Relentless Optimism Fundraising Blog

Boston 3 Day Spectator Info!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 23:08:00 +0000

Attention friends, family and assorted supportive strangers in the Boston area! The Boston 2010 3 Day for the Cure is just five days away which means it is time to make your plans to come out and support all of us during our 3 day, 60 mile journey!

There are three different opportunities for spectators to come out and be a part of the 3 Day experience: Opening Ceremonies on Friday morning, Cheering Stations along the route throughout the three days of the event and Closing Ceremonies on Sunday evening. I'm going run through each of these to give you all an idea of what to expect should you choose to join us (and you should!). Please note that I am borrowing much of this information directly from the Spectator Information section of the 3 Day website, which can be found here.

Opening Ceremonies

Friday June 23rd at 6:30am

Farm Pond
100 Dudley Road
Framingham, MA 01702
Map

Spectator Parking Directions:

From Route 135/Waverly Street, proceed on Fountain Street, turn right onto Winter Street and proceed for approximately 0.9 miles.
Turn right onto Dr. Harvey Cushing Way.
Turn right into the parking lot for Summerville at Farm Pond.
Please note that parking will not be permitted at Barbieri School, across the street from Farm Pond.

The Komen 3-Day for the Cure begins early Friday morning with the Opening Ceremony. When you arrive, take a moment to write the names of the people in your life who have lost their lives to breast cancer on the white ribbons we will provide. Those ribbons will be used to create a special memorial flag that will be raised during the ceremony.

This celebration is not just for participants. Friends and family are highly encouraged to attend, though please note that seating will not be available, so if you are unable to stand for 30-60 minutes, you may want to bring a folding chair. Please allow extra travel time due to expected traffic congestion at the site.

After the Opening Ceremony is over, participants will begin walking the 60-mile route and start a journey of a lifetime. It will be even more special if you are there to help send them off with smiles and encouragement. We'll also have the 3DayGear.com™ store on site if you'd like to purchase a souvenir for yourself or your participant.

Opening Ceremonies, Atlanta 2007

Cheering Stations

Friday June 23rd

Cheering Station 1, 8:30 - 11:30am
St. Paul's Church
502 Washington St.
Wellesley, MA 02482
Map

Cheering Station 2, 12:30 - 6:15pm
Yolanda's Parking Lot
355 SR-60 Waverly Oaks Rd.
Waltham, MA 02452
Map

Saturday June 24th

Cheering Station 1, 7:30 - 10:45am
Robbins Farm Park
51 Eastern Ave.
Arlington, MA 02476
Map

Cheering Station 2, 9:45am - 2:00pm
YMCA Greater Boston Area
North Suburban Family Branch
138 Lexington St.
Woburn, MA 01801
Map

Cheering Station 3, 11:00 - 5:00am
Parker Field Playground
81 Worthen Rd.
Lexington, MA 02420
Map

Sunday June 25th

Cheering Station 1, 7:30 - 10:15am
Shaw's Supermarket
699 Mount Auburn St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
Map

Cheering Station 2, 8:15am - 10:45am
Cambridge City Hall
795 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139
Map

Cheering Station 3, 9:15am - 1:00pm
Boston Public Garden
(between Paul Revere and Swan Boats)
Commonwealth and Arlington Street
Boston, MA 02127
Map

Public cheering stations are a great way to show your support along the route to encourage walkers and let them know that you are with them every step of the way. Seeing familiar faces cheering them on can provide that extra burst of energy that gets them to take that next step or go the next mile. Create banners, hold up signs, bring some music and make some noise - anything to make them smile, get energized and keep walking.

Cheering Stations, Atlanta 2007

Cheering Stations, Atlanta 2008

Closing Ceremonies

Sunday, July 25 at 5:00 p.m.

University of Massachusetts
100 William T Morrissey Blvd.
Dorchester, MA 02125
Map

Friends and family are highly encouraged to attend, though please note that seating will not be available, so if you are unable to stand for 30-60 minutes, you may want to bring a folding chair.

Public Transportation:
UMass Boston is located less than a mile from the MBTA’s JFK/UMass Station, which serves both the Red Line (subway) and the Old Colony Line (commuter rail). The university runs a regular, free shuttle bus service between the JFK/UMass stop and the campus. The trip normally takes less than ten minutes. Route 2 Bus runs Sunday 8:00 a.m. - 5:45 p.m. every 20 minutes.

Parking:
University of Massachusetts is located off of 1-93. Parking will be available, at no charge, on the University of Massachusetts Campus.

After three days and 60 miles, participants will take a final and incredibly emotional victory walk into the Closing Ceremony. Friends, family and supporters should arrive at the Closing Ceremony site at least one hour early to get the best view of the program. We encourage you to carpool or take public transportation. Not only is it better for the planet, but it will help lessen traffic congestion for everyone.

All walkers and crew members should remain in the Participant Holding Area where they will receive a victory shirt, cheer on fellow walkers and crew members and celebrate one last time together before their dramatic victory walk. The Participant Holding Area is CLOSED to spectators. If you wish to meet with a participant before the Ceremony begins, please have them meet you at the Closing Ceremony site. All participants must return to the Holding Area no later than 4:30 p.m. in order to join the victory walk.

