Donation Letter

The Obliteride is fast approaching. Only 114 more days to raise the minimum $1,500 needed for my 100 mile ride.  Here's the kicker - even though I believe in this cause with all my heart, I am always so hesitant to ask friends and family for money.  This goes way, way back.  I had my dear friend Kristy sell my candy bars for Little League, my Dad always bought all my band calendars and I usually just pony up the money instead of asking others.  I know how hard it is to come up with extra cash. I understand that even if I support the cause, funds are tight.  But I also know from working for Fred Hutch the last 16 years (yes it's been that long!) that research cannot be done without the support of our community.  Government funding is limited and continues to be a low priority; so fundraising is a necessity.  So I plan to send the following letter to friends and family in hopes that their support will help me reach my goal.

Dear Friends and Family,

Driven by the goal to end cancer, Obliteride is a new, community-wide effort to raise money to accelerate lifesaving research at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. I’m joining a movement of people committed to obliterating cancer that culminates in an empowering bike ride August 9-11, 2103.

Cancer touches all of us - half of all men and one third of all women in the U.S. will get cancer in their lifetime. These figures are shocking, but, I believe we can change the stats by funding lifesaving research at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

In honor of my extraordinary family members who are surviving cancer, as well as the amazing loved ones we've lost, I'll be cycling 100 miles on August 10 to raise $1500 (or more!) for cancer research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, whose work I believe in implicitly and am consistently astounded by...and an organization I am honored to call my employer.
 Here's where I need your help. CAN YOU HELP ME RAISE $1500? 100% of every dollar donated will go directly to cancer research at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where your donation can make a DIRECT IMPACT on research to save lives faster.

Do this for me. Do this for my mom Dorothy, Aunt Eleanor, Aunt Elaine, Aunt Debbie, Barb, Harold, for loved ones whose fight you've witnessed and whose fight is your own. Do this for your mom, your sister, your daughter, your dad, your brother, your son. Do it for all the people out there who you will never know, but whose lives, like yours, will never be the same after hearing the words "It's CANCER." 

TOGETHER WE CAN DEFEAT CANCER. 

Thank you with all my heart.

Sincerely,

Sonia Kathleen (Yantz) Bishop