the world. So set mini goals and email donors, “My goal this week/month/day is to raise $X.” Set a high personal goal of $5,000 or $7,000 and tell your donors that goal, not that you have to raise $2,300 to walk. This way you will exceed your $2,300 goal more easily.

Training: Training is vital, not only to having fun on the event but also as a way to bond and meet new friends. Get out and try different training walks to see if they are a good fit for you and your team. Short walks can be team-only events where you can share information and ideas, but going out with a larger group for a training walk enhances the experience. If you are new to the 3-Day, training walks are a terrific place to get information about the event, gear, hydration, nutrition and stretching.

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The Gilbert Girls Take on Atlanta

Meet Team Gilbert Girls. They are an upbeat, beautiful, welcoming group of women who walk in the Susan G. Komen Atlanta 3-Day year after year. They all walk for some very special reasons, but their namesake is Margaret Gilbert, mother to Sara and sister to Tina. Margaret lost her battle to breast cancer in 2009 at the young age of 41.photo 7.2

Tina S., the team’s captain, has been a walker in the 3-Day for 7 years. Her teammates are no slouches either when it comes to years of participation! Cheryl S. is a 12-year veteran, and Annie B. has walked six times. What’s even more remarkable? Five of their eight team members are under the age of 20! Sara G. (17) has walked the last two years in her mother’s memory. Beth K. (17), Claire S. (17) and Jessica Z. (19) are all new to the 3-Day this year, and their eighth teammate, Caitlyn S. (18), will join them tomorrow as part of the Young Women Walking program.

Between the combination of long-time and young walkers, you might think fundraising would be challenging for the group. But Sara, Beth and Claire – the high school gals – were quick to point out that as soon as they tell people what they are doing, the support was quick to follow. It’s no surprise that these young walkers inspire others with their desire to walk 60 miles in memory of Sara’s mother.

Tina, Cheryl and Annie, the 3-Day veterans, all say that they weren’t prepared for how much fun the walk is, and that once you do it for the first time, you’ll do it again and again. As Cheryl puts it, “The cheering makes it a lot easier. There are so many people who tell you, ‘Way to go! Way to go for walking! Way to go for stretching! Way to go… for going to the bathroom!’ It’s a feel-good experience.”

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To unite them as a team, they print t-shirts each year with a different word cloud. This year’s shirts are yellow (which stand out beautifully in the sea of pink!) and bear the names of all the loved ones for whom they walk, along with some inspiring 3-Day themed words. Those meaningful names and words are in the shape of the number “60,” a very fitting number indeed.

Tina quickly explained that Jessica wasn’t wearing her team tee today – because they just adopted her to Gilbert Girls this morning. But, rest assured, she’ll be wearing her yellow shirt tomorrow.

We’re so inspired by the warm, loving family of 3-Dayers all around us; helping to reinforce what seasoned 3-Day participants always say, “On the 3-Day, there are no strangers, just friends you haven’t met yet.”