Ambulance Driver Files A Day in the Life | Kelly Grayson
It started in 2011.
A bunch of EMS bloggers pledged to change their blog backgrounds pink for the month of October to raise awareness for breast cancer research. In his own unique way, EMS Artifact pointed out to us that prostate cancer was just as prevalent in men as breast cancer was in women, and received just a fraction of the research dollars and attention of breast cancer. Since most of us had prostate glands, why weren't we paying more attention to a disease that affected 1 in 6 of us?
Happy Medic and MotorCop responded, and began Kilted to Kick Cancer to raise awareness for male-specific cancers. I joined the team shortly thereafter, and thought, "To heck with just raising awareness, why not raise money?"
Thus was the Kilted to Kick Cancer Fundraising Challenge born. A number of businesses have been here supporting us from the beginning. Alt.Kilt stepped up to the plate with prizes and discount gift certificates. Brownell's has donated thousands of dollars in gift certificates. Virginia Arms Company has donated a pistol every year. A host of other good people and companies have donated money and merchandise. Their names are right there on my sidebar, and I'd like to thank them each for their support.
In 2011, we raised $8,114. By the time matching donations and other funds trickled in, that total was over $12,000.
In 2012, we raised $22,475.55. With Caleb Giddings contribution from his participation in Bianchi Cup and my body waxing challenge, we topped $24,000.
This year, we set our goal ambitiously at $50,000. We didn't make that, but this year's totals reached $13,847.
That's over $50,000 in just 90 days of active fundraising. I'm pretty proud of that.
So, without further ado, the final standings of the Kilted to Kick Cancer 2013 Fundraising Challenge as of 2359 CST, September 30 are:
- Jay G. $3946
- Justin Schorr (ineligible) $1925
- Jeff Brosius $1870
- Jim Curtis $1130
- Kelly Grayson (ineligible) $1060
- Joseph Miller $840
- Angus McThag $796
- Michael Hast $705
- Fred Simons $460
- Stingray $300
- Scott Coykendall $290
- Matthew Smith $85
- Mark Anderson $25
- Glenn Parr $25
- Graeme Goodwin $20
- John Broyles $15
- Barron Barnett $5
- Tim Brown $5
- Team Gifts $345
Total: $13,847
So, Jay G. has first pick among the four prize packages, Jeff Brosius picks second, Jim Curtis picks third, and Joseph Miller gets the remaining prize package.
There are big things in store for Kilted to Kick Cancer for 2014 and beyond, folks. We're only a few short months away from being a registered 501(c)3 charity, and we anticipate even greater support in the near future.
Thank you all for your participation and for helping make our Kilted to Kick Cancer a success!
