The Golf Marathon

For the 3rd year in a row, I will be participating the Alpine Children's Charity's golf marathon. It goes off next Monday. I will play 100 (probably 108) holes in about 11 hours. I need to raise $2000 for the charity to participate, so if you are in the giving mood, donate today!

There are many different ways to donate, but I will let the letter do the talking. You may have received the email/letter below, but if you didn't, give it a read. Any donations will do - even if its a penny a hole.

Thanks in advance and Danke.



Hi Everyone!

I am writing to let you know that for the third year in a row, I will be participating in the Alpine Children's Charity's 100 Holes Golf Marathon on August 2, 2010. Last year I played 108 holes of golf in approximately 11 hours. It was the 2nd worst round of golf I've ever shot - a 435. But I beat the worst round ever, a 454 from the prior year’s marathon. As a whole, the fourteen players raised over $25,000 for charity.

That’s not bad for 11 hours of “punishment.” You might say that golfing can’t be punishment, but I will tell you that in 2008, I had three band-aides covering my already gloved left hand. In 2009 I took about four aspirin at 54 holes because my knee was in pain from the pressure of over 200 swings in about five hours. What will happen in 2010 – who knows.

The Alpine Children's Charity is a small organization run by kids in the Northwest Chicago suburbs that collects and donates money to organizations helping other children. It is set up so that kids are helping kids. The three charities chosen for 2010 are: the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Bare Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation, and the Children's Heart Foundation. The Children's Heart Foundation is especially close to me as my sister and I are included in the 1% of children born with a congenital heart defect every year. You can read more about the Alpine Children's Charity and the organizations they support at their website:

http://www.alpinechildrenscharity.org

The reason I have chosen to get involved with the Alpine Children's Charity is two-fold. One, two of the charities supported affect my family (diabetes and heart ailments.) Second, I support what Alpine is doing by getting kids involved in running the charity. Hopefully it will teach the kids that they can stay active in charitable work throughout their lives. (Much like my mom "making" me volunteer at the Salvation Army after a tornado in Lafayette many years ago.)

So why are you getting this email? Because I need your support. To play in the golf marathon, I must raise $2000, all of which will go straight to Alpine. Fortunately for Alpine, I have not decided to raise $2000. Instead, I am setting my own goal at $2500.

There are two ways to donate. One, you can make out a check to Alpine Children's Charity. These checks should be sent to me so that I can include them in my total (701 Kenilworth Ave, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137.)

The second way to donate puts the pressure on me. You can donate money for every hole-in-one???/eagle/birdie/par/bogey/etc. that I score during the 100 holes on August 2. As many of you know, my hobbies consist of golfing and spreadsheets, so I combined the two to form a few scenarios.

Depending on how well I play, your donation will range. If I play well, you owe more money, if I play poorly, you will owe a few less bucks. In the prior two years, if someone wanted to donate around $100, they would have donated $94 in 2008 (I played poorly) and $109 in 2009 (I played really well.) I can’t foresee the range ever being greater than 10% either way. So if you want to donate based on how well I play, tell me you want one of the following performance plans:

Standard – donate around $100 – will range from $110 to $90
Half – donate around $50 – will range from $55 to $45
Quarter – donate around $25 – will range from $28 to $22
Double – donate around $200 – will range from $220 to $180
The Fiver – donate around $500 – will range from $550 to $450
Big Dog – donate around $1000 – will range from $1100 to $900

No one has ever opted for the Big Dog – so who wants to be the first?

If you want to pledge for how well I play, please know that the total contribution will not be known until after the round on August 2nd, but your contribution should be fairly close to the target. Also, I will send email updates from the course on that day so that everyone can track our progress.

All donations are fully tax deductible. Receipts will be provided after your donation. Please inquire of your company if they have a matching gift program.

Please let me know if you have any questions at all or would like more information on the Alpine Children's Charity. Email me, call me, write me a letter, however you want to get your donations in, I will take them!

If you want to join me on the course, play hour and a half rounds of golf, take the most golf swings you could ever imagine, and most importantly raise some money yourself, let me know and I will get you in contact with the correct contacts.

Here’s to another long, albeit charitable day,
Matt