One Week Until the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend and the Grief Relief Team Ready

It is hard to believe, but we are one week out from race day! This incredible team is 34 team members strong and has already raised just over $25,000 to send grieving children to Comfort Zone Camp!!! Fundraising efforts have already raised incredible amounts of awareness of Comfort Zone to donors from 23 states across the US. On race day, more grieving families who desperately need support will discover Comfort Zone because of this team flying the flag around Disney World. The ripple effects of the awareness and funds that this team is raising are just tremendous. 

You can follow along with our team while down in Disney via this BLOG for the latest updates, photos, & videos. The 5K kicks off Friday, January 6, 2012 at 6:30am; the Half Marathon on Saturday, January 7 at 5:35am and the Full Marathon on Sunday, January 8 at 5:35am. We will be posting updates and pictures from the course all weekend long. 

2012 Team Breakdown:

• Comfort Zone Camp Volunteers (24) 
• Camper Parents (4)
• Supporters (4)
• Comfort Zone Camp Staff (1)
• (1) Volunteer  who is a former camper.

2012 Team Breakdown By Event:

• Half Marathon Team: 15
• Full Marathon Team: 5
• Goofy Challenge Team (Half + Full Marathon): 6
• 5K Team: 6
• Cheer Team: 6

2012 Team Breakdown By State:

 VA (13), NY (6), NC (4), MD (3), DC (3), MA (2), NJ (2) and CT (1).

Help make a difference in a grieving child's life by making a pledge to support this team: You can donate to Comfort Zone's Grief Relief Team via our safe & secure website.

Beyond the Edge of Comfort

"At any level, the purest form of effort is just beyond the edge of comfort.  It is, for all athletes, that point at which they are no longer certain they are in control.  Being an athlete means pushing to the edge of uncertainty and constantly looking just beyond your capabilities...That edge is easy to define and impossible to find.  Most of us know only that we've gotten to the edge after we've stepped off the cliff.  Part of the learning process is to get closer and closer to the edge without falling off."

JOHN "THE PENGUIN" BINGHAM, THE COURAGE TO START

Accommodations at Disney!

Our Disney Team members will be receiving the Disney Team September Newsletter today.  Among other things, the newsletter has information about options for accommodations in Orlando, compiled by the Disney Coordinating Committee.  Below is more information about accommodation options:

DISNEY TEAM ACCOMMODATIONS

Team Houses (off-Disney)

Stay with your teammates in a spacious villa located in the gated Emerald Island Resort Community, approximately 3 miles from Disney in Orlando!  The number of houses rented will vary depending upon the number of individuals interested.  An example house might include: 7 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 2 family rooms and a screened-in backyard large pool/hot tub.  To avoid an accounting nightmare, we will be charging a standard per-person rate regardless of whether you’re staying for all 5 nights. 

The cost to stay with the team is a standard per-person rate for 5 nights (Thursday, January 5 – Tuesday, January 10) of $200/person. 

·         $150/person (or $30/person/night) for your portion of the rent for the house

·         $50/person for your portion of the refundable security deposit for the house (which barring any damage to the house, will be refunded to you after the race weekend)

·         This is the rate regardless of whether you stay 3 or 5 nights. 

In order to stay with the team, you must:

·         Put down a $100 deposit to secure your spot in a team house no later than October 7 (Checks must be mailed by October 5).

·         Pay the remaining $100 housing fee no later than October 21 (checks must be mailed by October 19).

Payment Options

You will have the option to pay via check or PayPal.  In order to pay via PayPal, you must have a PayPal account.  Setting up a PayPal account involves a multi-day account verification process where PayPal makes a deposit into your bank account that you then have to verify.  You are responsible for sending your payments on time, therefore please keep the multi-day verification process in mind if you are setting up a new PayPal account. 

If you are mailing a check, please mark “Disney Accommodations” on your check and send it to Comfort Zone Camp, Attn: Disney Accommodations, 4906 Cutshaw Ave. 2^nd floor, Richmond, VA 23230.

Have questions?  Contact Maggie Nick at griefreliefteam@comfortzonecamp.org or 866-488-5679.