Don't forget to continue the spirit of kindness we'll be building on the 3-Day for the Cure throughout and beyond the Closing Ceremony!

Closing Ceremonies, Atlanta 2007

Closing Ceremonies, Atlanta 2008

We hope that everyone will come out and see us in Boston. This event is hard to truly capture in stories and photos. It really is a moving experience to be a part of and we would love to share it with you. This event is the culmination of months of commitment and hard work. We can't wait to celebrate with all of you. See you there!

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Our Team Shirts!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:40:00 +0000

Things are really moving here at Relentless Optimism headquarters, with the Boston 3 Day for the Cure stepping off in just five days! Our team banner was delivered, our article was published in our hometown paper and now, our team shirts have arrived!

The Official Relentless Optimism Walker shirt!

We are incredibly excited to have our own team shirts this year to wear throughout the 3 Day event. This will be my third 3 Day event and it will be the first time that my teammates and I have had matching shirts for the walk. We truly feel like a team now!

Our team shirts were generously provided for our team by Mag Mom Diana Moreland and her company Diana's Costume Closet who we cannot thank enough for her support of our team. The shirts feature another version of the Relentless Optimism logo on our team banner that was again created for us by Robyn Torkewitz. If you would like Robyn to design something for your team, you can see more of her work and find her contact information here.

Kristen playing supermodel in our team shirts before a training walk.

For our shirts, we worked closely with Custom Ink to get everything just right. If you are interested in ordering something similar for your team or event, I highly recommend them. They will work with you to ensure the clearest possible printing of your design and will check in with you at every possible. I worked with a wonderful guy named Neil who was incredibly patient with me as I made change after change to our design. Even after five different proofs, we still received our shirts three days earlier than expected. I really can't say enough great things about Custom Ink!

For those who are wondering, our shirts are the Augusta Lades Performance Sleeveless Ts. I tried mine out on a training walk and it was great! No weird seams and no pulling. If you are looking to order shirts for the 3 Day, this really is an excellent choice.

A closer look at the back of shirts, featuring our team sponsors (click to enlarge).

Some small changes were made from this proof to the final versions of our shirts for clarity.

I can't wait to hit the streets of Boston in our new team shirts. If you see us out walking, please be sure to say hello!

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We're Famous!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 04:44:00 +0000

This past week, we were incredibly honored when our hometown newspaper, the Cortland Standard, chose to run a long feature about our team for the Boston 3 Day for the Cure. Our article, which was titled "Beating Breast Cancer in a Big Way", was written by Life and Living editor Katie Hall. The feature took up almost a whole page of the paper and included two photos. The first photo was taken by longtime Cortland Standard photographer Bob Ellis of our teammate Melissa Moreland Campos on one of her early morning training walks and the second photo was one of my photos that shows the four of us walkers at our 10 year high school reunion in 2008.

Unfortunately, there isn't a digital copy of the article available. However, my mom (Karen Sager) was nice enough to scan the article for us so that we could share it with all of you. Larger versions of each image are available by clicking on the photos.

Enjoy!

Melissa on her training walk in Homer, New York

Our article! Click to enlarge so you can read it!

We are incredibly thankful to Katie and the entire staff of the Cortland Standard for featuring our efforts. While most of us have moved out the area now, we are all true Homer girls at heart. Our hometown is small and tight nit and having this kind of publicity can really go a long way towards helping us to reach our fundraising goals. As you can tell from this article, this is a cause that is very near and dear to our hearts. Having the support of our community behind us as we take to the streets next week in Boston truly means the world to all of us!

If you have been moved by our story and would like to help us reach our fundraising goals, you can make a donation at our team fundraising page on the 3 Day website. You can also reach each of our personal pages directly by clicking on our names in the right hand side bar.

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Our Way of Saying Thank You!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:56:00 +0000

All of us here at Relentless Optimism are incredibly grateful for every donation that we have received this year. We would not be able to do this crazy thing that is the 3 Day without the support of our friends, family and generous strangers. The primary goal of the Breast Cancer 3 Day is to raise money to help find a cure for breast cancer. It is because of the generosity of all of our donors and supporters that we are now that much closer to achieving a world without breast cancer.

We are incredibly thankful for and overwhelmed by the number of donations that we have received in pursuit of our team goal of raising $20,000 before the end of August. We are thankful for every single person that entered one of our fundraising contests or bought flowers through Flower Power. We are thankful for everyone that supported us through Tastefully Simple or Mary Kay. If you bought some stuff through our Amazon link or clicked on our Google Ads before they were shut down, well, we're thankful to you too. It is because of all of you that we have been able to raise so much money for such an important cause.

Because we are so touched by the enormous generosity that has been sent our way, we want everyone to know all of your names. Shouting all of your names from a hilltop is little too difficult and hiring a skywriter to write all your names in the clouds is a little too expensive. So instead of all that, we have chosen to instead recognize each and every one of our donors and sponsors on a large banner that will be proudly on display between our tents during the Boston 3 Day for the Cure!

