Are you guys tired yet? I know it was a long, hot, sometimes rainy day, but all in all, that was a GREAT CAR WASH. Yeah, I know it could've been better with pre-sale tickets, but hopefully our boys and girls learned a lot and will be more assertive next time. But thanks to everyone's hard work today, and all the preparation (and labor) from our parents in addition to Thunder players, we booked a total of $1,340 today.
That does not include funds raised before the Car Wash. I know Cliff (Jared's dad) turned in his ticket sales ($50) long before the Car Wash, but I've lost track of who else turned in money at practices or before/after games. So please let me know (remind me) which of you parents turned in money. I have it stashed in a jar in my living room. Just need to know who turned in what. Then I'll know precisely what our total funds raised is.
The $1,340 figure includes T-shirt sales, which I'm including with the Car Wash revenue since it's all happening at the same time, and all of it benefits the team. (T-shirt sales to team members/family are just $10 each, basically at cost. T-shirts to outside supporters are $15, and I sold number of those in the past few days thanks to friends and a co-worker.)
We also got a donation from a friend who mailed a check for $50 last week.
If Lance had been able to witness today's car wash, he'd see that it's about our parents digging in and doing as much (and more) of the hard work and sweat as our Thunder kids. An aging, out-of-shape guy like me can only do so much, which is actually very little. When dads and moms are leading the way, children will follow.
Lance and I stay in touch on Facebook, and a LOT of folks on Facebook came through the Car Wash today. Having an "event" page on Facebook definitely helped even though I only have 600 friends there. A whole bunch of friends who saw our "event" page for the car wash ended up coming today. including (Air Riflery) Coach Craig Garcia, who drove in from Kailua. We also got visits from Roosevelt Varsity Coach Steve Hathaway and Kalani Varsity Coach Nathan Davis. That felt great! Along with the rest of the Facebook community, they really like our team (my updates about the Thunder on Facebook probably help), they want to support us, and they showed up. It's the power of social media, even though I never thought I'd use Facebook ... until two years ago.
This was a truly tremendous team effort. Auntie Char and Auntie Dora really paved the way for all of this to happen. Aunty Claire was excellent as the "point guard", directing traffic and bringing her experience to the table.
Aunty Devie, who lent us the cones and buckets, also brought her experience and gave us a big confidence boost before we even set things up this morning.
Great big mahalos to all the parents who worked their butts off right next to the Thunder keikis today: Brent and Bryson's mom, Jenna and Jake's dad (Eric), Walter's dad (Mark), Kodee's dad (Dean). There was Daniel, Mike's dad, working tirelessly from 9 am to 1 pm, soaping and blasting the cars alone often times until I got some of the guys back off the curb (holding signs). Glenn (Cody's dad) worked right there in the trenches, as did Cody's mom.
Coach Roy was again instrumental in getting some of our boys from Kalihi to the site (and getting them home!). Coach Bo ... what can I say about this man? I love him. He is like the big brother I never had. He's a stern taskmaster on the court. Off the court, the most generous man I know with his time and energy. His heart cannot be measured in dollars or anything tangible. Coach Larry ... he sets the bar for dads, at least in my book. He is there for his kids every single day, whether it means toting them to practices and games, often times on the same day in two different sports in two different places. Sometimes it's all three of his (younger) children who have to be at three places. He doesn't complain a bit because actions speak louder than words, and I know how much he loves his children by the energy he puts into them.
I know the difference a dad can make in the life of a child, which is why I know we've been blessed with so much in the Thunder family. We have so many active dads and so many active MOMS! Near and far, they keep moving forward to do what's best for their kids. That takes a lot more inner strength and patience than most single people (like me) could ever know.
Also, a shout out to the brothers and sisters of our Thunder players today. So many of them pitched in: Isaiah and Micah's sister, Little Paul's three younger brothers, Walter's older sister ... am I forgetting anyone? I hope not. Everyone pitched in, even when it would've been easier just to go do something else on the last free Sunday of summer (for most of the kids). School starts tomorrow, but they were there on the pavement, working as a team.
Those of us who went the extra mile, bringing all kinds of goodies like tents, food, water, snacks, chairs and more — thank you, thank you, thank you! Nothing could have happened today without your generous hearts.
All the drivers who pulled in with and without tickets, some who heard about it on Facebook or on the radio (I think), and some who just live in the neighborhood — they all had that same look on their faces as they watched you guys work, work, work. It was like watching a giant machine in operation. Except this machine had some goofballs and playfulness. But mainly, it was a machine pumping with great power and our visitors enjoyed it, I think — especially when all three spots were full with cars and four or five more were stretched out onto King Street waiting their turn.
Did you guys notice that several drivers returned with second cars to get washed? That's evidence of happy customers. I get on you guys a lot. A whole lot. I know some of us didn't really make the effort to step out of that comfort zone to sell those presale tickets to our neighbors. Otherwise, we'd have made even more money, and paying those entry fees would be easier. We might've been able to get "free" hoodies and more swag.
But the truth is, you guys were awesome today, from the youngest to the oldest. That's what a great family does. That's what a real team does. They have fun while working hard and fast. They work hard and fast while they're having fun. I could write a big, thick book about each of you guys (and girls) and how much I'm amazed by you. But I've written almost endlessly once again, and this is enough for now.
Again, please send me an e-mail or text or phone call (or Facebook me) if you turned in your presale ticket money before the Car Wash. Our goal was $2,140 (not including NJB player insurance, which will be roughly $60). We are roughly 2/3rds of the way there. If we drop one of our 15U or 17U entries (they currently are lined up for two leagues each), then our entry fees expense gets cut to about $1,800.
At that point, I may ask parents to chip in to make up the difference, which could be roughly $300. If we split that up among 20 or 25 players (combined from 13U to 17U), that's not a lot. Maybe $15-20 each. Then the cost of Fall basketball would nearly have been covered entirely by one car wash.
Awesome!
No comments:
Post a Comment