Hotels

Lake Buena Vista Hotels

Lake Buena Vista is ideally located off I-4 at Exit 68, just minutes from Downtown Disney and the parks.  There are a number of hotels in this area to choose from.  Below is a sample of the hotels in the Lake Buena Vista area:

• Wyndham Lake Buena Vista
• Holiday Inn Lake Buena Vista
• Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista
• Lake Buena Vista Best Western

Kissimmee Hotels

Kissimmee is located within miles of the Walt Disney World Resort®, with a number of hotels within a ten minute drive of the parks.  Kissimmee offers a huge selection of close-to-everything hotels, with a variety of features and services to satisfy every vacation need and budget.

Staying at Disney World

Walt Disney World offers a variety of on-site accommodations to meet a variety of budgets.  These accommodations offer convenience and save time getting to and from parks and race events.   Lodging choices range from value hotels to deluxe villas.

Choose Your Own Event!

For more information, visit

www.comfortzonecamp.org/grief-relief-team


To JOIN our Choose Your Own Event Team, visit
www.firstgiving.com/comfortzonecamp/choose2011

Team Update!

The Disney 2012 Team is now 15-strong & represents 6 states (VA, MD, DC, MA, NJ & NY). Our team has pledged to raise over $17,000 and has actually raised nearly $2,000, sending nearly 4 grieving kids to a life-transforming weekend at Comfort Zone Camp!!


We have 5 team members on our Goofy and a Half Challenge Team, 4 team members on our Disney Full Marathon Team, 4 team members on our Disney Half Marathon Team, 1 team member on our Disney 5K Team & 1 team member cheering everyone on!

Run Disney 2012 with Comfort Zone Camp's Grief Relief Team!

Click to enlarge

Disney World is another incredible place, like Comfort Zone Camp, where a kid can be a kid again.  Help send a child who has lost their mom, dad, brother or sister, to a life-transforming weekend at Comfort Zone Camp.  And help raise awareness of Comfort Zone and childhood bereavement. 


Team Registration is OPEN!

Visit www.firstgiving.com/comfortzonecamp/disney2012

For more information, 

email Maggie at 

griefreliefteam@comfortzonecamp.org 

or call 866-488-5679 ext. 230. 

WOW!

Comfort Zone Camp's Grief Relief Team for the 

2011 Ukrop's Monument Ave. 10K and 

Kid's 1-mile Run 

has accomplished incredible things.  

We did it!

$30K!!

Important team info!

With less than a week to go before race day, we are all getting really excited!!  There are a few last minute thoughts and reminders we want to share with you, so please take a moment to read over this short list….then go for a little run to get yourself psyched for race day!
  
- SHIRTS : The CZC office hours have changed a bit for this week.  You may pick up your shirts from 9:15 – 4:45 Tuesday through Thursday, and from 9:15 – 11:45 am on Friday.  The CZC office will be closing at noon for an off-site staff meeting, so please be sure to get your shirts before Friday at 11:45am.  If you are not able to pick your shirts up before Friday, please contact alisha@comfortzonecamp.org for alternate pick up options.

- RACE DAY : We are meeting at 8:00 am on race day in front of Landmark Theatre {next to Monroe Park, at Floyd Ave. and Laurel St.} to cheer on team members who are running the Kid's 1-mile Run.  Immediately following the Kid's Run, we will take our Team Picture.  Parking will be very tight, so please leave at least 30+ minutes to find a space and get to our meeting location.

- TEAM SOCIAL : Don't forget, our Team Social is this Thursday at the Comfort Zone Camp office from 6-8 pm.  Come by to pick up your team shirts, make a sign or luminary bag in memory of your loved one and meet your awesome team members!  The CZC office is located near the Willow Lawn Shopping Center at 4906 Cutshaw Avenue, Richmond, VA 23230.

- AFTER-PARTY EVITE : Please, please respond to the Evite for the Team After-Party so we will know how many to expect.  If you have friends who would like to come, include them in your response, and have them bring $5 each to cover the cost of food.  We’d love to see you all there!

- FUNDRAISING UPDATE : Our team has raised OVER $29,000 for CZC so far!!  Amazing job everyone, let's see how much we can raise between now and this weekend!  This is a great time to send out one last email blast, post to your facebook and twitter accounts, and call some friends who might be able to give a little or a lot to help this wonderful cause!

Thanks so much to each and every one of you for helping to make our first CZC Runs 10k Team a HUGE success!

One week!

One week to go!!

