Good News

5 days without blogging- how does that happen?? I was getting pretty tired at night last week and busy too. It felt strange not to be blogging as well.

So finally some good news on the Halloween Event front- we have our first official platinum sponsor on board for this year's event. That is a major relief because it has been really slow lining up the sponsors for that event. It is such an incredible event too, it doesn't seem right that it should be so difficult to raise money for it. Last year we had over 850 children and parents attend. For those who aren't familiar with the event- it is our annual Halloween and Child Safety Extravaganza, held in Worcester on the Saturday before Halloween. The goal of the event is to offer safe, fun, low cost Halloween activities for Worcester children and valuable safety information for children and parents. We have a lot of great safety participants- State Police, Worcester Police, Worcester Fire, Worc. County Sheriff's Office, Red Cross, the Mass. Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the CHIPS program and more. The children all come in their Halloween outfits and it is the cutest thing ever. We do pumpkin decorating, games and face painting. There is also live music, a dance performance and food/drinks. Paul Davis Restoration is the presenting sponsor for the event, we use their warehouse space and they are incredibly supportive of the event. This year will be our 4th event. However, besides the fact that it is a great event, I really need it to be a fundraiser as well as so far this year, we're not raising too many funds with it. So this was really good, unexpected news today. And how is this platinum sponsor? AAA New England. They were involved last year but in a smaller capacity- so it is great that they will be more involved this year.

What else is new? I'm working on lining up our 2009 calendar sponsors. So far, we have 3 months confirmed- that leaves 10 more ads (months and the back cover). There are a couple of months that I am particularly concerned about because I'm not sure if those sponsors will be returning. I am working on reaching new sponsors as well. I've also been working a lot on lining up the Anniversary Event sponsors- I have sent out quite a few mailings to last year's sponsors. One platinum sponsor has already confirmed. However, there are a lot more businesses to reach.

OK, I need to take a break from the sponsorship stuff- it can get a little overwhelming at times, particularly when I start thinking about everything that needs to be done. When you line up all the sponsors we need- between the calendar, date auction, anniversary event, Halloween event and regular sponsors and grants- cripes- it's a ton. But, that is the big picture and the best way- pretty much the only way- to succeed is to keep it in small pieces and work that way.
Well, that's about it for tonight- I should now go and respond to a bunch of emails and finish up some letters that need to go out. Feel a need to motivate myself with raspberry sherbert..until next time friends..