Officers Elected and Logo Selected

Last Wednesday evening, Striving for More, Inc had its first official board meeting. The fact that the board met for the first time was an exciting milestone for me. In my mind, that was the evening that "my organization" becomes "an Organization managed by a Board of Directors". It sounds so thrilling, doesn't it? Also in my mind, that is the day that I became an employee or even a servant to the Board. I pray that I can continue to communicate my vision, my passion and my enthusiasm to each of them so that we can all accomplish great things together but it is no longer just "mine" and major decisions will have to be made as a team.

During the meeting, officers were elected. Up until this point, I have not shared who was on my board because I did not feel like it was official yet. Since it is official at this point, I am ready to share with you all the Striving for More Board of Directors

  • President ~ Diane Moore
  • Vice President ~ Bob Witter - Bob and I were colleagues at Sony Ericsson for many years until he left 6 years ago to start his own company. He is currently the CEO of Device Solutions, a technology firm located in RTP. He was an inspirational mentor to me during our time together at Sony Ericsson and I believe he has picked up right where he left off. As cancer has touched his life in many ways through family and friends, he is passionate about our cause.
  • Treasurer ~ Jill Balogh - Many of you have heard me talk about Jill before. She is a great friend and loved Colleen and the time she spent with her. Jill also spent more than 20 years at IBM as a software programmer before she retired a year ago. Since her time with Colleen, she now has a passion to help kids with cancer and has been my right hand in the establishment of this organization.
  • Secretary ~ Shay Montgomery Crenshaw, M.Div., BCC - Shay is the Director of Pastoral Care for UNC Hospitals. My relationship developed with Shay during Colleen's time at UNC as she was the Pastor serving in the Pediatric Oncology Unit at the time. Both Colleen and I grew to love her. Her passion is helping children and she is pleased to be able to serve in this role.
  • Director ~ Daniel S. Wechsler, MD, PhD - Dr. Wechsler is the Chief of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Duke University Medical Center. I am honored and thrilled to have him on our board. He was Colleen's doctor at Duke and he continues to support this important initiative and our work towards improving the care that all kids with cancer receive.
  • Other ~ Felicia Gore Hoover, JD - Felicia is long time friend of mine and an excellent attorney. She has agreed to serve on the board temporarily until we can find a permanent replacement. Her life is quite full as the mother of triplet 9 year old girls, working full time and already serving on other boards. She has already proven to be an extremely valuable resource during our first board meeting. Thanks Felicia.
We are still in need of additional board members. Specifically, we are looking for passionate individuals in the following roles who may be interested in serving in this important role:
CPA, Marketing/Advertising/PR, Experiencing Fund Raiser or Development Director, Pediatric Social Worker, Pediatric Psychologist, Child Life Specialist or Recreation Therapist, Pediatric Oncology Nurse, Nurse Practitioner or Physicians Assistant, Attorney (Business, Estate Planning or Non Profit Experience Preferred), Computer or other Technological Specialties, Entertainment Industries/Media Executives, Business Executives (Officers or Key Corporate Positions).

If you are in one of these roles, are passionate about the Striving for More cause and think you may be interested in joining us, please contact me.

The second exciting accomplishment that came out of our meeting is that we picked a logo! So, here is the first official unveiling of the new Striving for More, Inc. logo.

For those of you who are unaware, the gold ribbon represents, Childhood Cancer Awareness. Just like the Pink Ribbon represents Breast Cancer Awareness. We realize that this is not a well known fact at this time but we decided that we think that need to change. We hope that a year from now, everyone will be buying gold kitchen appliances to support childhood cancer!

Lastly, the Bylaws were all officially signed by the board members and the tax exemption paperwork was officially submitted to the IRS. So now we are in a waiting game. It could be 90 days or it could be a year. We were advised by our attorneys not to perform any fund raising activities until we receive our official tax certification.

As a result, I have decided that I will pursue some short term contracting assignments to try to beef up my savings account to help me get through the future life of a social entrepreneur living on a meager or potentially non existent wage. Therefore, if you know anyone that needs a kick butt, highly efficient, Enterprise Software Implementation Program Manager who is willing to travel and take short term assignments, send them my way.

This does not mean that I am giving up on my vision, or my passion. I think this is what God has in mind right now, while I wait. Work during the day for "the man" and plan during the evenings for "the kids".

Please say a prayer that I am discerning this message correctly.