Here is our Final Team E-Newsletter, edited slightly for the Blog.  Click on each page to make them larger and easier to read. 

If you did not receive this via email, please let us know and we will send you the original.  Email us at griefreliefteam@comfortzonecamp.org.

Go Team!!

A week and a day to go!

Allison, Julie and I are SO PROUD of this team.  How incredible and selfless of all 60 team members to join a team and run/jog/walk to honor the memory of someone you've lost, and pay it forward by raising funds and awareness to send grieving children to CZC.  There are so many families out there who desperately need the support that CZC provides, and this team will help many of them find their way to CZC. 

THANK YOU to our team members, 

THANK YOU to our donors, 

and THANK YOU to everyone who has supported this team along the way.  

A big team milestone!!

With 12 days until race day, this incredible team has reached and surpassed the $25,000 fundraising milestone!!  Now is a great time to get another email out to your friends and family, updating them about our team and your training/fundraising progress.  

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!

16 days till race day!!!  

Go Team Go!!

Thanks to Pendleton Rouse

2 - weeks - out - email !

So we just sent an email to the team with important logistical information about important logistical information including details about our pre-race Team Social, race day schedule and locations, Cheer Zone, After Party and information about our team shirts.  I am going to post the email here – but I have removed the address for our Team After-Party from this version, to protect the host's address.  Click on each page to enlarge it. 

Please let us know (email griefreliefteam@comfortzonecamp.org) if you did not receive the email or if you have any trouble opening it.  

GO TEAM!

2 1/2 weeks to go!

With 2 1/2 weeks to go, our team is 54-strong and has raised over $20,000 for Comfort Zone Camp!  We have 29 volunteers, 10 campers, 7 camper parents, 5 supporters and 3 staff on this team.  On our team, 41 are participating in the 10K, 6 are participating in the Kid's 1-mile Run and 2 are Cheerleaders!!!


We will be sending an email out this week with race-day logistics, information about team shirts and CZC Cheer Zone information.  So keep an eye out for that important email. 


THANK YOU so much for being a part of this incredible team!!!

“Ask yourself:

'Can I give more?'. The answer is usually: 'Yes'.”

Paul Tergat - Marathon world record holder from 2003-2007

This team is incredible!!

Wow, wow, WOW!!  With 3 weeks until race day, our team has now crossed the $18,000 mark!  That is so wonderful, great job everyone.  Thank you so much for your dedication to Comfort Zone Camp and this incredible team.  


Our team has grown to be 52-strong!  We have representation from dedicated volunteers, campers, camper parents, staff and many whose hearts were touched by this cause and have joined this team to help raise funds and awareness for CZC.   We have team members participating in both the 10K and Kid's 1-Mile Run.  


Every single person who hears about this team now knows about CZC and the incredible healing that takes place over a 48-hour period for children who have suffered the unimaginable loss of their parent or sibling.  Hopefully, the next time someone they know loses a parent or sibling, they will make sure that family knows that CZC is there to support them.  So many have stepped up and made a donation in support of this team, and those donations are going to help send even more grieving children to CZC.  What is happening here is truly AMAZING.


THANK YOU to our team, THANK YOU to those who have donated to support this team and CZC.  

Wow!!

$16,000 raised!

3 Healing Circles!

With 28 days until race day, this team is 49-strong so far! We have 27 volunteers, 9 campers, 6 camper parents, 4 supporters and 3 staff running the 10K and Kid's 1-Mile Run!!  Our $15,000 raised will send THREE Healing Circles of grieving children to a life-transforming weekend at Comfort Zone Camp!  

Thank you for your dedication to this team and CZC!

Day Light Savings Time

Hang in there guys!  

We spring forward on March 13th which means more daylight in the afternoons to get in your runs!!!!!   AHHHHHH......sunlight!

26 kids going to CZC because of this team!

This INCREDIBLE team is on a ROLL!

Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character.

-- T. Alan Armstrong

HAPPY TRAINING!

Team Update!

This incredible team is 45-strong so far!!  

Please, if you are holding off on joining the Team, keep in mind that the 10K is expected to fill up before the March 1 price increase.  Click here to register for the Races. 


And for those of you who haven't gotten started with fundraising, we have lots of ideas.  If you want or need some fundraising ideas, email us (the Coordinating Committee) at CZCGriefReliefTeam@comfortzonecamp.org. 