Our team banner, courtesy of Vistaprint!

(Click to enlarge)

I am thrilled that we are able to recognize all of our supporters in such a public way. If you donated to us in any way before July 1st, then your name is in there and everyone in Boston will know it. We are truly honored that you have all thrown your support behind us and we hope that we can make you all proud as we walk up and down the streets of Boston in just under two weeks time.

I also would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge my cousin Robyn Torkewitz who designed the spiffy new Relentless Optimism logo that you see on our banner. She also designed a second logo for our team shirts that we will be showing off in Boston as well. Robyn is a very talented graphic designer and we're thrilled that she donated her services to us in this way. If you would like to see more of her work, you can find her personal website here.

Finally, if you will be walking in the Boston 3 Day for the Cure, please be on the look out for our banner! If you happen to spot us in the sea of pink tents, please be sure to stop by and say hi!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Image courtesy of Leanne Johnston.

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Happy Fourth of July!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 02:39:00 +0000

May your Fourth of July be filled with fun, friends, family and of course, fireworks!

Happy Independence Day!!

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Reminder! Mary Kay Fundraiser Ends on Wednesday!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 01:47:00 +0000

Just a quick reminder that we are still taking orders for our Mary Kay fundraiser through this Wednesday, June 30th!

For those who don't know, Mary Kay is a health and beauty company that uses direct sales to bring their great products to people all over the country at an affordable price. By purchasing make up, skin care and other assorted beauty products through our collaboration with Mary Kay, you will be helping our team reach our fundraising goals for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure. Simply by shopping through the link below and noting that your purchase is for "Relentless Optimism" or the "Breast Cancer 3 Day", 50% of the value of your purchase will be donated directly to our team. That's a full 100% of the profits, thanks to the generosity of Carol Agate, our friend and former teacher that helping us to run this fundraiser!

Click here to purchase Mary Kay products in support of Relentless Optimism!

Thank you so much for shopping with Mary Kay and continuing to support our team in our effort to raise $20,000 for breast cancer research!

As always, if you would prefer to donate directly to Relentless Optimism, you can do so by visiting our team page on the 3 Day website or by clicking on the name of any Relentless Optimism team member on the right hand side of this page.

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Flower Power Wrap Up - THANK YOU!!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 03:23:00 +0000

This past spring, we collaborated with Flower Power Fundraising to host our most successful team fundraiser to date. With all of the money that we raised now in, we are thrilled to announce that we raised $835 through this fundraiser - an amazing success!

For those that don't remember, Flower Power Fundraising is an online direct sales company that sells flowers and other garden plants to help raise money for your specific charity of choice - in our case, the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure. Flower Power sells top-quality, best-selling flower bulbs and plants and in exchange for helping to promote their company, our team for the 3 Day received a full 50% of the proceeds from each sale made through our team link. We could not have had a better experience with Flower Power Fundraising and we made a ton of money for breast cancer research to boot!

All together, we sold $1669 worth of plants through this fundraiser, resulting in $835 for our team. We ultimately had 25 people purchase flowers through Flower Power with an average sale of $67. It is because of all of your generosity that we were able to raise so much money so we wanted to take a minute and recognize all of our friends and family that took the time to buy their flowers from us:

Andrea Cecconi
Barb Ries
Cathy Warren
Connie Steger
David Moreland
Deonie Finkbeiner
Diana Moreland
Corky Wrisley
Janet Rabbitt

Jennifer Glass

Jennifer Perrin

Jennifer Rabbitt

Judith Smith

Karen Sager

Kathy Cincotta

Laura Lo Russo

Laurie Yaw

Lorraine Sheeder

Mark Pasquini

Melanie Fraites

Miguel Campos

Nancy Beakman

Patricia Segien

Patty Fredenburg

Phyllis Hatfield

Tabi Sebastino

Tommy Schenck

I also wanted to take the time to recognize Relentless Optimism team member Melissa C. for discovering Flower Power Fundraising and acting as the main point person throughout this fundraiser! She did a ton of work getting us all set up and we are incredibly thankful to her for her efforts.
Finally, thank you to everyone who helped us to spread the word about this fundraiser. As always, our efforts live and die by the strength of word of mouth. To all of you who reposted on Facebook, retweeted on Twitter, sent out emails and just generally spread the word about Flower Power on our behalf, thank you so much!
As always, if you would like to make an additional donation to Relentless Optimism, you can find the links to each of our individual pages in the right hand sidebar. You can also find our team page on the 3 Day website by clicking here. All four of our walkers have now surpassed their fundraising minimums. However, we are still a long ways away from our team goal of raising $20,000. Please help us to reach our goal by making an additional donation today! I hope that everyone's plants are providing them an endless amount of joy and beauty this summer! Thank so much for supporting Relentless Optimism!!

Image courtesy of Leanne Johnston of Leanne... The Walker. Thanks Leanne!

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Happy Father's Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 01:00:00 +0000

From everyone here at Relentless Optimism, we wish all of you a very Happy Father's Day!

We would especially like to recognize the three husbands of our Relentless Optimism walkers. Without you guys, Melissa, Melissa and Jen wouldn't be able to do what they are doing for the 3 Day. So thank you all so much for being the wonderful, supportive fathers that you are!