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Legal Language and Logos

I spent the entire day today working on finalizing the 1023 document for the IRS (so they will give me tax exempt status). I had left the meeting with my attorney last week with a list of action items. I had underestimated how much effort that I would have to put into the "narratives" that have to be attached to the 28 page form. Boy, it was an exhausting day. But I am really glad that the work is behind me and most of it is stuff that I would have ended up doing anyway. For example, I actually had to design a Striving for More Grant Application and Process.

I was initially thinking I would surf the web and find another foundation's grant application and tweak it. Well, that is what I ended up doing but it took a LOT of tweaking since Striving for More is so unique in the fact that it is the first of its kind (that I know of) to fund psychosocial services. All of the other foundations are funding research and the application and review process for that type of grant is completely different than what I needed. That was only one of about 9 action items which were all at least that difficult. But as I said, I am glad to have it behind me. I feel exhausted but accomplished.

Sprinkled throughout my day, I have been looking at possible Striving for More logos. I started a logo design contest and I have received 48 submissions already. There are still 6 days left in the contest. The contest administrators encourage you to provide prompt and constructive feedback when the designers submit artwork. This allows for an iterative process over the 10 day contest period. It is interesting, fun and a lot of work all at the same time.

I sure would love to hear some comments from you guys. It gets really hard to look at them all and I would love to hear some other opinions. I am hoping that one is going to come in it is going to hit me as the perfect logo but it hasn't happened yet. I have been very impressed by the dedication, hard work and quality that I have received. The designers that are working on it seem to be working hard to win.

Please go check it out and let me know what you think! Click here to check them out. Scroll down to see the logos because they are toward the bottom of the page. Each logo has a number so it is best to refer to the number if you make a comment. I can't wait to hear your comments. Comment here on the blog so everyone can see, that is, if you aren't too shy.

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Wacky Hair and Newly Found Confidence to Go With It!

Today was a good day. Wednesdays usually are not such good days for me because they start out with grief group and that is a tough way to start the day.

However, today, I decided that I was going to find a salon to give me crazy hair for free. So, I armed myself with a picture of Colleen and I, a print out of from the St. Baldrick's site showing that I am the top female fund raiser in Raleigh right now, and my Striving for More Article of Incorporation from the State.

The first salon I happened upon was Finesse Salon & Spa at 4406 Old Wake Forest Road (right next to Red Lobster). I went in and spoke to April (the manager). She was fantastic. I barely got my spiel out of my mouth and she agree to help me. She was so enthusiastic, it was fantastic.

So April and a stylist named Katie started working on my hair right away. I specifically went during a typically slow time so that I would not take away from their other business so they were able to help me right away. I had a blast. It was so liberating letting them do whatever they wanted and April was so great. She knew that I wanted to get attention and she was so great helping me get wild. You see the picture. I ended up with platinum blond hair with a blue faux hawk. And this is permanent dye... well I guess until it gets shaved off on March 7th.

April offered me gift certificates and offered to run other fund raising events at the salon to support Striving for More as well. We are going to talk more about that in the future. She was fantastic. When I say in my title that I have new found confidence, it actually has very little to do with my hair. It has to do with the fact that I went into this salon and I asked for a donation and I was received so well, I have confidence in myself for my future fundraising capabilities. I might actually be able to do this. I was doubting myself a bit.

This weekend, Ed's sermon was on fear. He reminded us that when we are afraid, it is ok to ask God to show us what He has in store for us. I had never actually thought of doing that before. I thought that turning your life over to God meant and letting Him be in control meant that you were not allowed to know the future. So, I never prayed about asking to see what He had in store. After hearing the sermon, I have been praying about asking to see what God has in store for me because I am nervous and fearful of my future.

I feel like that prayer has been answered in a small way. In that I have been shown that perhaps I can actually be successful at fund raising and that maybe what I did today is what my future will look like for a little while.

Today, I am thankful for answered prayers and generous strangers who have become new friends and supporters.

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Closer and Closer to a Federal Non Profit...

I worked all afternoon today with my attorney on the IRS 1023 form. That is the form that you need to submit to the IRS in order to obtain your 501(c)3 status which means that you are an official non profit charitable organization in the eyes of the federal government. It is a brutal form and they review it very carefully. It is over 28 pages long and with the written attachments it ends up being more than 50 pages of submissions. I still have a bit of homework to do but we are closing in fast.

I received my Employee Identification Number from the IRS today. That is the number that is equivalent to a social security number for businesses so I can open a bank account and do a lot of the things that I have been waiting to do regarding the business so I am excited about that.

