Here are some things I've done:
- I went to DC for Valentine's day weekend and met up with my friend Kira. We made a poster that said "SUPPORT AFFORDABLE HOUSING" on one side, and "KISSES FOR DONATIONS" on the other. The original plan was to give out kisses to raise money (like a kissing booth), but alas, we ended up just walking around Dupont Circle holding up the "Support Affordable Housing" side and telling people that I was biking across the country. Many people were interested and, despite it being a Sunday night, we collected $117. The next day (Valentine's Day), which we thought would be more lucrative, was NOT. We went to very busy areas, encountered at least 4x as many people as we did on Sunday, but only received $15 in donations in 2 hours. Oh well, better luck next time.
- In an online search I discovered a website called iGive. I registered Bike & Build on the website and now, if you go online and register with the website (or install their toolbar) each time you search $0.01 is donated to Bike & Build. More importantly if you shop online, for example, at amazon.com, you can go to Amazon through the iGive website, make your purchase, and Bike & Build will receive a kickback! So please, help my fundraising! All you have to do is go to www.iGive.com/bikeandbuild make an account to record your donations, and the next time you want to purchase something online, go to the iGive website and search for it. Many companies & websites participate (pretty much anything I've ever wanted to buy online, I could buy through iGive), so give it a try! If you're still confused (I definitely was) follow this link to How iGive Works. ***I do want to emphasize, they say that you need to search through their browser or install their special toolbar, but I think if you add a store to your "favorites" section, it will automatically keep track of what you buy from there and donate to iGive. I can't promise this, but I added the Wall Street Journal to mine, and while I was in DC my mom went to wsj.com and bought a subscription and I received an email saying $13.00 was donated!*** SO Try it out, and let me know when you buy something =D
- I'm thinking about planning some sort of raffle/silent auction or maybe something very small in my neighborhood to get the local community involved in my trip. More on this later.
- My Fundraising Grand Total is $1,332!!! Thank You Everyone & keep spreading the word!
I've been communicating with Bokoo Bikes (the bike shop that sponsors Bike & Build and is building/shipping my bicycle) over the past few days. I know which frame I want to order, the question is now, what size do I get?! The obvious answer here is: go test ride a few different sizes and find the one that fits. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that is much easier said than done. I looked up Giant Bicycle dealers in my area--there are 3 fairly close to my house, and 1 in Center City Philadelphia--so at first I was hopeful. I called the first shop, and the guy on the phone was completely incompetent--he barely understood what I meant when I said I wanted to be fitted for a bicycle frame. After I explained, he told me he didn't have and Defys or Avails, but I could try out other bikes and those would work fine... I decided immediately to not waste my time.
I called the 2nd shop and the guy who answered the phone said they did have Defys built. I went by and they had a Small and a Large. The guy had me simply stand over each bike, and asked how that was. "If you can stand over it, it fits you", was pretty much all I got from him, and he tried to convince me that the large was the correct size. I'm skeptical, and after talking to the Bokoo rep on the phone (they think I'm a women's size M, and I agree), I'm going to try calling the shop in Center City tomorrow and **fingers crossed** hope they have a medium size frame that I can try riding. The last thing I want is to be stuck riding the wrong size bicycle all summer-long!! Imagine the pain...
Anyway, as soon as the bike arrives, I WILL post pictures :)
x Mel
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