NEWSLETTER
For the past couple years, I have blogged for 24 and 30 hours straight at the MLB Trade Deadline on July 30 and 31. I did this not only to provide you with insane coverage at one of the most important and interesting times of the year, but I also did it to raise funds to help pay for the hosting of this here site.
This year, however, BN has partnered with Make-A-Wish to use the Blogathon to raise funds for Make-A-Wish in their continued effort to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Make-A-Wish grants many wishes to young Chicago Cubs fans who wish for a Cubs experience, and it is our intention to help fund those wishes.
To that end, at the beginning of the month, I offered that, if we raised $6,000 – the average cost of sponsoring a wish – I would blog for 30 hours straight at the Trade Deadline. No sleep. No breaks. Just coverage. Amazingly, you met that goal in less than two weeks.
From there, I offered to tack on an additional hour of coverage for every $1,000 you donate (up to 36 hours), and you’ve responded just as incredibly. As of this morning, we’re up to $9,135 raised for Make-A-Wish. Since I’m rounding up, that’s bought you 34 hours straight at the Deadline. I cannot thank you all enough for your generosity to support a great cause (and to see me completely bleary-eyed on the 31st), and I want to thank The Wife for her offer to match up to $500 in donations last week (an offer you took her up on almost immediately).
An anonymous BN’er was moved by The Wife’s offer, and he has made the same offer for this week, starting this past Saturday: for every dollar we raise through this Friday, he’ll match it, up to $500. I can’t describe how much I appreciate that offer, and how much I appreciate the support of everyone who has contributed, either financially or by sharing the fundraiser with friends/family/Twitter/Facebook/etc.
You are making something really special happen, and it’s a credit to our community. Let’s really make a push to reach that $12,000 mark – that’s two wishes, and 36 straight hours of blogging at the Deadline – by July 30. We’ve got a little over a week, and we’re getting so close.
Donate here. More on the Blogathon here.
Make-A-Wish is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, so, to the extent you were wondering, financial contributions may be deductible for federal income tax purposes.
