Follow-through is important ...

A lunch will take place either the 2nd or 3rd weekend in August.

My goal is to have a few choices for the actual meal, with drinks. All for one low price (which I haven't figured up yet, but probably around $5 per person).

Other items will be offered for an additional dollar or two, such as various dessert options.

The grand idea, though, is to make it more. More than just a meal with a drink.

I want it to be An Event.

I'm going to start calling various restaurants and shops around Knoxville and ask them if they would be willing to donate a gift card or gift certificate or something to raffle at the lunch. I think if we set the raffle price at $1 per ticket, they're more likely to move faster.

From past experience, I know they'll want to see something to prove I'm not just trying to finagle free stuff for myself so I can have a few nights on the town. More on that in a moment.

I've also started e-mailing various celebrities, asking for a signed item that we can raffle off. I think those stand a chance of bringing in more raffle tickets than the typical items. So far I haven't had any responses, but it hasn't even been 24 hours and I'm hopeful a few will come through for us.

I would like to have some sort of ... something else to offer for sale. I thought about t-shirts with our design on it (more on that below), but I'm trying to keep our output as low as possible. Maybe I'll go with wristbands instead. They seem to be all the rage right now. I'm still thinking on it, but there will be another item - one that can outlast the lunch, that we can continue to sell to help raise money.

The follow-through - it's easy to make plans and never actually move on any of them. Just let the thoughts roll around your brain as unbirthed ideas, while you sit on your hiney and talk about them.

So I've enlisted some help.

Have I ever mentioned how much my friends rock? Really. They do. They rock the casbah. I sent an e-mail out to some friends, detailing what I want to do and asking for volunteers for any part of it.

And the response was pertty instantaneous.

One friend is working on a new site for me. He's been through a lot of my IF crap as he sat next to me for quite some time (so you could say he almost had no choice but to go through it bahahahah the poor man). He was one of the first to learn we were pregnant and he was there to watch me freak out over the hives and swelling I experienced the day before we lost it. So yeah ... he's been through a lot with me.

Anyway - he's awesomely volunteered to build us a good looking site that we can use for donations, fundraising information, and updates. I've seen his work and all I can say is ... thank you God. So my donation page will be moving and it will have a completely different look.

I think we can use this site as a reference point for the local businesses that I'll be hitting up for donated items. I want to allay their fears and give them something tangible to look at. So once it's pretty well up and running, I'm going to start calling.

Another friend has offered (well, his wife offered him hah) to help design some sort of graphic for us to use on the site and any fliers we put together. He has a lot of experience with graphic design, so I'm excited to work with him on an image that will represent our future.

And what will turn it into An Event?

I want to hit the local news channels about a week or so before the lunch and see if I can talk about it with one of their news people. Our local channels are all about community spots and like to talk to local people about upcoming events. Plus we'd be able to have the web site address put on screen!

What better way to get the word out and ensure a higher turn out for the lunch and more visitors to the new site than the news?!?

So that's the plan I mentioned yesterday.

I have more thoughts on it - such as making the raffle one of those where you don't have to stay - put your name & number on it and we'll call you if you win. Maybe people will be more likely to buy a ticket if they knew they didn't have to hang out until the end of it (although, if we get enough, maybe we can raffle a few items every hour to help keep things interesting).

Whew, this was long! But getting it out here, same as getting others involved, will help make sure I follow-through (there's that word again!) on our plans.