Sunday, February 21, 2010

Congratulations!

I’m extremely tired right now but I wanted to take a minute to express how proud I am of all of us right now.

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, Atlas raised $266,128.33 this year for THON! Not only is that about a $50,000 increase, but the way we did it makes me even more proud. We raised more in THONvelopes, corporate contacts, alternative fundraising, and canning than ever before! Even when our backs were against the wall and mother nature decided we couldn’t can on street corners, our enthusiasm and pure desire to raise as much as we could for the kids helped us come up with some creative ways of fundraising and raise a ton of money for the kids.

Also, THONvelopes and corporate contacts were much more successful this year than in any years past. That is a direct result of the effort that all of you are willing to give. This group is so awesome, isn’t it?

I also don’t think enough can be said about the quality of the stands this weekend. This year I honestly was in the stands far less than in other years, but I honestly did not have to worry one bit about the stands being boring and people not knowing what to do. You were there all night and all day, waving the letters and signs, dancing that weird dance you guys made, eating the food that Dave and Troy got, and most of all, supporting our dancers. Although we did have some setbacks with the pass list when dancers’ families couldn’t get on, people willingly gave up their time slot so that the dancers’ parents could go on. That is not something I take lightly. That is just a microcosm of the team-first attitude that our organization has developed over this year. We are a team, not just a group of different people sharing similar goals. We have become more than that and it has been such a pleasure and honor to be a part of that.

Whether we had raised $500,000 or $50,000 I would have been just as proud, and I mean that. This team has shown so much pride and enthusiasm that it didn’t matter to me how much we raised. I feel lucky just to be allowed the opportunity to be on this team. I hope you think the same thing too.

Again, great job everyone, not only in fundraising but in the stands this weekend as well!

P.S. I’m extremely sad this THON year is over. I do not want it to end… I’ve made so many friends and had so many memories from Atlas, and I honestly do not want them to stop. I love every second of the hard work we put into Atlas, and I’m sad to see another year finish.

Posted by Daniel Levy on Overall