May 2009 Letter from Donna
Hello Everyone!
It’s May, and we are already well into planning for our February 21, 2010, 26.2 With Donna. But before we tell you about some exciting news for next year, I want to fill you in on this year’s numbers and what you were able to accomplish.
Our final fundraising numbers are in and they are beautiful! The 2009 26.2 With Donna raised a grand total of 708,095 dollars!! What’s more amazing to me is that, in this economy, our runners themselves raised more than 237,000 dollars! As you know, we don’t make fundraising mandatory for this race. Your entrance fee gets you in. But many still chose to fundraise and they did an amazing job. As always, when you run with us, you know exactly where the proceeds are going. Seventy percent goes to life saving breast cancer research at the Mayo Clinic, and 30 percent to The Donna Foundation to help those living with the disease right now.
Dr. Perez and her team at Mayo are involved in some amazing studies that are geared to providing individualized, targeted therapies for breast cancer. This has not been possible before now, but thanks to your dollars, we are getting there! The Donna Foundation has now had the opportunity to serve more than 2000 women in need, providing everything from their medications to their mortgages, and you can take a special pride in that as well. You are making a huge difference when you run with us. Not only in your life, but in the lives of others.
We have received wonderful feedback from many of you, and I want to thank you for that as well. Our Number One goal every year is to make 26.2 With Donna all about YOU; you have told us in no uncertain terms that you recognize and appreciate that. Whether you came from Jacksonville or Alaska to run with us, we all run with a purpose and that purpose is clear. There is a synergy with this race that it is tough to find elsewhere: From the buzz at the expo to the crowds on the streets, we are all focused on finishing breast cancer once and for all.
We had an incredible field of runners this year. Our winner, Simon Sawe of Kenya, had some beautiful remarks about why he runs here. You’ll read more about that in this newsletter.
Also, we are starting something new in Year Three. A marathon relay! This will make our race accessible to many more who want to take part in getting us to the finish line with a cure. You will read details about that as well.
Again, thanks to all of you who participated in this year’s race. We look forward to seeing you back here on February 21, 2010. For those who have yet to join us, we are anxious to show you why our runners say this race is the most satisfying they’ve ever participated in.
Training signups are on the way! Join our Galloway trainers and we’ll get you to the finish line with the experience of a lifetime.
Gratefully,
Donna
