Monday, March 31, 2008

my mom can't run!

Even though i will be blindfolded for the Vision5k I could probably run faster than my mother goes. She ran today ( her run is more like my walk). She keeps telling me that i will be going slower than i normally go because i am blindfolded. i agree with that, but i have made it clear that we are finishing the race at a medium pace. Maybe i'll change my mind once i have started running with her. My next blog entry will be about are our first attempts at running together ( be prepared to laugh.)
- rachel

now rachel's mom is typing: i ran 1 mile today and walked 3.5 and i could hardly breath :) I think that by putting myself "out there" to complete this run I am experiencing a challenge like Rachel will have being blindfolded.

m

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Thank you!

Thank you so much to everyone who has already contributed to this cause. I can't believe how generous people have been. It's exciting to me to look at the website when I get home from school to see what the new donations are.

My Mom is going to try to run with me this weekend. She's got a lot of work to do to make it the whole 5K!
We will go to one of the training sessions for help.

May 3rd is another family day at the National Braille Press! look at their website to get info about how you can volunteer too :)

bi
Rachel

Monday, March 24, 2008

FUNdraising ...

HI it's Rachel,
I thought raising $1500 was going to be a really big challenge. To get people to contribute I sent a letter via email explaining what I was doing and why. I tried to make the letter really personal so people knew why this meant something to me and why they should donate money to this cause. Surprisingly I got a lot of responses in a really short time. Within the first couple of days I got like $300.

My Mom sent the letter to her friends and all our relatives. And even some of my friends sent money. I made a webpage. It's prettyful :)

So don't get discouraged. Don't get worried. People are generous.

I can't believe I have already raised $1100

WOW!
You can check out my fundraising letter on my webpage http://www.active.com/donate/vision5knbp2008/MAndres

bi bi
rachel

My name is Rachel and I am going be thirteen this June and will become a Bat Mitzvah at my synagogue. We do a community service project and I have chosen to run in the Vision 5K Blindfold Challenge.

I picked this project because my cousin Sawyer, who I love very much, is blind. I can see him learning how to do all of these kid things like walking, playing his music and riding on his toy rocket. He goes at his own pace. Once when I was at his house his Mom would talk to him and he would follow her voice. Instead of seeing her, he can listen to her and know where she is. I wondered what it would be like to need to rely on your hearing and your other senses to know where people are and what they are doing.

In the Blindfold Challenge I will have to do that. I will be the blindfolded runner and my Mom is going to be my guide. I will need to listen to what she is saying (which is a change from what I normally do!). It's going to be hard for me because I don't usually pay attention to all of the sounds. I rely on my sight most of the time. It's still a little bit too cold to start running outside so I am starting on my fundraising now.

My next entry will be about my fundraising.
-byeeeeeee-
Rachel