Miguel with his son Jonah (L) and Bill with his son Ryan (R)
(Editors note: I promise Bill is a great father, despite forcing his atrocious taste in baseball teams on his sons.)

Todd with his daughter Reese

We would also love to take a minute to give a shout out to the two Dads that are on our team, Tommy and Doug Schenck. We're so excited to have you both as part of our team!

Tommy with his grandson Ryan (L) and Doug with his daughters Victoria and Nicolette (R)
Happy Father's Day!
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Happy Birthday Mel!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:03:00 +0000

Everyone here at Relentless Optimism would like to wish Melissa Q. the very happiest of birthdays!

Mel at the 2007 Atlanta 3 Day

If you would like to give Mel a birthday gift by donating to the 3 Day in her name, you can do so on her personal fundraising page here.

Search Amazon.com for Pink Birthday Candles

Congratulations to Sharon and Maria!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:54:00 +0000

The members of Relentless Optimism would like to extend a hearty congratulations to our teammates Maria and Sharon on their new jobs!

Maria has recently taken a job with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra in Syracuse, New York and Sharon has recently started working as a nurse at the Gulf Coast ER at the Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Meyers, Florida. Three cheers all around for our working girls!

Jen and Sharon (L) and Maria at the CNY Race for the Cure (R)
Unfortunately, due to their new work commitments, Sharon and Maria will be unable to join us for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure in Boston in July. We will miss you girls very much and have loved having you as part of our team! Best wishes in your new jobs!
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Happy Birthday Michelle!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 05:07:00 +0000

Everyone here at Relentless Optimism would like to wish our teammate Michelle Niescierenko a very happy birthday!

Dr. Michelle in Africa

As a member of the Medical Crew, Michelle is not required to do any fundraising for the Breast Cancer 3 Day. However, I'm sure she would be thrilled if you wanted to honor her birthday by donating to any of the walkers on our team. You can find a link to donate to all of our team members here.

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Send Us Mail on the Event!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:00:00 +0000

One of the things that 3 Day participants look forward to the absolute most when we are on a 3 Day event is getting the mail. We know what you're thinking - why on earth would we need to get our mail when we're only living in the 3 Day camp for 3 days? Well, because it's a fun and easy way for our loved ones and supporters to send us some encouragement along the way even if they can't physically be with us during the 3 Day!

The 3 Day is a really tough event. We will be walking the equivalent of two and a half marathons in just three days. We're going to be sleeping in small tents, possibly in the cold or the rain. We will be dealing with blisters, sun burns and swollen hands throughout our journey. We're going to be showering in tractor trailers for crying out loud. And at some point during the event, everyone hits a wall. It usually passes quickly and we remember the true reasons that we are putting ourselves through all this. But as every veteran walker knows, everyone hits a wall at some point, even if they are usually annoying cheerful.

For almost everyone that takes on the challenge of the 3 Day, there is nothing more motivating than knowing that there are people out there rooting for us to succeed. Seeing our loved ones amongst the sea of strangers at cheering stations provides an energy boost that you cannot imagine. And hearing from our friends, family and even strangers that can't be there with us in person can be just as effective. It is truly a highlight for me to read the encouraging words of my supporters when I get to the 3 Day camp after a long day of walking.

If you would like to send mail to any or all members of Relentless Optimism, you can do so by addressing your letters and cards to:

3-Day for the Cure PO

Attn: Name of Participant

P.O. Box 8557

Warwick, RI 02888

Please note that this address is for the Boston walk only. The mailing addresses for the other events will be released about eight weeks before each event. Only envelopes will be delivered on event, so please, no packages.

Finally, all mail for the Boston 3 Day must be post marked no later than July 13th to ensure delivery on the event. Husbands and boyfriends, mark your calendars now, even if you will be at the event in person. Your wives and girlfriends will love you for it - trust me!

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Mary Kay Fundraiser! Going on now!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:28:00 +0000

It's a new month which means it's time for a new fundraiser for Relentless Optimism -- Mary Kay!

Mary Kay is a health and beauty company that uses direct sales to bring their great products to people all over the country at an affordable price. By purchasing make up, skin care and other assorted beauty products through our collaboration with Mary Kay, you will be helping our team reach our fundraising goals for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure. Simply by shopping through the link below and noting that your purchase is for "Relentless Optimism" or the "Breast Cancer 3 Day", a portion of the proceeds will be directly credited to our team. It's just another easy way for everyone to support our team!

Click here to purchase Mary Kay products in support of Relentless Optimism!

For this fundraiser, Relentless Optimism will be working with a wonderful teacher from Homer High School, Mme. Carol Agate. Mme. Agate was Jen's French teacher all through high school and was a friend of Jen's mom Marcia before she passed away. Mme. Agate is also a breast cancer survivor herself and feels very passionately about raising money to find a cure for this awful disease. Mme. Agate actually contacted us about hosting this sale and has generously offered to donate her FULL commission from all of our Mary Kay sales to our team. That means Relentless Optimism will receive 50% of the profits from each purchase! This is incredibly generous of Mme. Agate and we cannot thank her enough for helping us out with this fundraiser!