Go Team!

Hello, $8,000!

This incredible team of dedicated CZC supporters is on a ROLL!!  

Fundraising Update!

Go Team Go!

COUNTDOWN TO THE 10K!!!!

Go Team Go!!

Running Shoes

Good morning!   As you are eating your breakfast on this beautiful Wednesday, check out this great article from Runners World about the importance of your running shoes.  For a runner, their shoes are really one of the most crucial tools for a successful race. 

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/1,7124,s6-393-395--11852-0,00.html

HAPPY TRAINING! 

Dont feel bad....Muhammad Ali Hated Training Too!

"I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't Quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a Champion." 

-Muhammad Ali

This team has now sent an entire Healing Circle to CZC!!

Only 10,000 Spots Left in the 10K!

There are only 10,000 spots left in the 10K, according to the SportsBackers last Friday.  30,000 people are already signed up, and the maximum number is 40,000!  The race is filling up record-breaking-fast this year, because it is so much fun!!  


So it's time to SIGN UP FOR THE TEAM and REGISTER FOR THE RACE!! 

Another fundraising milestone reached!

This incredible team is growing!! Our team is currently 28-strong and includes CZC campers, camper parents, volunteers, staff and supporters.  We have crossed the $4,000 fundraising milestone with no end in sight!  Great job everyone!!  We will be posting fundraising tips and ideas today, so check back for that.  If you have any questions at all about fundraising or anything else about this team, email the Julie, Maggie and Allison of the 10K Coordinating Committee at griefreliefteam@comfortzonecamp.org. 

And if you still haven't registered for the 10K, please do it soon!! As of 3 days ago, there were only 10,000 spots left!  This year the race is filling up faster than ever before.  

Go Team!

Time to join this team!

There are only 10,000 spots left in the 10K, according to the SportsBackers.  30,000 people are already signed up, and the maximum number is 40,000!  The race is filling up record-breaking-fast this year, because it is so much fun!!  


So it's time to SIGN UP FOR THE TEAM and REGISTER FOR THE RACE!! 

Need a little inspiration?

Read some Reflections from the recent Comfort Zone Camp Runs Disney Marathon/Half Marathon Team, a team of over 30 CZC volunteers, camper parents, staff and supporters from 8 states who ran the Disney Half/Full Marathon and raised over $44,000 for CZC and awareness of CZC and childhood bereavement.  

Erin (CZC Big Buddy) :

"A Reason to Run"

Kelly (CZC Camper Parent) : 

"CZC Camper Mom Runs and Reflects"

Julie (CZC Big Buddy) : 

"Running for the Little Buddies" 

Check out ALL of the CZC Runs Disney Team's Reflections here. 

$3,500 raised so far!!

Our incredible team is 18-participants-strong and has raised over $3,500!  

Recruiting for the CZC 10K Recruitment Team!

Maggie, Julie and Allison (CZC 10K Team Coordinating Committee) are working on recruiting team members for this incredible team.  We are going to be forming a Recruitment Team to help get the word out and recruit folks.  If you are interested in helping out, please let us know ASAP. Thanks everyone-

$2,500 raised so far!

$2,000 raised!

What a way to kick off our fundraising efforts!

Team members Elizabeth Sullivan and Allison Haymes, our first two fundraisers, have jumpstarted our team's fundraising, having raised over $1,000 in the past six hours!! What a way to kick off fundraising efforts for this team! :)

Running or walking to send grieving children to Comfort Zone Camp

This is going to be an INCREDIBLE team.  We can just feel it.  There is so much energy surrounding the Ukrop's Monument Ave. 10K and 1-mile Kid's Run already, and recruiting a team of passionate Comfort Zone Camp volunteers, campers, parents, staff and supporters to run or walk the races is going to be an amazing combination.  

Our goal is to raise $50,000 to help cover the costs of an entire weekend camp for grieving children at CZC.  Join the team and run or walk the 10K or 1-mile Kid's Run.  If you can't participate, please consider coming out to support the team on race day- we will have a CZC Cheer Zone along the course.  Pledge to raise $500 or more to send a child to camp.  Do something extraordinary and accomplish great things for yourself and for CZC!

Maggie, Julie and Allison

CZC 10K Coordinating Committee