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Veterans' Day, 2010
| Issue #9 |
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| Greetings! | |
Welcome to the Team Fisher House Journal - eNews for fundraisers, volunteers and donors. This monthly e-newsletter was designed to keep you up-to-date on the latest Team Fisher House and Fisher House Foundation News.
Thank you for your continued support of Team Fisher House and America's Veterans!
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| Champions for Military Families | |
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Featured Fundraiser:
Team Fisher House at the 2010 Marine Corps Marathon  |  2010 is the fifth anniversary of Team Fisher House at the Marine Corps Marathon. We started in 2006 with 85 runners, recruited through a network of military spouses, with the goal of breaking even. The team's initial fundraising success of $70,000 made 2007 a no-brainer.
The team grew to over 200 runners in 2007, bringing in more than $278,000 in donations. In 2008, Team Fisher House became an official program of the Foundation. Since its inception, Team Fisher House has contributed over $1,250,000 from over 10,000 donors through the efforts of more than 1,100 runners at the Marine Corps Marathon!
Team Fisher House at the 2010 Marine Corps Marathon has the greatest number of runners and volunteers ever! 295 runners joined the team and wore our eye-catching shirts and hats on the marathon and 10K race courses this year. They were supported by over 250 volunteers - most of whom dotted the race course wearing Team Fisher House gear and ringing cow bells to cheer on the team.
The 2010 team celebrated together at our own pasta dinner the night before the race. Thanks to the generous contributions of Newman's Own, the team of runners, volunteers and their guests enjoyed a meal together and heard the inspiring words of our guest speaker, Captain Ivan Castro, the only blind Special Forces officer on active duty.
 While serving as a first lieutenant with the 82nd Airborne Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Ivan sustained life-threatening injuries during a mortar attack. He received numerous injuries to include the loss of his right eye and the permanent loss of vision to his right eye from the attack. Captain Castro truly defines resiliency - not only did he become the first blind graduate of the Maneuver Captain's Career Course in Fort Benning, GA, he continues to challenge himself as an athlete - running the Army Ten-Miler, the Marine Corps Marathon and even an ultra-marathon.
For their fundraising efforts, contributing over $320,000 to the construction of the three new Fisher Houses in Bethesda, Maryland, Team Fisher House at the 2010 Marine Corps Marathon will be recognized as a 3-star donor on a plaque permanently displayed in the foyer of each house.
Team Fisher House at the 2010 Marine Corps Marathon is a Champion for Military Families!
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| About Team Fisher House |
Team Fisher House is the community of online fundraisers for Fisher House Foundation. The program enables participants to become "Champions for Military Families" through communit or Team Fisher House events, or by hosting event of their own. The Team Fisher House program uses customizable internet-based campaigns to make fundraising for Fisher House easy, fun and rewarding. Anyone can raise funds for Fisher House through the Team Fisher House Program - it's not just for runners!
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Featured Story: Christy Babin, Team Fisher House Runner
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 In 2003 when my brother Alan was severely wounded in Iraq, my parents'only thought was to get to him immediately. We were very blessed to have friends and family help in every way possible, including raising funds, but nobody could have foreseen the journey that lay ahead or the two and a half years that he would spend in hospitals.
After a couple of weeks in a hotel at Walter Reed, they were introduced to the Fisher House on base where military members and/or their families were provided the comforts of home while they received medical care. This became our D.C. home very quickly and provided much more than just a living facility.
The people that we met there became family and offered comfort in ways that we could not have known we would need. For example, upon learning of the challenges Alan would face digestively, (if eating would even be an option) we met a new "house mate" who had actually overcome more extreme stomach adversity and assured us that Alan would be enjoying steak dinners before we knew it and, boy has he! :)
Assurances like these were what kept us pushing forward. The Fisher House not only provided a place to live but also surrounded us with others facing similar challenges. We learned from each other and gave hope where it was desperately needed. It was a home away from home.
Donations to Fisher House will not only be giving back to those who made it possible for us to be by Alan's side throughout his entire journey, but will also be helping families who are currently facing challenges of their own.
I am honored to be running for Team Fisher House at the 2010 Marine Corps Marathon.
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| Team Fisher House at the 2010 Marine Corps Marathon Sponsors and Volunteers |
Fisher House Foundation could not fully support its MCM team without the help of sponsors and volunteers. The support for the 2010 team was phenomenal!- Military Times - designed and printed full-pages ads in the Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times and Marine Corps times to recruit runners. They will also print a full-page thank-you ad in November.
- Newman's Own - donated $10,000 towards the cost of the pasta dinner and contributed their award-winning sauces and salad dressings for the team to enjoy. Newman's Own also purchased the custom running bags for each team member.
- WMAL - recorded and played public service announcements to recruit runners and volunteers for the team.
- BMI Defense Systems - sponsored the Team Fisher House jackets given to each team runner
- HBO - donated $7,500 to sponsor the Team Fisher House booth at the 2010 MCM Expo. They also contributed 25 copies of The Pacific DVD series to top fundraisers
- Virginia Emergency Physicians - donated $5,000 to help cover the cost of the Team Fisher House race shirts.
- Picerne Military Housing - designed and printed recruiting ads in its hand-delivered community newsletters, reaching over 20,000 military families across the country.
- MilitaryConnection.com - featured Team Fisher House in their 700,000-subscriber newsletter to help recruit runners.
- Pepsi Cola Military Sales - donated all the food and beverage items for the runners and volunteers at the Team Fisher House finish-line tent.
- Touch of Relief - 20+ volunteer massage therapists volunteered their time to soothe the aching muscles of our runners after the race.
- Kappa Sigma Fraternity - more than 100 brothers from the DC area chapters volunteered their time on race day to support Team Fisher House runners along the marathon course.
- Donna & Company Artisanal Chocolates - Diane Pinder designed and produced custom Team Fisher House chocolate bars for the pasta dinners guests.
- Wild Zipper - donated the custom-designed quilt awarded to the runner with the greatest number of donations.
Thank you, Team Fisher House Sponsors. You are Champions for Military Families!
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Thank you for supporting Fisher House Foundation through the Team Fisher House Program. You truly are a Champion for Military Families!
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Cathy Cabrey
Program Director, Team Fisher House
240-599-2473
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