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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
I'm not above asking for your money
It's for two really great causes: KidSport and Motorcycle Ride for Dad
You have probably heard of the term "Guerrilla Marketing" before. Think of this week's column as "Gorilla Fundraising" mainly because I'm doing it and I'm utilizing my well-practiced bullying tactics and threatening techniques to accomplish the task.
Two of the bigger charitable causes I have aligned myself with this off-season require influxes of cash to make a difference, and I figure now is as good a time as any to beg.
Let it be known that while I have utilized this column to share with my readers the exploits of many a charitable adventure over the years -- like getting stuck in a ditch in Starbuck for an I Love to Read appearance, or visiting a lifelong Bomber fan in the palliative care ward -- I have never solicited you for your hard-earned cash until now. I have been saving up my favours over the years for one big push and now I have two.
Ask No. 1 is really a no-brainer. The story about how I was selected as KidSport Winnipeg's Champion Spokesperson for 2011 is really very simple. I met with a couple of representatives from this organization in the boardroom in the Bomber offices a few months ago and I heard them say the word "champion." Without further inquiry or hesitation I exclaimed, 'I'll do it! Sign me up!' for as you can probably tell from my 11 years here I'm a little thin on championships.
Once I realized what I had committed to, however, I could not be prouder of my involvement. KidSport is an organization whose sole focus is removing financial barriers for kids to compete and participate in sport. If you could have been a fly on the wall in some of our team meetings last year with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, when players were asked to share their stories about their upbringings and ideas about respect in football, you would understand and realize not only how many athletes on our team had to overcome financial hardships and obstacles to compete in sport, but how dramatically their lives were changed and impacted positively because of participation in athletics.
Commitment
As part of my commitment to this organization, almost all of my teammates and I that are year-round residents will be putting on a charitable football camp on April 16 for any athlete who received funding from KidSport in order to play football in 2010. The catch is this: The more money that is donated on top of the 2010 numbers, the more kids we can invite to come to our camp and learn from us. All it costs is a donation of $50 to outfit and send one kid to our football camp that otherwise would not be able to afford to attend and benefit from the instruction of professional athletes volunteering their time. Donations can be made by credit card online at kidsportcanada.ca (in the comment section please specify Doug Brown KidSport Winnipeg Football Camp) or cheques (made out to KidSport Canada-Manitoba) can be sent to the KidSport Winnipeg office c/o Christine Hoenisch, Sport Manitoba, 145 Pacific Ave., R3B 2Z6.
If you don't want to subject children to having me yell at them and work them into a frothing lather at my football camp, then you have another option to support a great cause that still involves helmets. As you may have heard or noticed this past weekend at the World of Wheels show at the convention centre, I am a celebrity ride captain -- along with Shelly Glover, MP for St. Boniface -- for the Manitoba Motorcycle Ride for Dad.
This organization raises funds for the fight against prostate cancer through research and awareness and this will be the third year for the ride in Manitoba. This is the largest charitable motorcycle run in Canada with 30 cities participating. Last year, $90,000 was raised from Winnipeg alone to combat a disease that 1.2 million men in Canada currently have, of which an alarming 80 per cent are unaware.
You may be wondering how I am going to be a ride captain on May 28 since I sold my bike to Lyle Bauer six years ago (who then promptly gave it to his wife), but rumour has it they are trying to stretch out a Harley Fatboy for me. To register for the ride, donate money or pledge support for a fat guy on a little bike such as myself, go to http://www.motorcycleridefordad.org
As a native of Vancouver, if there are two things I have learned about this city since I have become a full-time resident, it is that there are loads of fabulously wealthy people here and a greater percentage of charitable givers than most anywhere else in Canada. As part of my "Gorilla Fundraising" tactics, I hope I will not have to write a column down the road identifying all my Manitoban acquaintances who can afford to help out here but were too lazy to click on a website. You know who you are.
Doug Brown, always a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears Tuesdays in the Free Press.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 29, 2011 C2
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