Guide to Organizing a Breast Cancer Fundraiser

When my longtime friend and co-worker was diagnosed with breast cancer she was only given six months to live. She ended up very sick from the chemo-therapy and missed a lot of work. All of us tried to talk the boss into letting us donate our sick, vacation and personal time to help her out, but he said it was against company policy. So, we took matters into our own hands and organized a fundraiser for her and her husband.

The first thing we did was look for a location that was inexpensive. They were members of the local Eagles organization so we had the banquet hall use donated to us.

The next thing we did was set out walking around town, business to business, asking for donations. We were looking to gather items or gift certificates to auction off to raise money. Some businesses just gave us cash but almost all of them were willing to give something.

While we were gathering items we were also selling raffle tickets to everyone we saw on the street. You can purchase double-sided tickets for about $8.00 at your local Wal-Mart.

We even went to the restaurants and asked if they would be willing to donate food items. We wanted to have a to-go option for people who couldn't stay to eat so some restaurants donated styrofoam boxes and cups.

Another co-worker's husband played in a band and they agreed to play live music so we could ask for a cover charge to help raise more money.

On the day of the event, everything turned out perfect. It brought our community together to help someone. I was amazed at the turn-out of people and the willingness to help someone in need.

We raised over $14,000 that day and our friend was brought to tears by the generousness of everyone. She eventually had to quit her job because she became too weak to work. The generosity continued though, once a week everyone got together and decided which seven people were going to make meals for the week. One person would go to each house and pick-up the frozen homemade meals and deliver them. While there, they would help to carry wood in for the fire and tidy up the house a bit.

Sadly enough our courageous friend met her end only seven short months later. But thanks to the generosity of strangers, she enjoyed those last few months without having to worry about money and taking care of the household chores.