Please note that this sale will end on June 30th, so please do your shopping early!

Thank you so much for continuing to support our team in our effort to raise $20,000 for breast cancer research!

PS - Stay tuned for a future announcement about a potential in home sale with Melissa C. as part of this fundraiser!

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Happy Birthday Tommy!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Everyone here at Relentless Optimism would like to wish our teammate Tommy Schenck a very happy birthday!

Tommy with his daughter Jen

As a crew member, Tommy is not required to do any fundraising for the Breast Cancer 3 Day. However, I'm sure he would be thrilled if you wanted to honor his birthday by donating to the walkers on our team that have not yet reached their fundraising minimums. You can find a link to donate to all of our team members here.

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An Update on our Tastefully Simple fundraiser!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Tue, 25 May 2010 03:23:00 +0000

Just a reminder that we are still taking orders for our Tastefully Simple fundraiser until June 2nd!

For those that don't know, Tastefully Simple is a direct sales company that offers a wide selection of convenient, easy-to-prepare foods designed to help people spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying the rest of their lives. Tastefully Simple products require 1 or 2 ingredients to prepare or are open and enjoy - everything from breads, soups and sauces to desserts and drink mixes. They are designed to provide your family with quick, delicious meals or to make entertaining a breeze, without expensive restaurant prices!

Relentless Optimism will receive 50% of the profits from all orders placed through this sale from now through June 2nd to put towards our fundraising goals for the Breast Cancer 3 Day.

As a part of this fundraiser, Relentless Optimism team member Jen held a Tastefully Simple tasting party at her house this past Friday with her friends in Southern Maryland. They all sipped some Lovin' Lemon Slush while sampling a bunch of yummy Tastefully Simple products. Jen mentioned that some of her favorites from the tasting were (and by the way, it was tough narrowing it down to 4!):

* The Lovin' Lemon Slush drink (Jen can't wait to try it with Rasberry Vodka; Iced Tea Vodka was recommended too!)

* Warm the Oven! Savory Cheese Dip Mix (Devoured in seconds by everyone! The guests that arrived late didn't even have a chance to try this mix!)

* Key Lime Cheese Ball Mix

* Merlot Sauce

There was also a great new deal announced at the party that Jen would like to pass along to everyone:

* From now through the end of this sale, whenever you the purchase $50 or more worth of Tastefully Simple products, you will have the opportunity to purchase drink buckets for 50% off!! To get this great deal, you have to place your order directly with our consultant, Jennifer Anderson, via email at patuxentandersen@yahoo.com. Be sure to let her know that it's for our fundraiser by mentioning Jen Rabbitt and Relentless Optimism in your email.

We are also extending our fundraiser for two additional days (until June 2nd!) because we learned that some favorite products that are currently unavailable will be coming back starting on June 1st and we want our friends and family to have a chance to purchase these great treats. Make a note to check out our sale on June 1st to purchase the following returning favorites:

* Garlic Dill Seasoning: $8.99

* Classy Chocolate Pound Cake; $6.99

* Go Go Asiago Dip Mix $7.29

* Prickly Pear Cooler: $6.99 (Jen suggests making this into a margarita! Yum!)

* Honey Teriyaki Sauce $8.99

* Honey Mustard Sauce $5.99

* Champagne Jelly $5.99

To help encourage everyone to check out these new products, our consultant is even offering a special discount! For just $39.95, you can buy the following 5 items:

* Garlic Dill Seasoning

* Classy Chocolate Pound Cake

* Go Go Asiago Dip Mix

* Prickly Pear Cooler

* Honey Teriyaki Sauce

And you can chose one of the following products for free:

* Honey Mustard Sauce

* Champagne Jelly

Again, to get this great deal, you have to place your order directly with our consultant via email. If you would be more comfortable placing your order with Jen, you can do so at jennifer.rabbitt@verizon.net.

If you would like to help support us through this fundraiser, you can start shopping online for Tastefully Simple treats at www.tastefullysimple.com/web/jeanderson. Orders can be placed by email as described above or online directly from the website. If you choose to complete your order online, be sure to select "Jennifer Rabbitt" as the host so that your order is credited to Relentless Optimism. If you would prefer not to order online, you can contact any member of our 3 Day team to place your order via catalogue instead.

Thanks for shopping with Tastefully Simple and supporting Relentless Optimism today!

Please note that as always, you can make a donation directly to any member of Relentless Optimism by clicking on our names in the right hand side bar or by visiting www.the3day.org/goto/relentlessoptimism.

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Save the Ta Tas at Pearl Lounge in Cape Coral, Florida!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Tue, 25 May 2010 01:54:00 +0000

Relentless Optimism team member Sharon has announced her newest fundraising event - a "Save the Ta Tas" fundraising party at Pearl Lounge in Cape Coral, Florida!