Next Wednesday, I have my first Board Meeting. I have to complete all of the outstanding work for the 1023 and have the bylaws signed by the board members on Wednesdays. Then I can have the attorney submit the 1023 on Thursday. It is an exciting milestone. However, then the wait will begin. And it could be a long wait. Some say 3 months, some say 6 months, some say as long as a year. Obviously, I pray that it is as quick as possible.

Colleen died 8 months ago today. It doesn't seem like it has been that long.

We took Mackenna to the first of an 8 week grief children's grief group hosted by Hospice of Wake County. They serve a light dinner and spend a half an hour with the parent and the children and then they split the kids and the parents into groups. There are three groups (teens, kids 6-12 and parents). It was a good mix. I was glad to hear that there was glad to hear that there were two other kids there that had lost siblings (I know glad sounds bad but I hope by now you all know what I mean). Mackenna did not feel like she needed to go but on the way home she said that she was glad she went. The session for adults was rough on Vince and I. It is hard to sit around and listen to the stories other people's loss which is what the nights of introduction are usually like. Mackenna realized tonight that Colleen died on her "half birthday". That was sort of a bummer of a reality for her. Since her birthday is around Christmas she always appreciated recognizing her "half birthday" even though we never actually celebrated it with anything.

Need to sign off, I have class at Duke all day tomorrow... "Board Management for Non Profits".

By the way, I have decided that I am going to dye/bleach my hair some crazy color to create a stir before the shave. So if you know of a stylist in the area that is willing to do this for me for free in the next week as a way of contributing to the cause, I would love a referral (I believe it will help me raise more money for St. Baldrick's and also allow me to talk more about Striving for More).

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Docked with Time for Reflection

Today we are docked in Port Canaveral and I have a strong enough cell signal that I am able to use my cell phone and as a modem to write this blog.

You may wonder why I am on the ship writing this when I could be out enjoying the Florida weather. We did take a 3 hour "Wilderness Excursion" earlier but we did not have enough clothes to keep us warm enough and decided to return to the warmth of the ship as it is only 43 degrees here today (and that does not count the wind chill coming off the water). We did get to see lots of birds on our pontoon cruise and the people were nice but we were all a bit disappointed that the dolphins and the manatees didn't make an appearance.

I have cruised many times in my life. In fact, when I was about 19 or 20 I took a cruise to Bermuda alone (through a travel agent that booked me with about 24 other singles) and it was one of the best vacations that I have ever had. However, Vince and Mackenna had never been on a cruise before this one. We have collectively decided that this will be our last. This is just not the environment for us not to mention that the weather has been unusually cold the entire time.

The good news is that we did get one sunny day in Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas (the cruise line's own island) where Mackenna had her first snorkeling experience in crystal blue water and she loved it. She and her Dad enjoyed the time together even though the water was very cold. I, on the other hand, sat on the beach and finally finished reading The Shack by William P. Young. I cried hysterically but it was probably because it hit very close to home for me. It definitely was an important book in my Christian journey and I have heard other people say that it has changed their lives so I recommend it if you have not read it. I have to be honest, it was a hard read for me at first (seemed a bit hokey) but I liked the message it had to send.

If you have never done it before, I also highly recommend taking a trip completely alone. In fact, I am considering doing it again this yearr. My church is encouraging everyone in the church to take a pilgrimage this year and helping to arrange trips. I am considering going on a trip to a Salt Lake City Emergent Community. I want to be within a community where there are not as many Christians. I want to talk less and listen more. Listen to God and to others and to learn from it.

Not sure why I am talking about taking this trip when we are not even home yet. Vince is antsy to get home. So am I. This trip was good. This is the first day since we left that I have had a laptop on my lap and it is usually a fixture that is permanently affixed to my body so it has been a needed break. We have spent a lot of time with Mackenna and she has said that she has enjoyed it although she states she would rather just fly to "one of these places next time and stay in a hotel" and we all agreed.

It never ceases to amaze me how God puts people in your path. The one event that I decided to do on this ship alone was the "Martini Tasting". I sat next to this couple and started chatting and eventually got around to what I do for a living and how I got to this point in my life. You should know that about 80% of the people on this ship seem to be over the age of 60 and seem to keep to themselves. So at this point, I had not chatted with anyone. Anyway, they tell me that they are both nurses and that she is an oncology nurse. We spoke for a while longer and they really encouraged me and what I am doing for the kids. I am thankful that God had these two people sitting next to me. Yes... even at a martini tasting.

That's all for now. There is a trivia challenge at 8pm that sounds like it might be fun and we haven't had dinner yet. We leave port at 9:30 so I will most likely be incommunicado until we return on Saturday so I hope every has a good Friday.

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