Betty's Run

I suffer from fatigue. My body is fatigued, my nerves are fatigued, my emotions are fatigued. There is another kind of fatigue stalking me these days - donation fatigue. The world around is filled with worthy causes these days, people asking for help with almost every thing you can imagine. With the advent of professional fundraising companies and online donation sites, almost every moment of my life is filled with messages from someone requesting my financial help, or at least that is how it seems.

When I was doing renovations I worried a lot about money. I wondered about cost and how much I would have left. I even considered one of those online fundraising campaigns. I didn't, for three specific reasons. First and foremost, I realized that many of those who would support me are those who already support me, my friends and family, those closest to me who have already given me so much. Second, there are so many good causes out there and mine was really all about me, a selfish kind of thing when I already have so much. Third, I just didn't feel all that good about asking for help when I had not yet exhausted all of my own resources.

Still, in the midst of all this donation fatigue there are some things worth asking, some causes sufficiently important to me to get above the noise of it all. Obviously ALS is one of these, a cause so personal to me as to raise its head tremendously above the crowd of other causes. Each of us has one of these, a personal cause driven by personal impact. Either you have had cancer or know someone, you have had a special injury or unique health challenge or someone you love has it; for each of us there is that cause that touches us directly.

With ALS, it is sufficiently rare that many of us have never been touched by it. For many, that touch is only peripheral; a friend of mine's Dad had it or something like that. For me, I have ALS. So, in the midst of all of this donation fatigue, I am asking for help in raising money for research and treatment for ALS patients.

This year, for my second year, I am taking part in the ALS Society of Alberta's major fundraising effort, Betty's Run, on June 8th. Given the nature of ALS, it's unlikely that I will participate in many more, but I am hoping. This year I have once again formed "Team Terrific" and I have my own fundraising page. My hope is that you will help me help others. It is unlikely that there will be a cure in my lifetime but I have already benefited from the support and care of the ALS Society.

If you are able and would like to support me in this effort, just click on the link to Team Terrific or to my fundraising page. Some of you will have done this already; I thank you. Others will do so too; I thank you. Others will suffer from donation fatigue, just as I do, or will have other causes to support. I understand; there's a lot out there.