Well, now that we’re about 1 1/2 days removed from the Chase Community Giving contest, I figured I’d write a post-mortem recap about it. It was an amazing experience and I think the whole process we went through is worthy of a blog.
Just as a real quick intro in case you’ve never been here before, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner and my middle child, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I came up with an idea to try to maximize my ability to recover well from marathons and make a purpose out of his autism by running 60 marathons this year to raise money and awareness for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism.
So far, it hasn’t been exactly what I expected, but I’ve been putting in my best effort and I know I’m reaching people, bringing people into Train 4 Autism, and, of course, raising money. I’m 33 marathons down, 27 to go.
That being said, we did it! We just finished this Chase Community Giving contest on Facebook and finished in the top 200, netting the Operation Jack Autism Foundation $20,000! That will end up being an extra $20,000 that we give to Train 4 Autism at the end of the year. AWESOME!
I want to start off by thanking a few people real quick. First, Operation Jack supporter Laura Sullivan alerted me about a week before this contest was going to begin, so I definitely owe her a huge thank you. I also want to give a big thank you to Sarah Stanley. Sarah also uses her running to push philanthropic efforts and she used her large reach to give us a big boost on Sunday afternoon when we were in danger of slipping out of the top 200. We needed some momentum badly and we got it at a critical time when social media is typically very quiet.
And of course, I have to thank Tiffany. It was awesome going through the highs and lows of this contest together. We make a great team and it was such a great experience to go through this with her.
I’m calling them out specifically, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t notice the efforts of a ton of other people. I saw it all go down on Facebook and Twitter and it just about overwhelmed me emotionally. I don’t know why, but I felt unworthy of the incredible outpouring of support. But I felt very appreciative. VERY appreciative.
I’m doing what I’m doing and a lot of times, I wonder if I’m reaching anybody or if anybody even cares. It’s tough to labor on through this for an entire year. Over the final week of this contest, though, I could tell that I have backing from people all over the country, many of whom I’ve never met, and it was amazing.
I’d scroll down my Facebook and see people posting and re-posting. I saw a lot of people pounding away on Twitter. The e-mail tool I built was used well. I’d beg for a push and people responded. For a while I felt like I was bugging people, but then it seemed like people were truly on the bandwagon and excited about it. I was watching hour by hour Monday early into the evening, and I finally just let go about 50 minutes before the voting closed. There was nothing left I could do to change anything. I felt like I was a lawyer waiting on a deliberating jury, but at the same time, I was pretty confident I had it locked up and I felt like the quarterback of the winning football team kneeling down to run out the clock. Watching the totals refresh on Monday night 30 minutes after voting closed was like watching election returns.
Knowing that I was able to rally 1,583 votes for this cause (that was the official final total) means a whole lot more to me than running 33 marathons between January 1 and July 11. It tells me that as I go alone to my trips and sit here alone behind my computer, I’m not really alone. I’m so grateful for all of your efforts. Actions speak so much louder than words and while people tell me they support what I’m doing, y’all showed it with your relentless push.
I believe in my cause, which is fighting autism. I keep things on the positive and I crack jokes here all the time, because that’s just the way I approach things. Deep down inside, I’m so upset about what Jack’s going through, I don’t really know how to deal publicly with it or talk about it. Tiff did a much better job of that writing a guest blog here on Monday. I’m numb from the pain and I don’t do a very good job of being open about it all. I keep it to myself and inside for the most part. But just to be clear, I absolutely hate what he’s going through and I hate what it’s done to our family. This has turned our world upside down and it has a big impact on Ben and Ava. I hate autism. I hate it. I’m going to do whatever I can to fight it for the rest of my life.
So anyways, I’m doing Operation Jack, trying to make a difference, even if it’s a small difference. Train 4 Autism might break through and become like Team In Training. Or, somehow, my efforts might be able to indirectly make life better for five children with autism. Either way, it’s all worth it.
The contest win was great. Getting the confirmation that I’m not alone and I have the support of people all over the nation was even better.
But the biggest thing is $20,000 for Train 4 Autism. Don’t forget that this contest was very, very real. That’s real money that’s going to have a real impact. I’m really excited and proud to be a part of Train 4 Autism. That’s my team, and I feel like I was able to help bring home a win for the team. We won and we’re going to be better off for it. As the verse at the bottom of my site says, let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. We did not give up in this contest. And while this contest is over, I’m not giving up in the bigger mission. I will continue to fight autism and Train 4 Autism gives me a weapon.
Yesterday, Ben Fesagaiga, the founder of Train 4 Autism, included the following in an email to me:
The money is great — it can definitely be put to good use. As you know we direct just about everything that comes in back out to organizations that out athletes choose. This is what makes us different and, well, us. As proud as I am about supporting other organizations, the reality is we have very little resources to promote T4A. We rely mainly on the organizations that we support to in turn promote T4A. Most of them have done an outstanding job.
I recently did the SD R&R Half you remember me saying “Sam!!” as you shot past me on your way to finishing the full. That day I saw a sea of purple, as thousands upon thousands of TNT athletes from all over the country competed, and their supporters lining just about ll 26.2 miles, plus the finish area. I had a lot of thoughts go through my mind. Wouldn’t it be awesome if T4A had this kind of mass involvement and support? It’s inspiring, and at the same time intimidating as I finish the race and walk back to my car alone.
Also, Molly Rearick, the Director of Communications for Train 4 Autism, wrote:
We run on a tiny operating budget (9.5% of all funds we take in), so we are exited to be able to support more families affected by Autism with the money earned from the Chase contest. Because of the Felsenfelds’ passion for and dedication to raising Autism awareness, we will be able to reach more families and make a difference in more lives. I was touched to watch votes come in from around the world – from friends, family members, and complete strangers who believe in what Operation Jack and Train 4 Autism are doing. Thank you to everyone who realizes what a worthy cause this is!
This wasn’t just a vote contest. This was real and it’s going to make a difference. So thank you, all of you, for making this happen. None of us could have made this happen on our own, but we did it as a team and it’s going to make a real difference.