the cans finale

Cans for Cancer has wrapped up folks. Thank you to everyone who participated!

We had over 200 pounds of cans which equated $133.90. PJ Greco & Sons will be matching that amount. Jenn saved $30 worth of cans and T received $40 for her bottle collection. The overall total from the fundraiser was $337.80! 

Woot woot that's $337.80 for your trash!

A thank you is in order for Mr. Chin for allowing me to borrow his van to take the cans in and to Greg who helped me take them in (although I'm fairly certain that he only did it because he wanted to meet my mom but I digress).

Check out the pictures:

first load of cans

the van was packed!

no pictures, please!

flea market madness

I wish I would have thought to take a picture of all the items that were donated - it was unreal. I am so grateful to have roommates that have been very tolerant of my fundraising antics. First it was the refrigerator jam packed with jello shots, then a living room that was cluttered with misc. items for weeks.... 

Thank you to everyone who donated items for the fundraiser. I had to make two trips to the flea market due to the mass amounts of items that were donated! I owe a major thank you to Julie and Greg for waking up at 5 AM and making the trip with me to sell the items.

After two trips to the flea market, a stop at Plato’s Closet and a stop at Half Price books we raised $305.50!

Pictures:

first trip

second trip

last call

…for cans. Cans for Cancer is getting ready to wrap up.

Pittsburgh peoples please get your cans to me by September 28^th. If you have been collecting cans (or bottles) and live outside the Pittsburgh area please send your donations to me by Oct 1. I recently moved so please message me for my new address.

Thank you to everyone who has participated J You guys are awesome!

Here's some pictures that can/bottle savers sent in:

part of T's hauls

Dana's softball collection

the happiest of all hours

 

 

Let’s make a difference by doing what we’re good at – drinking. Join me for some hump day drinks and delicious food at Shadyside’s newest restaurant, Steel Cactus on October 3rd from 6-9.

A $10 donation will get you a wrist band for $3 glasses of wine, $5 specialty cocktails, $7 yinzerita and the $3 featured drink of the evening. The wrist band will also qualify you to participate in the silent auction. As always, all proceeds will benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).

This will be my last fundraising event and my last chance to reach my goal of $10,000 for LLS (I’m close!). Please invite your friends and help spread the word – the more the merrier!

If you can’t make it but would like to donate, please visit my fundraising page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/wpa/nikesf12/jjaszczak

Thank you for your support!

 

 

wine-d down for a cause

Two of my super awesome friends, Jamie and Aileen, hosted a fundraiser called Wine-d Down for a Cause to benefit my cause.

If you missed it, I"m sorry. The event was pretty sweet.

Jamie and Aileen put together a wonderful spread of tasty food and delicious treats. Guests were asked to bring a $10 donation and a bottle of wine, and each guest was given a tasting glass to sample the array of wines that were brought.



(oops, turn head to the left)



yum!

Other friends, Allie, Amy, Lauren, Stacy and Angela put together some wonderful baskets for the raffle. Jamie enticed guests to purchase the raffle tickets by offering an irresistible deal -if you purchased 10 tickets, you got 2 free. When you're tipsy on wine it's simply a deal that you cannot pass up!




what a deal!



the amazing baskets

the ticket master

The night was filled with laughs, delicious food, wine and good friends. It couldn't have been more perfect. The event raised $191!

I owe a major thank you to the lovely hostesses for putting together such a wonderful event. You ladies did a great job! Also, thank you to the ladies who donated the wonderful baskets and to everyone who came out to drink wine with us. You guys are awesome!
 

the lovely hostesses



white wine for sampling

Ryan's contribution...

 

wine enthusiasts

junk sale

People, I want your junk!

I’m collecting items to sell at the local flea market. I will take anything that will sell - clothing, books, DVD’s, furniture, dishes, old electronics, stuffed animals, Bill Cosby sweaters, that fish tank that you’ve been using as a book case.

Items must be in sellable condition and safe (please do not give me your old toaster that sparks if you put bread in the left slot).



(Cosby Sweaters = good donation)



(items that may cause harm = bad donation)

Here’s your chance to get rid of that old junk that has been collecting dust in your house. Trust me – you won’t miss it. If you have less junk you will have to dust less and come on, who likes to dust?

I will be collecting items until September 14^th. If you would like to donate please let me know and we’ll make the necessary arrangements for pick up. Anything that does not sell will be donated to the Goodwill.  

As always, all proceeds will benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

To donate or for more information please email: funforcharity1@gmail.com.

cookies and cupcakes and pies, oh my!