If you live in Southern Florida and want to help Sharon reach her fundraising goals, please plan on attending what Sharon is calling a "Pink" Carpet Event this Friday, May 28th at Pearl Lounge in Cape Coral. As Sharon says on the Facebook page for this event, "I am hosting a great fundraiser for my Susan G. Komen 3 Day, 60 mile walk in July! I will be walking with my older sister and her 5 amazing friends. We walk for our loved ones, those lost and those fighting." This party promises to be a great time, so mark your calendars now!

Admission to this event is $10.00 at the door with all proceeds going directly to Sharon's fundraising efforts on behalf of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. This event is open to everyone 18 and up, although you must be at least 21 in order to drink. Party starts at 10pm - don't be late!

Ladies are encouraged to wear pink for a chance to win great prizes!

Pearl Lounge will be serving $5 pink martinis in honor of the Breast Cancer 3 Day, with a portion of those proceeds also going towards Sharon's fundraising efforts. There will also be an amazing sushi bar until 11pm and a great DJ on the patio outside and inside on the dance floor.

To reserve VIP seating, please contact Alex Torres at 239-878-6901.

This is a great opportunity to have some fun while supporting a great cause! Come on out to support Sharon and the Breast Cancer 3 Day, have some pink drinks and get your groove on!

If you are unable to attend Sharon's party or would prefer to donate to Sharon directly, you can do so on Sharon's fundraising page on the website for the Breast Cancer 3 Day.

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Kristen's Fundraising Letter

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Wed, 19 May 2010 04:18:00 +0000

As we have mentioned in the past, one of the most effective ways to raise money for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure is a letter writing campaign to friends and family. Today, we are featuring Kristen's fundraising letter!

Please support me in the 2010 Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure!

Dear friends and family,

It has been projected that breast cancer will take the lives of more than 40,000 men and women in the United States in the next year. A little over a year ago, this incomprehensible statistic became very real for me when my long time best friend Jen lost her mother Marcia to breast cancer after a several year fight for her life. Together with Jen, her father and a team of our friends and family, I will be taking to the sidewalks in the 2010 Breast Cancer 3 Day in Boston from July 23 – 25 to honor Marcia’s memory and to help ensure that in the future, no one will ever again have to face losing their mother too soon because of breast cancer.

The Breast Cancer 3 Day is a 60 mile walk over the course of three days that raises funds for Susan G. Komen for the Cure and breast cancer research. A Susan G. Komen for the Cure grant has impacted virtually every major advance in the fight against breast cancer in the last 27 years. The money that we raise through the Breast Cancer 3 Day will truly help to save the lives of untold numbers of women. In order to participate in this event, I must raise at least $2300. Together with my teammates, we have set our team goal much higher: we are hoping to raise $20,000 before the walk at the end of July. This is a huge goal and we cannot reach it by ourselves. Please consider making a fully tax-deductible donation to help us reach our fundraising goal today.

If you would like to contribute, you can do so online by visiting my personal fundraising page at www.the3day.org/goto/kscincotta. Donations made online can be made as one time payments or in installments for up to four months. If you would prefer to donate by check, please email me at kscincotta@gmail.com and I will let you know how to do that. As you consider your donation, please keep in mind that many companies have matching gift programs, an easy way for you to double the size of your contribution!

The Breast Cancer 3 Day is a very important event for me. This will be my third 3 Day event and each year, I discover something new that makes the experience that much more special. This year, I have the added challenge of captaining a team of 5 other walkers and 3 crew members, the majority of whom are new to the Breast Cancer 3 Day. We have named our team “Relentless Optimism” in honor of the tremendous spirit in which Marcia faced her battle with breast cancer. She was a bright light to all who knew her and she is greatly missed. We cannot think of a better way to honor her life than by taking on this challenge together. To learn more about our team and our various fundraising activities, I encourage everyone to visit our team fundraising blog at http://relentlessoptimismfundraising.blogspot.com/.

In addition to my walking and fundraising commitments, I am thrilled to also be acting as an Online Ambassador for the Breast Cancer 3 Day community. In this role, I have again been blogging about my 3 Day experiences on my personal 3 Day blog Kristen Walks which can be found at kscincotta.blogspot.com. I highly encourage anyone and everyone who is curious about what goes into preparing for the 3 Day to bookmark my blog and check back often. This blog is also a tremendous tool for me to use to stay in touch with all of my donors and supporters in the months and weeks leading up to the Boston 3 Day at the end of July.

Before I go, I wanted to share one more statistic with you: someone in the world loses their life to breast cancer every 68 seconds. 68 seconds. Just over a minute. That one life could be someone’s grandmother. Someone’s friend. Someone’s sister. That one life could be my mom, who is currently battling cancer for the second time, after her breast cancer was in remission for a year and a half. That one life WAS Marcia, just over a year ago. There is a very real reason why we are doing this: to save lives.

