Friends for Life Bike Rally 2009

On July 26, 2009, I will be one of 400 people participating in the Friends For Life Bike Rally. For six days, we will cycle over 600km from Toronto to Montreal with the support of a fabulous crew, and in doing so will raise thousands of dollars for men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS.

The money raised supports the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation, which helps many of the people in the Toronto area who are affected by HIV and AIDS.

The minimum amount I have to raise to participate in this event is $2200, but my goal is $3000.

Here’s how you can help:

Sponsor me for the ride.

The easiest and best way to help is to sponsor me online. You will receive a charitable tax receipt for all donations over $20. To help reach my goal I’m offering some products and services as incentives for donating. There are currently three options to choose from.

Donate $100 and get 1000 spot UV business cards from Print Laboratory.

These are full-colour on both sides, printed on 14.5pt premium bright white stock. The spot UV coating is our finest finish.

The cards in the image to the left are actually solid black. The shiny parts are UV coated, and the rest is matte (click on the image to have a detailed look).

If you don’t have a card designed already I’ll give you a couple options to choose from.

Advertise in Graphic Arts Magazine.

I’m happy to announce that Graphic Arts Magazine is offering discounted advertising in exchange for sponsorship of my ride in the Friends For Life Bike Rally.

For a tax-deductible donation of $75, you can get $75 off a full-colour eighth-page ad in the September 2009 issue of Graphic Arts Magazine. For $100 you can get $100 off a half-page ad, and $200 will be applied to a full-page ad.

Also included is layout and design of your ad, and a rotating sidebar on the magazine’s website for two months free.

I’ll match your donation 1:1.

In these financially uncertain times, giving money to a charity is often not a priority. If you choose this option I’m willing to match your donation (between $50 and $500) in your name. For many people that means that sponsoring me will cost you almost nothing. It’s a win/win/win!

Give your computer a new lease on life for $90.

Do you have an older system you’d like to repurpose for the kids? Maybe your computer is filled with viruses and spyware, and you don’t have the time or energy to reformat and reinstall. Having trouble finding that installation disk for that software you absolutely need? Sick of Vista?

With a tax-deductible donation of $90, I’ll backup, reformat, install the OS and software (Mac, PC, or Linux), then copy back your original files.

Drop off your computer in the morning, and be running better than ever by the end of the day.

Donate your product or service.

If you don’t want to spend money, consider showing your support through donating your product or service. In addition to being prominently featured on this site, you’ll also gain visibility through my posts on twitter, facebook, and through targetted email broadcasts.

This page will be updated with new information as it comes, so be sure to come back regularly. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, comments or concerns.