We started FF Boot Camp for a Cause because we we recognized an opportunity to make an impact in our community. We asked ourselves how we could do more. The answer was right there in front of us. Boot Camp for a Cause is a program that we developed in November 2014 with the goal of raising money for and supporting organizations in Anchorage.
How it works: Our clients donate money, and they are welcome to bring friends and family in to workout with them for a minimum donation of $10.00 per person. All of the donations we collect from these workouts are then donated to whichever cause we’re supporting each month.
On Sunday, April 26th Chris Cupp filmed interviews with Lela, Charlene, and myself, as well as with Sabrina Walker and her husband, Adam. Chris gave us the opportunity to tell our story about ‘FF Boot Camp for a Cause’ and why it’s so important to us. He’s in the process of putting the video together, but in the meantime I’d like to share with you why we do what we do.
What ultimately led to the decision to start BC for a Cause was attending Tony’ Robbin’s ‘Unleash the Power Within’ seminar in Houston, TX in October 2014. This was a life changing event for me on many levels.
One of the tasks we were asked to do during the seminar was to fill out a ‘Life Wheel’ which identifies different areas of your life like health, relationships, work and contribution. You score yourself on a scale of 1-10 in each category (10 being this area of your life is amazing and couldn’t be better, and 1 being this area needs a lot of work). I scored myself the lowest on “contribution,” and gave myself a 3 out of 10. I was embarrassed that I hadn’t paid much attention to this area up until that point. I was determined to come home and make some major changes. FF Boot Camp for a Cause started a few weeks later and we’ve been going strong ever since.
We started with Kid’s Kitchen in November, raising $3,000 to help provide meals to kids. In December we held a glove drive for Russian Jack elementary school and collected warm gloves and hats. Some of the kids didn’t have their own gloves, and without warm winter gear, they were unable to go out and play during recess. Providing the school with warm winter gear allowed them to stock up and give gloves out to kids who needed them so they would be able to go outside.
In January, we raised $5,000 for The Anchorage Imagination Library to help provide free books to kids in Anchorage. In the months of February and March, we supported Challenge Alaska which funds events for people with disabilities. We raised over $2,000 for them. Today, we just hit $10,406.50 for Sabrina’s Lost Lake team and we’re still collecting donations from people who had burpee sponsors. In the month of May, we’ll be raising money for Identity, Inc. The funds we collect will go toward helping homeless youth in Anchorage.
These are all examples of what is possible. This is the result of the impact we can make when we come together with enthusiasm and a powerful desire to leave the world a better place for future generations.
Since we began FF Boot Camp for a Cause, our group has become closer. We’re stronger as a whole, and I feel like there’s an increased feeling of trust and cooperation. Experiencing the incredible generosity that people have shown our fundraising efforts has been overwhelming. It’s mind-blowing! It makes me feel so good to know that I’m surrounded by people who all care about our community, and the health and wellbeing of humanity. Selfless, hardworking people are who I want to spend my time with and I’m grateful for the incredible culture that we have created.
Our goal: In October 2014, we set a goal of raising $7,000.00 for Sabrina Walker’s Lost Lake race team during our 3rd annual FF Burpee Challenge on April 26th, 2015. The Lost Lake race is a 16 mile mountain run in Seward, Alaska that raises money for cystic fibrosis research. We started the Burpee Challenge three years ago in order to help raise more money for the Lost Lake race and support our client, Sabrina Walker.
Funding for CF research is heavily dependent on donations, which is why there is such an urgency to bring awareness to this disease. There is currently no known cure for CF. The median predicted life expectancy for someone with CF is early 40’s.
Sabrina Walker has been a client of Figarelle’s Fitness for over 3 years and she has cystic fibrosis. Sabrina doesn’t lets CF prevent her from living her life to the fullest, and just witnessing her commitment to a healthy lifestyle has been an ongoing inspiration to all of us at Figarelle’s Fitness. It’s our privilege to support her, and raise money and awareness for this important cause that has the power to ultimately extend the life expectancy of almost 70,000 people worldwide.
We want to be a part of that, and make a positive impact in other people’s lives.
Reaching our goal of raising $7,000 was important enough to me personally, that I wrote it down on a sticky note and put it on my vision board that sits above my desk where I can see it everyday.
I’m a huge fan of writing out my goals and placing them where I can see them, because they go from being just thoughts in my head, to something I see and think about and can ultimately manifest into reality. Our thoughts become our actions, and our actions make up the quality of our lives.
I have looked at that goal on the yellow sticky note everyday for the last 6 months as a reminder that we not only have the opportunity to help make a positive impact in other people’s lives, but a responsibility to do so.
If you haven’t done so already, I highly recommend making a vision board, or simply just writing out your goals on paper and reading them everyday as a reminder that you’re working toward bigger and better things in life. Don’t underestimate this important process because it can very well mean the difference between a happy and successful life, and a frustratingly mediocre existence.
Inspiration is everywhere: I’m most inspired by people who step out of their bubble to help others. There are so many ways we can help one another, the opportunities are endless. Another part of my motivation in starting Boot Camp for a Cause stemmed from reading books about people who make a difference in the world. I was heavily inspired by the book Leaving Microsoft to change the world, by John Wood, and it encouraged me to start thinking bigger.
John Wood left his successful and highly profitable career at Microsoft to start his non-profit company Room to Read, “an organization that has created a network of over 7,500 libraries and 830 schools throughout rural and poor communities in Asia and Africa.”
His goal is to empower and educate the people in these countries in order to help them break the cycle of poverty. I really enjoyed the book and I began to think of ways Figarelle’s Fitness could ultimately be more philanthropic.
I also love the TOMS shoes story. Blake Mycoskie started a for-profit company called TOMS shoes in 2006 (TOMS stands for “Shoes for tomorrow”), that provides a pair of shoes to a child in a developing country, for every pair of shoes that are sold.
TOMS has since branched out to selling eyewear, handbags, and they now have a roasting company. Anytime you purchase a TOMS product, you’re not only buying something for yourself, you’re helping someone else gain access to safe water, a pair of shoes, restoration of eyesight, and the distribution of birth kits that contain items that help a woman safely deliver her baby. This ‘One to One’ business model is incredibly powerful and it’s changing the world.
Recently I discovered 1:Face charity Watches. For every watch that you purchase, you provide something to someone else in a developing, or poverty stricken country. Everything from cancer and AIDS treatment, clean drinking water, food, and more recently with the earthquake in Nepal, disaster relief. The watches sell for $40.00, and the different colors represent a different cause.
These are just a few examples of ways that ordinary people like you and me have stepped up and decided to help make a difference in the world we all share together. You may not think that you can give much, but a $40.00 watch has the ability to provide 12 people in Nepal with clean drinking water right now.
That pair of TOMS shoes you just purchased will put a new pair of shoes on a child in Argentina, allowing them to walk to school, play outside and protect their feet.
The most basic necessities in life are denied to millions of people everyday, and I believe we have a responsibility to do whatever we can in whatever way possible to lend a hand.
FF Boot Camp for a Cause is our opportunity to help organizations in our community. It gives us the chance to show other people that they matter.
One of the questions that Chris asked during his interview with us on Sunday is what kind of impact we are hoping that ‘Boot Camp for a Cause’ will make. My hope is that the act of giving will become contagious. It will inspire others to reach out and help where it’s needed. Maybe that means volunteering your time, or maybe it means donating money. Whatever the case, I hope that what we’re doing motivates others to do something to make the world around them a better place.
“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” – Albert Pike