Work or Not?

leftyokie · Apr 10, 2014

Need some advice! Short back ground, My daughter is 6 and was diagnosed with aspergers syndrome 3 years ago which is on the spectrum of autism. Neither my wife or I had heard or knew anything about this or autism before. Through the years we have struggled to find her proper care and treatment since my insurance doesnt cover it. The out of pocket expense is anywhere from $300 to $500 a month for us and a lot more for others. My wife has gone to various events that help to raise money for treatment, walks, bake sale's etc... Im not a big walker or baker, so I got to thinking how else could I help. My wife and I are thinking about turning my Jeep into a fundraiser. So we are thinking about painting it blue which is autism's color, putting the puzzle pieces which is the symbol in the paint, I have TWF working on some rock rings with the symbol in them also. We are thinking about hitting at least 3 ARC or SRRS events plus other events more local, maybe having some signage asking or stating our cause and where the money will go and seeing if people might donate. I'm not sure if people will be interested or not, the money invested on my part seems to be climbing so i just want some opinion's and or ideas to make this work. thanks!

leftyokie · Apr 10, 2014

Re: Re: Work or Not?

Here is my jeep currently

leftyokie

TBItoy · Apr 10, 2014

IMO you'd be better organizing a benefit ride somewhere and donating the proceeds to whatever organization/charity.

I mean, if you need to paint your rig and need rock rings anyway, then go for it.

I don't see people just randomly donating that much though

bad80cj · Apr 10, 2014

TBItoy said:
IMO you'd be better organizing a benefit ride somewhere and donating the proceeds to whatever organization/charity.

I mean, if you need to paint your rig and need rock rings anyway, then go for it.

I don't see people just randomly donating that much though

I also this way. I love to see an effort to help with awareness for sure. But I just am not sure you will monetarily help the bottom dollar.

InDaShop · Apr 10, 2014

I dont know people are going to donate money, for me the key to donations is a receipt that is tax deductible. HUGE KEY!!!

But that said, what you are talking about isnt about the money IMO. You are talking about spreading the word of awareness.
There are a lot of autism resources out there. Paint your rig, do the rings, and what have you, download a brochure and have a bunch printed to hand out on trail rides and at events.
Do shirts, sell shirts. People buy shirts!!! Spread the word. Today people are becoming very accutely aware of autism, last I saw was 1 in 63 children are on the autism spectrum.
Thats a problem, thats a problem for our future workforce.

If you think you are just going to be collecting money for autism to keep wheeling then you are in for an awakening.

leftyokie · Apr 10, 2014

thanks for the input! I do like the idea of printing out flyers and shirts, i have a friend who does shirts. I plan on being sure I can make all donations tax deductible, i know when we donate for the American cancer society it is.

im not sure i understand InDaShop, what do you mean?
If you think you are just going to be collecting money for autism to keep wheeling then you are in for an awakening.

Elliott · Apr 10, 2014

I think he is asking if the money is going directly to you or an already setup fundraiser.

leftyokie · Apr 10, 2014

ok, no it wont be going to me. We manage to provide, i work 2 or 3 jobs to cover our costs. we only have 1 nice vehicle and other than the jeep we live pretty modest.

I have looked at several places to send donations and what i see is they only cover research and not treatment, so "where" it goes, Im still working on the details BUT it wont be us!

Elliott · Apr 10, 2014

Treatment is where I would want to see money go, I think its insane what is blowed on research.And I don't mean that I think research should not get money, but more so I think they wastefully spend it somethimes, Kinda like they look at it more like job security.And I hate to hear about your kid having this, I worry everyday about both my boys, just from knowing several people with kids that are sick.

leftyokie · Apr 10, 2014

somedays are worse than others!! some states also help cover the cost, oklahoma isnt one of those though. I agree more money needs spend on treatment, research is good but once your child has one of these its time to treat! we have gone through at least 12 dr's and equally as many speech specialists plus behavioral specialists, frustrating!

Back to the wheeling statement from earlier. No matter which way this goes, we will still wheel! both of my kids and my wife love it!

onepieceatatime · Apr 13, 2014

We did a benefit ride for a a buddy we lost to lung cancer. He was a big time wheeler an actually got me into the sport. We had a local place we ride host the event. Entry fees we're 30 a piece. We served food, had a dj, 50/50 raffle, had a bunch of people donate various items for a raffle, did different events we charged to enter, (rti, time trial, slow crawl, blind driver). Winner got a trophy made by a local fab shop. It was an extremely successful event and raised 5 grand that was given to his wife and daughter.

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