Thankful for 2013 Reaches Chicago

Together, in just over two months, Chris and Alex have run/ biked/ swam roughly the equivalent distance from Charlottesville to Chicago...and back! And while they haven't actually traveled to Chicago, their message has.

Through their campaign, Chris and Alex have reminded us to be thankful for this great gift of life - more specifically, to live each day to the fullest, to always seek opportunities to push ourselves toward our greatest potential, and to inspire and help others however we can. As Thomas Jefferson once said, "Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you." And that's exactly what Chris and Alex are doing with this campaign - taking action and leading by example.

I was so inspired by the Thankful for 2013 campaign that in mid-January I decided to embark on a journey of my own in Chicago. To date, I've biked over 250 miles and hope to pay it forward the same way Chris and Alex have in Charlottesville. When Chris first asked me to write a guest post, like Alex I was a bit apprehensive about sharing my experience publicly. But then I realized that if Chris hadn't shared his journey with me, I may not have been inspired to embark on one of my own. I thank Chris for providing this encouragement.

I want to conclude this post by congratulating Chris and Alex on their incredible progress to date, and to thank them for inspiring me and others to live life to the fullest while at the same time helping those in need. I think Abraham Lincoln put it best when he said, "and in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."

Thankful for 2013. Thankful for life. And thankful for the far-reaching impact of this great campaign.

 

Written by Rob Lane

First Podcast Interview with WINA 1070

Today, Alex, Dave, and I visited WINA 1070am for an early morning radio interview.  The podcast is online alturl.com/jtqei  .  Big thanks to Wendy from WINA for reaching out to us! In addition, the Thankful crew volunteered downtown at the Haven this morning.  We cooked and served breakfast alongside fellow UVA students and community members.  What a great way to start the day!!

Be Thankful for 2013. Be Thankful for Life.

Written by Chris Zapple


Please Support Thankful for 2013 by donating to Madison House

Madison House serves as the student volunteer center at the University of Virginia. Madison House coordinate volunteers, develop leaders, build community partnerships and promote lifelong volunteer service. Madison House organizes service programs to address the needs of the community as well as the educational and personal growth objectives of students.

Here is a step-by-step process for how to donate:

To Give Directly Online
1. Follow this link to the 'Support Madison House' Page
2. Fill out the required information
3. In the 'Gift Preferences' section, please write "Thankful for 2013" in the Additional Comments or Instructions tab
4. Enter your donation amount.
5. Press Donate

To Make a Gift by Check, Please Send to:

Madison House - U.Va. Fund
P.O. Box 400314
Charlottesville, VA 22907-0314
- Please make sure to write "Thankful for 2013" in the memo line

Thankful for Madison House

BIG shout out to Madison House for giving us a front page spot on their monthly newsletters AND website. 
Check us out: http://www.madisonhouse.org/

Also, huge shout out to our general manager, David Aramony, for coordinating an interview with WINA this Saturday. 

And thank you to all of our supporters out there.  We hope to inspire all the communities that Alex, David, and I belong to and we look forward to your future support.


Be Thankful for 2013.  Be Thankful for Life.

Written by Chris Zapple.

Great Improvement Since Last October

I think it's safe to say that, after nearly 2 months of 'Thankful,' Chris and I are both in the best shape of our lives. Last semester we trained for and completed a sprint-triathlon ('sprint' is a relative term here, it's nearly 16 miles). This morning we did a makeshift time-trial sprint-tri at the AFC, and both beat our previous times by a substantial margin. While I am currently very sore, I feel fantastic compared to after our race in the fall. We've made many other strides in our training (bad pun, I know). Chris has completed two half-marathon time trials, and last week I completed a century bike ride, 100-miles in a single day. 

Our Service component has kicked into full swing as well. We've been working mainly through two programs, Madison House and Day in a Life. We've established more or less a weekly schedule, and have been able to participate in a nice variety of work- everything from tutoring math in local high schools, clearing local trails, and cooking Saturday morning breakfasts at the homeless shelter downtown. We've made significant progress in this area since my last blog post, and I think, with the consistency that we've been able to establish, we are well on our way to surpassing our target of 50 hours each.

The next and final phase of our project is the fundraising, which we are kicking into gear this weekend. We've had great publicity, with Madison House putting us on the cover of their most recent newsletter, and we will be interviewed on the Saturday for the WINA local news that morning. 

I want to thank everybody so much for the encouragement and support that we've received over the last two months, and give a special shout out to David Aramony, who has been an invaluable part of our team and helped us get this far.

As April 6th is fast approaching, we will be providing more frequent updates on our progress, post a video soon, and hopefully get a few guest posts. Information on how you can donate is posted below, and if you'd like to get involved in any other way, please feel free to send either Chris or myself an email (acs2w@virginia.edu and cpz3yc@virginia.edu) and we'd be happy to find a way to get you involved, whether it be volunteering, running, or whatever else suits your interest.

Madison House serves as the student volunteer center at the University of Virginia. Madison House coordinate volunteers, develop leaders, build community partnerships and promote lifelong volunteer service. Madison House organizes service programs to address the needs of the community as well as the educational and personal growth objectives of students.

Here is a step-by-step process for how to donate:

To Give Directly Online
1. Follow this link to the 'Support Madison House' Page
2. Fill out the required information
3. In the 'Gift Preferences' section, please write "Thankful for 2013" in the Additional Comments or Instructions tab
4. Enter your donation amount.
5. Press Donate

To Make a Gift by Check, Please Send to:

Madison House - U.Va. Fund
P.O. Box 400314
Charlottesville, VA 22907-0314
- Please make sure to write "Thankful for 2013" in the memo line

Please continue to read our blog and please consider donating to Madison House.  


Thankful for 2013.  Thankful for Life.

Written by Alex Shannon

After a 220 Mile Hiatus...We're Back

It's been awhile since we last caught up.  One month has passed and we have made major strides towards our goal.  I'll let Alex post about his successes, but here is a recap of my January:

- I ran/biked approxiamtely 186 miles. 
- I performed 7 hours of community service

The month of January was very cold in Charlottesville.  In fact on January 22nd, I ran 3.25 miles in 12 degree weather.  Besides the extreme cold, snow, sleet, and freezing rain I managed to run/bike almost 200 miles.  For my service component, I began volunteering with three separate organizations: the Rivanna Trail Maintenance Crew, Day in the Life tutoring program, and in Denise's Kitchen at the Haven.  All of these programs have been extremely rewarding and a great way to get out into the community.

The final component of Thankful for 2013 is fundraising.  At the beginning of Thankful for 2013, Alex and I pledged to raise $2,600 for Madison House.  Now with 7 weeks to go, we begin our fundraising efforts. 


Madison House serves as the student volunteer center at the University of Virginia. Madison House coordinate volunteers, develop leaders, build community partnerships and promote lifelong volunteer service. Madison House organizes service programs to address the needs of the community as well as the educational and personal growth objectives of students.

Here is a step-by-step process for how to donate:

To Give Directly Online
1. Follow this link to the 'Support Madison House' Page
2. Fill out the required information
3. In the 'Gift Preferences' section, please write "Thankful for 2013" in the Additional Comments or Instructions tab
4. Enter your donation amount.
5. Press Donate

To Make a Gift by Check, Please Send to:

Madison House - U.Va. Fund
P.O. Box 400314
Charlottesville, VA 22907-0314
- Please make sure to write "Thankful for 2013" in the memo line

Please continue to read our blog and please consider donating to Madison House. 



Thankful for 2013.  Thankful for Life.

Written by Chris Zapple