Please take some time today or in the next few days to really think about what we're trying to do here. We get ourselves all dolled up in pink and hit the streets pledging to walk 5 miles, 10 miles, 60 miles... We laugh, we make boobie jokes, we try not to complain too much about blisters. But in the end, what we're really trying to do is find a cure for breast cancer once and for all. This won't be easy. Breast cancer can occur in many different forms. No two cases are exactly alike. Recurrences of breast cancer often occur in other parts of the body, making it even more difficult to treat. But we can do this if we work together. Even if our efforts only result in one life being lost every 136 seconds, we will be saving half of the lives that would otherwise be lost.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter. I hope that you will join me in taking part in this incredible adventure. Please share this information with anyone that you think might be interested. If I have learned one thing during my time with the 3-Day, it is that everyone, everywhere has been touched by breast cancer in some way. This is something that has affected all of us and together, we are working towards achieving the ultimate goal of the Breast Cancer 3-Day: a world without breast cancer.

All my best,

Kristen Sager Cincotta

With Tommy and Marcia at the 2007 CNY Race for the Cure (L)
and with my mom at the 2008 Atlanta 3 Day (R)
To read more about the individual reasons why our team members are walking this year, please visit this post where we have archived all of our fundraising letters.

Happy Birthday Sharon!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Fri, 14 May 2010 17:21:00 +0000

We all hope that you have the very happiest of birthdays!

Sharon (L) and a friend at the Race for the Cure

If you would like to give Sharon a birthday gift by donating to the 3 Day in Sharon's name, you can do so here.

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Congratulations Jen!!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:36:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce that Jen Rabbitt is the first member of Relentless Optimism to reach her fundraising minimum for the Boston 2010 Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure!

Jen and her mom Marcia, our team angel

While Jen has now reached her minimum, the rest of us still have a ways to go! Please help get us all to Boston by supporting us in one of the following ways:

1) We are currently hosting an online "party" with Tastefully Simple! To participate, just click on over to our online catalogue and start shopping. At check out, please be sure to select "Jennifer Rabbitt" as the host to ensure that your order is credited to our team. This event will conclude on May 31st, so don't hesitate. Buy some goodies today and help support our team in the process! Makes a great gift! To read more about this fundraiser, please click here.

2) Shop with Amazon! Whenever you need to buy just about anything, we encourage you to use our Amazon search box in the right hand side bar to access Amazon.com. By doing that, our team receives a portion of the proceeds from your sale to put towards our team fundraising goals. It's as easy as that!

3) You can always make a donation directly to any member of Relentless Optimism by using the links at the top of the right hand side bar.

Thank you so much for your support and congratulations again Jen! We're so proud of you!!

Happy Mother's Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Mon, 10 May 2010 05:50:00 +0000

A belated but heartfelt wish that each and everyone of you had the happiest of Mother's Days!

We are inspired on our 3 Day journey by own mothers each and every day, including Marcia who watches over us. It is with their love and continuing support that we all work towards the ultimate goal of someday finding a cure for breast cancer so that no son or daughter ever again has to say good bye to their own mother too soon. Thank you Moms!

The Mag Moms (from L to R): Diana Moreland, Marcia Schenck, Karen Sager and Mary Lee Barrows

Mel and Sharon with their mom, Denise

If you would like to honor your own mother through a donation to Relentless Optimism and the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure, you can do so through our team webpage. As always, thank you so much for your continued support of our team!

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Welcome to Relentless Optimism, Maria!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Sun, 09 May 2010 01:44:00 +0000

We are thrilled to introduce everyone to the newest member of Relentless Optimism - Maria Barredo!

Maria is an old friend of a few members of Relentless Optimism from back in the day. Unbeknownst to all of us, Maria had registered to walk in the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure in Boston 2010 - just like us. When we learned that she was planning to walk as an individual, we immediately insisted that Maria join our team and we are thrilled that she accepted!

For Maria, the fight against breast cancer is a personal one. Maria's family has a very strong history of breast and ovarian cancer. When Maria was little, her mom was diagnosed with Stage III ovarian and breast cancer. Thankfully, her mom survived and has been cancer free for over 20 years. While Maria's mom survived her battle, too many other members of their family did not, including Maria's Aunt Sandy who passed away from ovarian cancer in 2007. Following her Aunt's cancer diagnosis, Maria went into overdrive to learn more about her family history. Maria began seeing a genetic counselor and at the age of 25, Maria learned that she is BRCA1+, putting her at a high risk for developing cancer at a young age. Maria's destiny was in her own hands. As she says, her like was suddenly split in to two parts: her life before and her life after knowing her genetic fate. When we all take to the roads in Boston this July, it will have been one year since Maria took the first step toward taking control of her own destiny. We will all be walking with Maria as she takes the first step towards her future... a future without breast cancer.

Maria says that she is humbled to participate in this walk while honoring the spirit of survivors and cherishing the memory those that we've lost. We are very lucky to have someone like Maria on our team for the 3 Day and we're looking forward to walking with her in July!

Maria looking pretty in pink!

If you would like to donate to Maria, you can do so on her 3 Day fundraising page which can be found here. We have also added a link to her page in the right hand side bar.

Promise Me: How a Sister's Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer

Tastefully Simple! On sale now!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:31:00 +0000

Updated on May 24th: Please see this post for the most recent details of our Tastefully Simple fundraiser!

Announcing the newest Relentless Optimism fundraiser for Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure: Tastefully Simple!

Relentless Optimism will receive 50% of the profits from all orders placed through this sale from now through May 31st to put towards our fundraising goals for the Breast Cancer 3 Day.

