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Charities we have helped:

United Cerebral Palsy

Old Fella Burke County Animal Rescue

The Warrick Dunn Foundation

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

American Cancer Society

Ronald McDonald House

"Anyone for a Marathon?"

As I looked at the A Letter A Week homepage, I was beginning to think that I was not fulfilling one of the more important goals of this project.  In the top right corner, I couldn’t help but notice how unimpressive it was that I have been writing letters for over 3 months and only raised $175 for charitable causes – especially since all of it came out of my own pocket.  So I thought it was time to do something a little out of the ordinary.

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To My Friends,

I think I have a very stupid idea that I’m going to try in the next few weeks and wondered if any of you would like to help out.  A few weeks ago, I watched the Boston Marathon run by my condo and sighed – another year older and another year I had absolutely no interest in running a marathon.

Completing a marathon is a majestic goal for anyone.  In the past I have contemplated training to run one, but always found some sort of excuse to give up.  Whether it is my slow progress or the cold winter days making conditions miserable, something always gave me an easy way out.

With the birth of my daughter Samantha, the chances of me actually training for such an athletic event are slim.  I know there are powerhouse people out there who would strap their kid in one of those rugged running-strollers and push them for miles, but I’m not one of those.

So I had a thought.  Since I know that I cannot possibly run a marathon, maybe I should just walk one.  I am out of shape, but I don’t feel that out of shape that I can’t walk it.  The reservoir across the street from my condo is roughly 1.5 miles, which means that 18 laps should more than cover it (quick math 18x1.5=27).  Of course, walking it might take all day and that’s where the fun comes in.

First off, why should I walk 18 laps all by myself?  I would love to have some help – I already have my friend Dalvin signed up to walk with me the whole way.  My dog Jake has signed on to walk two laps with me, and I’m sure my wife Kelly can push Samantha in the stroller for a couple of trips around.  Whether you always wanted to say, “Yeah I did a marathon” or whether you just wanted to walk a few laps with us just to see how sweaty and winded I can get while walking, the support would be most welcome.

Designating a day to walk a marathon for the hell of it seemed like a pretty silly thing to do on its own.  So I thought I would support a charitable cause while I was at it.  So for every lap I complete, I will donate $5 to the American Cancer Society.

In the past month we have lost such noticeable people as Bea Arthur, Chuck Daly and Wayman Tisdale to cancer.  In addition, Phil Mickelson’s wife was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and local Boston College defensive standout Mark Herzlich was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma – a kind of bone cancer. These well-publicized cases underscore the fact that most, if not all of us have had to face cancer somewhere amongst friends and family.

After I write a letter, I usually show a draft to my wife Kelly, who is a very honest and constructive critic.  I hadn’t shown her this draft as I knew that once I did, I would actually have to walk a whole marathon.  But as I finished it, my friend Anthony who works for the American Cancer Society sent out this video.  If I needed a bit of a push, that was it.  So now I’m going to go through with this project.

I will be putting up a page on the site in the next few days with more details of the event.  The event could grow depending on how many of you volunteer to join or help out.  Or it could be me and Dalvin walking around the reservoir all by ourselves.  We have started a donation page with the American Cancer Society so that anyone who would like to donate to the cause can do so easily.

So come out and join us for a nice long walk.  Or you can just go along for part of the walk.  Or you can help me think of other ways to raise money or make the day a little more fun.  Or you can tell me to go scratch (though I would prefer you just ignore me).  Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Scott

You can donate to the American Cancer Society through our donation page by clicking here.

*Tentative Date for the walk is July 11. More info to be posted here.

If you would like to comment on this letter, Scott can be reached at info@aletteraweek.com (please include your name and town).

To see Responses, Results and Reactions to this letter, click here.

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