Our3Day.com

You may remember last Mother’s Day I was selected by Bumble Bee to be the regional ambassador of the Walk to Empower in Houston. I gave a speech in front of a large crowd before the walk. I conquered a huge fear that day– I am definitely not a public speaker. None-the-less, I cannot imagine the fear of being told you have cancer.

I admire everything Bumble Bee does to raise money for those impacted by breast cancer. They have a wonderful program where you can log your fitness miles (walking, biking, running) called BeeWell for Life. Each mile translates to a monetary donation to the charity Y-ME, which is dedicated to providing immediate emotional relief to anyone affected by breast cancer. Back when I was training for the 3-Day I logged a lot of miles. It’s also a fun place to track your meals and workouts, so you can benefit too while doing your part to raise money for breast cancer support. See? It’s a win-win.

You can follow @BeeWellforLife on Twitter too, and join in on their #Tag4Cancer game. Each tweet using the #Tag4Cancer hashtag and tagging a friend will help raise awareness for the cause and their program plus you earn an entry toward winning an awesome prize– an iPad2!

You can also sign up for the 2011 Y-ME Race at Your Pace on Mother’s Day, May 8. Here’s a sneak peak at what you will experience, and thanks again to Bumble Bee for all they do for this cause:

I love love love KitchenAid. I have cooked up many a cupcake for the cure in my Artisan Mixer in the past few years to benefit my Race for the Cure and Breast Cancer 3-Day events.

This year marks the very first 1,000 Cooks for the Cure, a nationwide event initiated by KitchenAid in conjunction with its Cook for the Cure® program benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. Between July 16-18, cooks all over the United States are joining together to make a difference by sharing their culinary talents with friends and family all for a good cause – to help end breast cancer forever.

I have joined them by signing up to host a party, and you can too. It’s easy to sign up on their site, and they also have included a party guide with tips to help you plan the perfect soiree or simple gathering. You can also print donation forms to pass out to your guests.

I was the 35th cook to sign up, and you can make a donation to my party online on the Susan G. Komen Cook for the Cure website. My Cook ID # is 35.

Among the Cook for the Cure items on KitchenAid’s website (many on sale right now, by the way), is the Pass the Plate serving dish ($24.99). The purpose of this dish is to make one of your favorite recipes, put it on the plate, and pass it to a friend. KitchenAid will donate $5 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure® every time a plate is passed and registered. You can also earn one of these plates for free if you register to host a party and raise $50 by September 30.

I am looking forward to sharing the details of my party with you here next week. As a thank-you for attending my party both online and in person, anyone who makes a donation will be entered to win this KitchenAid Cook for the Cure® Set of 3 Mixing Bowls.

Would you be willing to Pass the Plate? Let me know, and I just might send it in your direction. Also, if you make a donation, please let me know so that I may enter your name in the drawing. Have a great rest of the week and weekend!

People get really creative when it comes to dressing up for the 3-Day. You’ll see t-shirts with sayings about boobs, breasts, knockers, ta-tas… you name it. You might even spot an entire team dressed in tutus, or men dressed in drag riding unicorns (don’t ask). You’ll also see a handful of women and men who are brave enough to permanently dye their hair PINK. I’m brave enough to walk 60 miles, but I just can’t fathom bleaching my hair and coloring it pink.

I think it’s fun and would want to, but I work in a corporate environment and I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t fly with the executives. Luckily there’s an alternative. All you have to do is clip in Snazzy Lites and you’ll add an instant dash of color. They are non-damaging clip-in hair color that are made of 100 percent real human hair, and they can be flat-ironed, curled, or braided just like natural hair. I’ve been getting lots of complements on mine the past few weeks at the official 3-Day training walks. See the pink streak in the photo to the right? It’s easy to clip in a strand on each side of my head and walk out the door. They would be fun for kids and school sporting events and of course other Komen 3-Day for the Cure participants who would also looking to add a little bit of pink to their hair without the commitment of permanently changing their hair.

Disclosure: I was not compensated for writing this post. Snazzy Lites donated several strands to try or use for fundraising purposes as well as offered to donate $2 of the purchase of each colorful clip in hair extension piece to Susan G. Komen and my 3-Day walk when coupon code 3DAYLB is used at checkout.

Over the weekend Dave and I drove to Houston to participate in the Breast Cancer Network of Strength Walk to Empower. I was selected by Bumble Bee as the local regional ambassador. It was definitely an honor considering all of the amazing stories submitted by women all over the country.

At 7:00 AM we walked from our hotel downtown to Sam Houston park which was a little over a mile away. It was a really pretty overcast morning– the perfect day for a walk! We stood in the registration line to pick up our race bibs.

After that, I introduced myself to the volunteers at the Beewell for Life booth. They were passing out buttons so that participants could write the name of the person they were walking for, as well as giving people the opportunity to enter a sweepstakes for an iPod Touch among other prizes.

Dave and I asked to take some bags of buttons and sweepstakes notepads and walked around the park talking to walkers about the program. Did you know that Bumble Bee donates 15 cents to the Network of Strength for every mile you walk, run or bike? We met some really amazing people too.

These two boys were walking with their parents, and happily took the buttons to demonstrate that they were there walking for their mother who was a survivor. This little boy insisted that he write “Mommy” on his own button. It was definitely a really sweet moment.

I loved meeting and visiting with this team too. They had really cute team shirts and enjoyed filling out the buttons and telling us about Tish Lee, who they were there to honor. After visiting with more participants, we finally ran out of buttons and sweepstakes forms. After that, we met up with Rachel and enjoyed the warm up with Ronald McDonald doing Tai Chi.

