Last chance for socks!

IMG_2782.JPG My friend Michelle is just a few hundred dollars away from her goal!

The deadline for donating if you want a pair of handknit socks from me is tomorrow; her half-marathon is next weekend, folks, and she has to turn the money in! Edited to add: I’m offering socks if you donate $100 or more to her fundraiser!

As a fellow Team in Training alumna, I can promise you, this is a work to be reckoned with. It’s dedication, it’s hard work, it’s fundraising– and if you’ve never gone up to perfect strangers and said “please… give me money for a good cause” then you may not realize what a challenge that alone is.

And it’s for a good cause. Leukemia and lymphoma are tough cancers to beat. They’re hard to predict– it’s not like you can find a genetic link. With few exceptions, leukemia is usually caused by mutation and environmental factors. And while there are a wide range of treatments, the low availability of compatible bone marrow for patients in need means there’s a dramatic need for multiple ways to treat and cure these diseases.

Team in Training donates a very large percentage of its donations to fighting blood cancers, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has an excellent reputation among non-profit organizations. In addition to funding research, they provide education for patients and families, sponsor support groups, and provide the kind of hand-holding you need when you’re facing the scary and horrible prospect that your blood is literally out to kill you.

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There are many places you can put your charitable dollars this year. But wouldn’t you love for some of it to result in a gorgeous pair of socks? If not for you, perhaps there’s someone on your Christmas list who deserves this kind of treat, or who has really hard-to-fit feet that need something special?

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Oh, and I have been corrected by an astute reader: your donation might not be 100% tax-deductible, because you will receive something in exchange for it. However, the thing you receive could, technically, have a value of as little as $3 (I hear they sell socks for about that much at Wal-Mart– did you know that?!?)

So, if you have the extra cash, or you were thinking “wasn’t Mortaine offering some socks….” now is the chance, because tomorrow is the very last day.

Michelle’s donation page is right here.