CROSSFIT FOR HOPE

Carly and her sister just being kids!

Several weeks ago, Chris and I talked about whether we wanted to participate in the CrossFit for Hope fundraiser. CrossFit for Hope raises money for Hope for Cures, a nonprofit organization that distributes 100% of its donations to chosen organizations that fight catastrophic children’s illnesses. It was set to take place Saturday, July 6th at CrossFit gyms around the world, and we knew this wouldn’t be a good weekend since many of our members would be out-of-town for the July 4th weekend.

One of our members has a 13-year-old, Carly Parker, who has been battling cancer since 2007. How could we NOT participate in a fundraiser that raises money to fight something that our member’s child and her family must deal with everyday? We asked if Carly could become the “face” of our fundraising efforts, with the goal of getting her to the top of the CrossFit for Hope donor leaderboard.

We decided to set the fundraiser for a different weekend- yesterday, to be exact. Participants were asked to donate a minimum $10 to do the Hope for Cures workout. We had an amazing turnout, with 51 athletes going through the workout. And let me tell you- that was one tough workout! We also had many people donate money who were not able to make it to the event.

Laura and Victoria take on the workout!

As of today, we have raised $4,750 in the name of Carly Parker. Once the checks that have been given to us are submitted, she will be in 5th place on the worldwide donor leaderboard! The generosity that has been shown by our members, by friends of the Parker family, by CrossFit athletes from other gyms, and from the Auburn community has been overwhelming.

Here are some of the amazing things that happened this week:

• We made a push this week via social media to get people to click on Carly’s fundraising page to make a donation. It is incredible to see so many people donate to this cause. Several people were not even members of ALL IN but still felt compelled to give. One of the donors is a CrossFitter in Texas who befriended the Parker family a while back when they were there getting treatment for Carly. She was thrilled to support Carly by making a donation even though she could not participate in the workout.
• We had several people who really dug deep in their pockets to make a significant donation. In particular, one of our members generously gave $500! On Friday, I received a text from a family asking for more information about CrossFit for Hope. They wanted to ensure that it was a “legitimate” charity that would be a good steward for their donation. After answering their questions, I later came home to find an envelope in my mailbox with a check for $1,700! My eyes literally filled with tears when I saw the check.
• We have some college kids that are members of our gym. Now, I remember what it was like in college. I was lucky to have a dime to my name by the end of the month. I could not believe these kids who donated, many over and beyond the $10 requested! Please know that I realize what a sacrifice that is for you, and I appreciate it so much.
• I also received a message from Kelly Ard at CrossFit on the Plains, another affiliate in our area. They will be having their CrossFit for Hope fundraiser on August 24th. She asked if they could donate 50% of the money they raise in Carly’s name! To me, this is  an example of what makes the CrossFit community so awesome. We come together and support each other. Amazing!
• We did not ask people to sign up beforehand to participate in the workout because we knew some people might decide last minute to come and some people may not be able to participate after all. We had no idea what to expect yesterday morning. In the end, we had 51 athletes! Some participants had been CrossFitting for a while, and some people had never done it before. The crowd cheered on those athletes that were doing the workout- especially as they reached their final round- and the energy in the gym was incredible. Thank you so much for coming out!
• A special shout-out has to go to CrossFit Opelika, another gym in our area. They had 6-8 athletes who participated yesterday, and again, gave generously to the cause. It turns out the wife of the owner of CFO was one of Carly’s teachers so they really wanted to come out and give us support. We can’t thank you enough! Again, they are another example of this great community I am fortunate to be a part of.
• Probably the highlight of the day for me was having Carly herself at the event. For anyone that follows Carly’s story, she has had a rough time of it lately as her cancer has returned. Her mother keeps us updated, and we have all prayed and cried tears these past few months as we are posted on how Carly is doing. Thanks to a steroid, she is feeling better, and it made me so happy to see her running around the gym, using a band on the pull-up rig as a swing, and just acting like a 13-year-old child! At the same time, it reinforced the fact that NO child should be dealing with such a horrible disease as cancer.

Getting it done!

When we decided to have this fundraiser, I set the goal to raise $5,000. Did I really think we would come even close to raising that much? I’ll be honest- nope. That is a lot of money! But at the same time, I wanted to raise as much money as we could- not so I could write a blog post about how much we were able to raise. I wanted to raise as much money as possible to show Carly that there are people who care about what she is going through.

I told the group at the fundraiser yesterday that there is no community like the CrossFit community. We are a group of people who want to be better. When you surround yourself with those who strive to become better, you can’t help but be around the most incredible, positive group of people. Thank you to each and every one of your that supported this cause.

It is not too late to donate if you haven’t already done so! Please click here- https://hope.crossfit.com/athlete?id=219282&hope=cures -which will take you to Carly’s donor page where all you have to do is click on “Sponsor Me” and make a donation via credit card. Any amount is greatly appreciated!