Orders will arrive within 7 to 10 days of when they are placed and can be made one of three ways:

1) You can order online at www.tastefullysimple.com/web/jeanderson. There you will find the complete listing of all available Tastefully Simple products. When you complete your order, please be sure to select "Jennifer Rabbitt" as the host during check out to insure that your order is credited to Relentless Optimism.

2) You can order products via catalogue from one of our team members.

3) You can attend an in home Tastefully Simple tasting party hosted by Jen Rabbitt on Friday, May 21st in Lexington Park, Maryland. For security reasons, we won't be posting the details of that event online. However, if you will be in the area and you would like to attend, please contact Jen at jennifer.rabbitt(a)verizon.net.

Thank you so much for shopping with Tastefully Simple and for continuing to support Relentless Optimism. We are closer than ever to reaching our fundraising goal and we couldn't do it without you!

Now - get over to the Tastefully Simple website and check out all the delicious goodies. Jen recommends the beer bread!

As always, if you would prefer to make a direct donation to any or all Relentless Optimism team members, you can do so via our team page on the 3 Day website.

Search Amazon.com for Pink Dishes

Mother's Day Shopping Alert!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Wed, 05 May 2010 04:55:00 +0000

Mother's Day is just around the corner, and if you're anything like me, you're still scrambling to find the perfect gift for all of the amazing Moms in your life!

Our Mag Moms at the Race for the Cure in 2008

From L to R: Mary Lee Barrows, Marcia Schenck, Karen Sager and Diana Moreland

If you are in a need of a Mother's day gift, I highly recommend that you consider doing your shopping with Amazon.com! You can access Amazon through our search box on the right hand side of this blog or by clicking the link at the bottom of this or any other post. Simply enter what you're looking for in the search box and you'll be redirected to Amazon to complete your shopping as usual. And when you're done, Relentless Optimism will get a small percentage of the proceeds from your purchase to put towards our fundraising for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure.

You can get something great for Mom while helping us raise money for breast cancer research at the same time. And someday, the money that we raise will lead to a gift that everyone deserves - the gift of a lifetime free of breast cancer. What more could you ask for?

Search Amazon.com for Mother's Day Gifts

Welcome to Relentless Optimism, Uncle Doug!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Tue, 04 May 2010 02:06:00 +0000

We are very excited to introduce yet another new member of Relentless Optimism - Doug Schenck!

Uncle Doug is Relentless Optimism walker Jen's uncle and Relentless Optimism crew member Tommy's brother. Doug was moved to sign up for the Boston 3 Day crew after chatting with Tommy about the event. He felt that crewing for the 3 Day is a great way to support our cause, honor our angel Marcia (his sister in law) and to spend some time with his brother. We couldn't agree more and we are thrilled to have Uncle Doug on our team!

Our favorite crew members Tommy (L) and Doug (R) at Jen's wedding in 2005.

If you are interested in becoming a member Relentless Optimism, there is still time to sign up! As an added incentive, if you register for the 3 Day before May 9th, you can save $20 on the registration fee when you use the code MAY2010 at check out. Please be aware that all of the crew positions for the Boston 3 Day are now full. However, you can still register to walk with us or to be a part of the Medical crew! We want you for Relentless Optimism - register today!

Fundraising Update!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristen Sager Cincotta) — Tue, 04 May 2010 00:55:00 +0000

It is the start of new month and it is time for another update on Relentless Optimism's fundraising progress! As of today, our total team fundraising stands at $5325, enough to cover the required minimums for at least two walkers. While no one has reached their personal minimum just yet, we do have three walkers that have passed the $1000 threshold and two of us that have passed $1500. So we are well on our way!

AND that's not even all of the money that we've raised! Our recently completed fundraiser with Flower Power Fundraising brought in over $800 for our team (wrap up post coming soon!). In addition, between our ad revenue and our participation in the Amazon Associates program, we raised another $176 in the month of April. That means that we have raised an additional $1000 towards our team goal of raising $16,600 before the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure in Boston at the end of July.

We couldn't have gotten this far without the support of all of our friends and family, so thank you so very much! However, we still have a lot of work to do. We have a few things in the works for the months of May and June that we will be announcing soon. Definitely keep checking back here regularly for all the details of those fundraisers.

If you would prefer to support us now, we have a few options:

1) You can do some shopping through Amazon using our search box, also over there in the right hand side bar or by clicking the links at the bottom of each post. We get a small percentage of the profits from everything that you buy from Amazon provided that you access the site through our blog. There are no additional costs to you and no discount codes to remember. It's a completely free way to support our team just by shopping!

2) You can always donate directly to any or all of our walkers. You can find links to each of our fundraising pages on the top of the right hand side bar. The walkers are listed alphabetically followed by our team crew members. Please note that donations to the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure can be made in installments over a four month period. We also encourage all of our donors to consider applying for a company match from their place of employment if you can in order to double the size of your donation.

Thank you so very, very much for all of your support so far! This is a cause that is very important to all of us at Relentless Optimism and your support means more to us than we can say!

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