The bake sale went better than I could have hoped for! We had so many delicious treats that we had to use two tables (and we still had items in the coolers!).

Trying to figure out prices for the items was the most difficult part. There’s a fine line when it comes to pricing. If it’s too low then you won’t make as much money but if you price it too high people won’t purchase the goods. After some back and forth and some research (thanks, Jamie) we decided to make it donation based. We took what people could give, and created a “suggested donation” sheet for those who had difficulty deciding what to pay (which we hardly used).

Now I’m sure that you’re thinking that there were some people who ripped us off, but that wasn’t the case. In fact, it was quite the opposite – people were very kind and generous. There was one gentleman who donated $40 and took a try of sugar cookies right off the bat! Many donated more than their share and took very little, and some simply  just made a donation. 

We were forced to close up shop when it started pouring down rain, out of the blue (note to self: bring tent next time). After 7 hours we had sold maybe 2/3 of the treats that we arrived with, but it had been a great day. I was eager to get home and see how much was raised.

Out of curiosity, we calculated what we would raise based on the suggested donation sheet. If we sold every item that we had at cost we would have raised $450!

  

So I guess you’re interested in how much was actually raised? After counting once and double checking just to be sure, the amount raised was $600!!! Now, based on our previous calculations, if we would have went by the cost sheet we would have only raised $450. We didn’t even sell everything that we had and we raised $150 more than what was estimated! Woo hoo!

I owe a major thank you to everyone that helped out! Thank you to Julie, Jamie, Joni, Erin, Lauren L., Stefanie, Derek, Aileen, and Amy for donating baked goods. All of your treats looked so delicious! Thank you to Lauren T. and Dana for helping me bake, package the treats and load the car. Thank you to Lauren T., Dana, Jessica, and Jamie for helping me set up, sell and tear down – I feel bad that I couldn’t help you ladies set up/tear down and load the car (stupid broken foot) but thank you for being such good sports. I also owe a thank you to Richard from the William Penn Tavern for letting us set up in front of the bar and for being so accommodating. And finally, thank you to everyone who stopped by and donated. I couldn’t have done it without you guys!

Check out the pictures:

nom sale

Have a sweet tooth? Stop by the Shadyside Arts Festival this Saturday (August 25th) for some seriously delicious treats. I'll have a table set up in front of the William Penn Tavern (739 Bellefonte Street  Pittsburgh, PA 15232) starting at 10 AM. We'll be there until the goods are gone - so come early.

There will be a  variety of noms ranging from cookies to pies to monkey bread. Don't know what monkey bread is? Come find out! You won't be disappointed.

Here's a sneak peak of what you'll see Saturday:

 cupcakes and banana bread

 cake pops

As always, all proceeds will benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. So come out and buy a cookie, cake pop or cupcake. Heck, buy 10 if you want. We won't judge. After all, the money you spend goes to cancer research, etc. You can look at it as multi-tasking - satisfying your sweet tooth and saving lives. Sounds like a good deal to me!

See you Saturday! :)

that's a good Bingo!

The Bingo night was really fun. The weather was kind of crappy but we didn't let that stop us! We simply set the tables up in the garage and proceeded to get our Bingo on.

Thank you to Emily for helping me organize the event, to Mrs. Sellers for hosting and to Erin for calling the numbers. I owe a shout out to Sam for getting us the tables and chairs and to Dan for helping us set up. And fiiiiiiiiinally a major thanks to everyone who came out! I couldn't have done it without you guys.

The event raised $226! :)

bad news bears

I started writing this post last week to share all of the exciting things that were happening - I recommitted to the marathon, booked my flights and broke $5,000!! Things were going great and the stars were aligning in my favor. That was until last Thursday.

Last Thursday was the Championship game for my volleyball league. We were in the final game when I rolled my foot, hard. I was hoping that it was just a bad sprain but the doctor confirmed my fear at the hospital - it was a small break, but it was a break.

I broke my foot.

Naturally, I would break my foot just days after booking my flights and submitting my recommitment paperwork. UGH.

I have never broken a bone in my life and I break one TWO MONTHS before my first full marathon. I'm stuck with crutches for 2-3 weeks and my expected recovery time is 6-8 weeks.

Unfortunately, that means that I will not be running the Nike Women's Marathon this year. I have traded in my running shoes for a boot and some less than fancy crutches.



I would be lying if I said that I wasn't upset because I am. I have dedicated the last three months to fundraising and training for the race and now I can't run it. Simply put: it sucks. But, on the bright side I can still fundraise and I'm going to do everything that I can to reach my goal of $10,000.