After that, the opening ceremony began and a local DJ starting talking about the walk, the Network of Strength, and the sponsors. I was shocked to be called up to the stage. I had no idea that I was about to be asked to give a speech in front of the large crowd! I definitely do not consider myself a great public speaker, especially when I do not have anything prepared. I managed to say a few words about the ambassadorship, and talked about my mother-in-law, the reason I have become active in events like this one. It was all such a blur, but I have been assured that I sounded calm and composed even though I was tearing up behind my sunglasses. Quite a few people came up to be afterward congratulating me and commenting that I did a great job considering how shy I was.

After the presentation was over, I was interviewed by NBC and I talked more about the Beewell for Life program and my participation in breast cancer events. I also met the couple who won the best t-shirt contest: Team Boo Bees! Perfect for Bumble Bee, huh?! Then the walk began!

Thousands of walkers, including children and dogs, set off town the trail in Sam Houston park. It was a sea of pink which is always a beautiful thing! Before we knew it we were back at the finish line with a sense of accomplishment for a productive morning having raised money for a great charity as well as made lots of new friends who are also supporters of the cause.

I am proud to have been involved in this event and am glad that I was able to spread the word about the amazing program that Bumble Bee has to raise money for the Breast Cancer Network of Strength. This charity offers those who are going through breast cancer the opportunity to receive 24/7 support and access to information, which is no doubt invaluable during a difficult and scary time in their lives.

I would like to thank my husband for his support and for traveling with me from Dallas to Houston to participate. I would also like to thank his dad for making a donation to the Network of Strength, as well as Rachel who spent her Mother’s Day with us and did a great job fundraising for the cause.

Thanks one more time to Bumble Bee and the Breast Cancer Network of Strength for a wonderful experience and everything they do for those who are going through breast cancer.

Last year I spent many hours volunteering at Komen headquarters preparing the race packets for shipment to race participants. It was an amazing experience, and it definitely gave me perspective on all of the little details it takes to pull off a successful charity event, especially one as large as the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. It takes hundreds of volunteers, as well as the generosity of donors and sponsors. Without them, the event definitely would not run as smoothly.

Did you know that Hanes is the Official T-shirt of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Series, and that Komen provides Hanes t-shirts to the 1.5 million people expected to participate in the race series? I folded thousands of those very t-shirts myself!

I also love Hane’s work with celebrities to create t-shirts for the Passionately Pink for the Cure program. Not long ago I won a contest on Twitter and received an autographed version of one of Sarah Chalke’s designs. When I mentioned that I was happy to win and planned on using it as an item in our team’s fundraising auction, they offered to send additional shirts for my team and to use for fundraising purposes. I actually wore my shirt during the breast cancer walk that I participated in over the weekend. I received lots of complements and many people asked where I got it. I was happy to tell them Hanes! You can shop the Hanes Passionately Pink line on their website (each is around $9.99). You can buy my actual Sarah Chalke tee at Komen.org.

CSI actress Melina Kanakaredes has joined up with Hanes to create three new t-shirt shirt designs for the Passionately Pink program that will be available this fall at HanesPink.com. She hopes they inspire and encourage others to join the fight against breast cancer. The T-shirts communicate strength, love and fearlessness and were designed to honor those affected by breast cancer. You can even create your own design on their website and learn more about Hanes’ effort to support Komen. In 2010, Hanes is contributing a total donation of $500,000, which includes a $250,000 cash and in-kind donation to Passionately Pink for the Cure, and another cash donation of $250,000 to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Series. Love it!

Check out Melina’s designs for yourself online, as well as at Walmart stores this fall along with their “pink collection” that includes socks, panties and bras.

Disclosure: I was not compensated for writing this post. I was happy to share the news of Hanes partnership with Komen. As mentioned above, I did receive several complementary t-shirts following winning a contest via Twitter. I also received a sample of one Melina’s new design pictured above.

Last month I received an e-mail from HotelsCombined.com with information on their Spread the Word for Charity campaign.

By letting your friends know about their awesome site, they will make a monetary donation to your choice of three very worthy charities. Currently they are supporting the World Wildlife Federation, Make A Wish, and World Vision. I immediately took to Twitter and Facebook and helped spread the word.

They were also kind enough to offer to sponsor my Susan G. Komen for the Cure 3-Day walk in November by contributing donations for friends and family that I refer to their website and program. It is easy to help and costs you absolutely nothing except a few minutes of your time and clicks of your mouse! Here is how you can help me and Susan G. Komen for the Cure:

Become a fan of HotelsCombined on Facebook, and they will donate $5. You can mention in their comments that you are supporting me and Susan G. Komen.

Tweet the following message from your Twitter account and they will donate $10:
Please RT @laurie_pooh: Check out HotelsCombined.com! I’m spreading the word and supporting Susan G Komen http://tinyurl.com/ao2rgj

Write a quick blog post like this one about HotelsCombined and their charity program (you can mention me and my walk too), and they will donate $20.

The best part? You can do one, two, or all three of the above. So won’t you help me spread the word and help me earn more donations to end breast cancer forever?

I love that HotelsCombined.com is a green and socially conscious company. What do they do? I am so glad you asked! They are a search engine that consumers can use to find hotel availability and rates. Their site allows their users to compare prices and offers from multiple merchants which means you don’t have to go to any other websites to find the best deal on your next hotel stay. Once you find the supplier suitable for your needs, they link you through to the supplier website to book directly. They offer a “complete picture” for any hotel that can be booked on the Internet, and are not paid to promote any particular website or hotel.

Go check them out for yourself. I plan on booking my next hotel through them (I found a ridiculously great rate on a room at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas!), and you should too. Want to help spread the word? You can get a nifty badge (like the one below) on their website. It couldn’t be more easy to make a donation to a wonderful charity and not even have to open your own wallet.

Thank you to those of you who have already helped, and especially to HotelsCombined for this wonderful opportunity!