Please Scroll BELOW to see the most recent updates to this site! 5/4/09

Welcome! Thanks for visiting my Fundraising page! 

 I'm Laurie McCaw and beginning today, Inauguration Day 2009, I'll embark on a lifechanging journey and ...with your help, raise funds for the organization that I am most passionate about....Rebuilding Together Metro Denver.  RTMD helps low income elderly and disabled people to live independently in warm, safe and dry homes. This organization has helped more than 2,000 homeowners live with warmth, safety and independence in affordable and safe housing by providing home repairs to help them age in place. The joy in the faces of the homeowners and the restored dignity and hope they feel has captured my heart for nearly 10 years.

With your help, together we can make a difference right now...

In 2009, thousands of low income homeowners will be at risk of losing their homes, forced to live in unsafe or substandard housing and unable to pay their utility bills because they must choose between food, medicine OR heat. Can you imagine your parent not having  heat or hot water for more than 24 hours?

This year's theme is about CHANGE and HOPE.  2009 could be one of the most unpredictable and challenging years that we will ever experience. We know people or families that are struggling...it' truly is a GREAT time and opportunity  to make a personal difference, right now....today....to help someone continue to live in their home. I am asking for YOUR help to reach my 12 month goal of raising $10.000 for RTMD to provide urgent home repairs to families this year living without heat, hot water, working plumbing or in a housing crisis..  Doesn't everyone deserve a place to live that is warm, safe and dry?.           

   Read on...

My defining moment....

At some point the need for change filters down to each and every person.....nobody is immune from life's messages. We all have defining moments when you stop and just know something must change. ... I've been heavy all my life. I've learned to deal with it but not without constantly over compensating for it. Well, the moment.....It happened while on my way to catch my flight for a conference in Minneapolis. With just minutes to spare before they closed the gate for our flight, I just didn't have the stamina or ability to run.. My legs wouldn't do what my brain was telling them to do. Then, of course, our seats had been given away (don't get me started on why the airlines do that when you have purchased your tickets well in advance!) and my husband and I had been put in middle seats in different rows. You see, I DON'T do middle seats - ever. I told my husband I wouldn't get on the plane and as he ushered me on to the flight I panicked. I ended up asking people to move so we could sit together and of course, people looked at me like I was completely nuts. One older woman kindly moved and set a great example of  compassion for others. Yet, not an experience I want to go through again.

That night, I tried to sleep and couldn't. A series of events flashed through my mind. It was the day after the Presidential election. I was watching the news and saw the joy among millions of Americans who thought this day would never come and chanting "Yes, I can". ..I thought to myself, why can't this day come for me? Why can't I be the person I've always wanted to be? A vision came to me...some people run marathons, some do bike races...all to raise money for something they care deeply about. Why not put my passion for Rebuilding Together to work and improve my health, while helping low income homeowners make it through this next year with warmth, safety and independence?  Is it possible? YES. Will it be difficult? Of course.......But then, change can come at any point in our lives. Today, Inauguration Day, is an example of making possible the impossible.

Here is my plan and how you can help support me and RTMD:

My goal is to raise $10,000 for RTMD and to re-learn how to live a healthy lifestyle including food management and eating healthy for life, exercise, life and work balance and losing 50 lbs this year. I want permanent change and I will keep going until I raise my goal, no matter how long it takes. I have a team of experts comprised of:

• Primary care physican who will monitor overall health benefits
• Heather Cherry, Registered Dietician, to help design a healthy eating plan and monitor my progress
• Personal trainer to design exercise and fitness plan (Oh boy!)

Your support along the way will provide signficant motivation to me while also helping RTMD provide critical home repairs to low income homeowners! My plan officially begins today. Will you help make the change?  Contribute according to my progress, or give now - any amount will do to help reach my goal of $10,000!

I promise that for my supporters, I will:

• Provide monthly weigh in updates and overall progress reports here and on my Facebook page so that you can offer your comments and suggestions
• Report on challenges and accomplishments
• Share what the process is teaching me about me and how I got here
• Share what I learn from my team of experts and even,
• Update photos regularly (Ok, I realize this really IS important!)

......all in the name of accountability and success!

I hope you will join me on my journey to improve my health, and quality of life - while raising funds for urgent home repairs for metro Denver's low income elderly and disabled homeowners. These repairs not only impact the day to day health of a homeowner, they restore hope and dignity to people who have forgotten what it's like to have a community care about what happens to them - believe me, I have seen the difference it makes...

2009 promises to be a year of change for us all.  JOIN me now as I embark on a lifechanging journey.  Thank you for supporting hope - a driving force for all of us. We are all in this together.

Laurie McCaw

Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts. Learn more about Rebuilding Together Metro Denver, www.rebuildingdenver.org

Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!

 

Laurie

May 4, 2009 Update:

Dear Friends,

I am embarassed that I missed my last month of updates to my supporters and friends and I apologize to you all! In the past couple months I experienced some difficult challenges in both my personal and professional life and, my "old" and standard patterns kicked in - immediately putting a halt to my focus and momentum.

To be perfectly honest and candid, when the going got tough, the tough did get going - away from my goals and dreams. A pattern in my life and perhaps other people too - to avoid discomfort and run the other way when things get hard. Food is my addiction of choice and while many people may visualize someone inhaling a quart or half gallon of ice cream in one sitting, that is NOT me. My disease is sort of more insidious in that I obsess and think about eating....all the time. That's what happens. Emotions, fears and pain head towards the food obsession which in the short term, comforted me. But like with all addictions, the calm wears off and you simply want more.....and more.....and it never ends. It really would be easier to eat the damn quart and get it out of my system, but I don't manage the  addiction that way usually. And then of course, once you realize all of this, you chalk your efforts up to the usual "I'm such a failure" self talk which in turn, sets you up for a longer hiatus from your ultimate goals. WELL, that is where I have been during the past two months. BUT, I am BACK!  I am back because of YOU, my friends and family that I know want to see me reach my ultimate goal. And, I am back because I am worth whatever it takes to reach it ! Discomfort is something we all have to manage - and in different ways.

So, I'm still down about 5 lbs and will continue to focus on my goal of 50 lbs in the next 8 months. AND, together, with your amazing support, more than $1100.00 has been raised to help low income elderly and disabled homeowners with emergency repairs for their homes! That is remarkable. THANK you for your continued support. I again commit  to share photos, and other updates on my exercise plan! YOUR support means so much! NOT only to me but to Rebuilding Together's homeowners who are living warmer and safer because of your generosity. Very shortly I want to share stories of the real people you are helping.......until then, I close with sharing with all of you the reality of our own humanity, our shortfalls, detriments and weaknesses - which make us all who we are. We needn't be ashamed for not being perfect because our task in our lives is the journey, not the destination!  

Laurie