Thank you for your continued support.

BINGO!

It's a well known fact that Bingo is America's second favorite pastime next to boozing, of course. Or, was it baseball? Anyways, I figured that I'd combine America's two loves (I'm sticking with the b's: Bingo and booze) into one awesome event: Backyard Bingo.

Come out for a fun night of backyard Bingo in Mt. Lebanon. Booze is not only welcome but encouraged. Boards are 50 cents and winners will get half of the pot. 

All are welcome so grab your significant other, child, mom, dad, grandma, crazy aunt Sue and your drink of choice and get your Bingo on!

When: August 11
Time: 6-9 PM
Where: Mrs. Seller's backyard: 305 Old Farm Rd. Pittsburgh, PA 15228
Why: Because it's the American way.

For directions or questions please email: funforcharity1@gmail.com. Hope to see you there!

volleyball showdown

The volleyball tournament went really well!  The tournament started with a round robin and went into a seeded doubled elimination. Five teams participated and there was some stiff competition. Rivalry's between teams developed quickly, but after some hard play, several close games and a lot of sweat the Bunnies won the tournament.

I owe a major thank you to Aileen's mom for manning the concession table, to Kate and Glen for working the event and to Aileen for help with the organizing the tournament. Also, a big thanks to everyone who helped spread the word and put together teams. I couldn't have done it without you guys!

The tournament raised $330! Several players expressed interest in playing in another tournament. So who knows - maybe there will be another one in the coming months!

Here are some pictures from the event:

action shot

ready for the serve

Aileen's lovely mom!

first place prizes: shirts and medals

the winners!

charity volleyball tournament

Calling all volleyball players! Looking for a place to get your spike on? Look no further people.

I am hosting an indoor volleyball tournament in August to fulfill your v-ball needs. I'm sure that the last place that you want be in the summer is in a hot gym but good news - the place is air conditioned!

Here are the deets:

When: Saturday, August 4th
Where: Monroeville Sports Center (855 MacBeth Dr., Monroeville, PA 15146)
Time: 10 AM
Cost: $120 per team ($20/person for team of 6)
Why: It's fun for a cause!

Concessions will be sold. All proceeds will benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

To register a team please email: funforcharity1@gmail.com.

just keep drinking...

...from cans! Cans For Cancer is going well. I received word from Bob Greco from PJ Greco and Sons that he will match what I bring in for the cans!! So keep drinking, friends. From the Kenny Chesney concert we were able to collect 15 bags of cans! 


In about a month and a half I have raised almost $3,000! I realize that I have a long way to go but I am thrilled with my progress. Thank you to everyone who has helped me get this far! 

I have some fun things in the works and as soon as the details are finalized you will be the first to know! In the meantime I have been trying to think of some out of the box ideas to raise money. 

For the Kenny Chesney Concert, I sold jello shots (thanks for the idea, Getkin!). Jamie and I made almost 200 Shots for a Cause, and Jessica helped me sell them. In less than an hour we made $212! 

That's all that I have for now. Be sure to keep checking back.  

for the love of wine

The wine event was a great success!

A HUGE thank you to Jessica and Matthew! Not only did they organize the event, they graciously donated the food and some bottles of wine. Together they created a wonderful four course meal paired with the perfect wines. While Jessica presented each wine describing it's origin, Matthew prepared the courses (each with a unique blend of tastes) and described each pairing. Together they make the perfect team! If you ever need an event put together, they're the people for the job. 

Another BIG thank you goes to Ryta from The Naked Grape. She kindly allowed us to use her restaurant, discounted the wine and also donated  the final course - filet mignon (which was unbelievable)! 

Thank you to Bobby and Liz for helping out with the event. It was greatly appreciated! And thank you to everyone who joined us. It was great meeting meeting so many wonderful people! 

With everyone's generosity and help we were able to raise $1,103!!!! 

Check out the pictures from the event:

closed for a private event!

all set up

team in training 

information board

our lovely hostess and wine enthusiast  

our host and cook whose filet was so delicious that it "ruined steak" (in a good way) according to Megan 

ready for some wine

Warning: the next few photo's are of half eaten dishes. I was so memorized by the food that I kept forgetting to take pictures of the plates when they came out...oops.

First course: meat and cheese plate

Second course: fresh pasta with truffle oil

Third course: polenta with tomato sauce 

Fourth course: filet mignon

working his magic

getting their wine on

what a good looking couple!

Liz enjoying the deliciousness