2012 Ride for Heart orientation sessions
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 2012 BECEL HEART&STROKE RIDE FOR HEART
Get your 2012 kicked off right! Join us at one of our brand new Ride for Heart Orientation sessions and learn everything you need to know.
• What’s new for the 25th Anniversary
• How to become a VIP or start a Corporate Team
• Rider benefits and incentives
• Heart and Stroke Foundation Mission – what your fundraising supports
• Fundraising resources, tips and tricks
• CPR and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) demonstration.
Select from the following sessions:
| Date | City | Location (click for map) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 9th | Thornhill | Thornhill Community Centre | 6:00-7:00 pm |
| February 16th | Pickering | Pickering Central Library | 6:00-7:00 pm |
| February 23rd | Mississauga | Mississauga City Hall | 6:00-7:00 pm |
| February 29th | Markham | Markham Centennial Community Centre | 6:00-7:00 pm |
Maya surpasses her fundraising goal
22-year-old stroke survivor, Maya initially planned to raise $1000 for the Ride for Heart. She has since had to raise her fundraising goal TWICE. Here’s how she’s pulled it off:
Two weeks ago I sent out my fundraising letter to family and friends. Within a week I raised and hit my second fundraising goal. The support I have and continued to receive is amazing. I believe that this is because it is not only me that has benefited from Heart and Stroke, but everyone around me, too. I did not fight this battle by myself, but everyone I know was affected. Because of this they all understand how important research from Heart and Stroke is, and how it contributes to studies that bring lifesaving procedures and knowledge to Canada. The support that I receive is so motivating. It reminds me that I am raising money for research that will help everyone around me.
On January 30th, it was a year since I was listed for my heart transplant. On this day my hope was restored that I could live a normal life and have a good quality of life. Because of funds donated to Heart and Stroke that brought the first heart transplant to Canada, I had hope that I would live!
That is why fundraising is so important to me. And that is why it means so much to me that my family and friends have helped me hit my second goal. They have also personally been affected by my brushes with death and know how Heart and Stroke’s research and innovations have brought me back to life.
On February 9th, it will be the first anniversary of my heart transplant. In this past year, I have gone from being unable to walk upstairs to running upstairs; having purple lips to pink lips and colour in my cheeks; such a shockingly low blood pressure that doctors have asked me how I am conscious to normal pressure; and constantly being out of breath to training for the Ride for Heart.
Fundraising is so important because it helps us finally live again, due to the funds raised contributing to research. If you knew me before my transplant, you know how funding for Heart and Stoke has helped me and if you only met me after my transplant, then it is because of Heart and Stroke that you know me. The ride is so important to me because it is proof of how much research has helped me.
Donate to Maya’s fundraising campaign or follow her on Twitter.
Fundraiser Corey Preece insists you start early
With over $9,000 raised to date, Cambridge’s Corey Preece is currently leading the Ride for Heart fundraising pack. We caught up with him to learn his personal story, get the scoop on his fundraising efforts and his plans to build his team, “In Memory of Dorothy Preece.”
Ride for Heart: Why are you taking part in the Ride this year?
Corey Preece: It’s an interconnected kind of story. My mom passed away last November of a stroke. There were no imminent symptoms that we knew of—it caught everybody off guard. My mom was 69, so quite young, and healthy otherwise. After she passed, I looked towards helping the cause and shedding information to make people more aware as to what the potential signs are. I knew about the Ride, but I’d never been in it. Once my mom passed away, I thought “Wow, what a perfect platform for me to try to pay it forward.”
I’ve always been a cyclist at heart, so it had that wrapped up in it too, and the Ride had a pseudo-meaning for me as well because the last time I saw my mom living was at a bike race. So there was a real serious connection there.
Last year was the first year I took part in the Ride, and the Heart & Stroke Foundation was really instrumental as I went through the process of investigating, enrolling and finding out how the whole thing worked. By coincidence, I already had a contact there, and she knew what I was hoping to achieve. She helped me maximize everything I could possibly put together and I had a decent run last year with what I could raise, but I told her that in 2012 I was going to be far more committed and I’m going to bring it to the table.
RFH: You weren’t kidding! How have you managed to raise over $9,000 to date?
CP: My mom and dad used to go to this one particular location of Boston Pizza and got really familiar with the owners. It was quite a shock when the owners found out my mom had passed away—my parents had become real regulars there.
Boston Pizza has always been a company that’s been really proactive in charities and were looking for a cause that they could donate to which held a connection for them. When they heard my mom’s story they all jumped on board and they had little cards made up for the tables that had my mom’s story on it and the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s information. Long story short, we ended up raising $9,000 from their stores over a period of months.
RFH: How do you plan to build on that momentum?
CP: What I’m in the process of doing is recruiting my riders, and I’ve got a couple people who are definitely on board, but I’m hoping to get 10, and from there we can launch our own individual fundraisers and combine our results, but getting out there early is key.
Human nature, for some, is to leave things until they absolutely have to do it.
RFH: Starting early is the best thing you can do to maximize your impact.
CP: Definitely—form your group really early, and let everybody individually start hacking away on their own. The problem is that [if you wait], people are already committed to other events. I was lucky enough last year to say, “Mark it on your calendar, commit and let’s raise money for the Heart & Stroke Foundation.”
RFH: How have you used social media in your fundraising efforts?
CP: Social media was my easiest fundraising tool. I was very active on social media and it’s amazing how many people I knew quite well but didn’t know that they had had somebody close them that passed away of a heart attack or a stroke. That was a surprise to me because some of the donations I received were bigger than I thought, and it was purely for the fact that someone could really relate to the cause. Most of the people on my Facebook knew my mom, and her picture on my profile tied the presence to an actual person.
RFH: What other tactics do you plan on using?
CP: Corporate donations. Companies usually have a charitable fund, but if you don’t hit them at the right time, you’re going to miss out. Hit the company that your company deals with—they have a name, a face, and they’ve also got a budget.
Our group is going to have a meeting and figure out what we’re collectively going to do. Each person I’m riding with comes from a different business background, so we’re going to be able to appeal to a wide range of people.
I have a sales background, and in a sales-oriented role you would ask multiple times for a sale. You have to go with your intuition and how well you know the person. If you’re on Facebook, you can post new details all the time. I would post that I was close, or getting near to my target. It was funny because I put an appeal out at the very end before donations were cut off, and I had a few people top me up.
