Thursday, April 26, 2012

Action 389 - Go For More.

Yesterday, I proudly (and gratefully) announced that I had reached my fundraising goal of $1,775 for the Semper Fi Fund. And I have spent the last twenty-four hours feeling relaxed that I had successfully met the challenge I created weeks ago. But really, what Marine is ever satisfied with just meeting a challenge?

Action 389 - Go For More. I checked out my fundraising page and I saw that another Marine, Don Thieme, has raised more money than I have. Nearly $1,000 more, in fact. And he also included this story about Marines he met while in the hospital:
Several years ago after a car accident, I had a chance to spend five weeks hobbling around Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.  I listened to many many Marines, some fairly lightly injured, others fighting for their lives, tell me their stories.  They were many varied and all humbling - but nothing could compare with the three Marines, greviously wounded, in the Intensive Care Unit in their individual "pods."  The medical staff thought they were certain to die, but a decision was made to pull all three of them into the center of the ICU where they could see and hear each other.  Within 36 hours, all three had made "remarkable" recoveries to begin their individual pathways to recovery.  When asked afterwards, each said "Once I knew my buddy was okay and had survived, I had something to fight for."

This simple story is so authentic, so powerful. I don't know any of the three Marines involved but I am already emotionally invested in their service, sacrifices, and amazing recovery.

I have so much respect for Don Thieme and his ongoing efforts to raise money for Semper Fi. And it is because of that respect that I want to try to raise at least as much money as he has. I think of this as a friendly challenge with the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund winning either way.

On this blog. On Facebook. On the news. At the Expo. I will talk about this cause anywhere and anytime, to any and all who will listen. The work they do is so important, and the Marines they serve so worthy, that pushing for more donations is the very least I can do.

Good luck, Don. I'm coming for you. Semper Fi!

(And I'm going to donate $5.00 to Don's campaign to get his attention. Sure, it will likely fire him up and get him to kick his own fund-raising into double-time mode. But it will make it more of a fair fight and increase the overall money coming to the charity. And that's a good thing.)

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