Numbers were never my bag. I’m sure I came close to putting a few algebra teachers in the State Mental Hospital back in high school. Not because I wanted to; I just frustrated these people to the point of insanity. They worked with me one on one, provided peer tutors, they put in lots of overtime but I never got it. I never found the value of x. But that’s because I’m a “people person”.
But this episode of The Large Man Chronicles is about numbers (that probably means that it will be shorter than usual) I want to share the numbers as related to this Relay for Life gig that I’ve been talking about.
1: 100
One out of every 100 Americans participates in Relay for Life. Cool.
1: 5
One out of every 5 of my Facebook friends participated in Relay for Life. Very Cool.
116
There are 116 subscribers to The Large Man Chronicles.
1: 4.6
One out of every 4.6 Large Man subscribers participated in Relay for Life.
74
13 Betts employees walked the track at Relay. 24 additional family members of Betts employees (spouses, children, 1 boyfriend & 1 girlfriend) walked with, or for a Betts teammate. That comes to 74 feet on the Betts team walking the track of hope.
5
It takes about 5 minutes to complete one lap (walking) around the track, so our team took approximately 288 laps in the 24 hour Relay event. When you add the laps that were taken by multiple Betts team members simultaneously, to the best of my calculating abilities, we took over 1,100 laps
5
It took me 5 minutes to set up a personal web page that would accept donations for the American Cancer Society. I set an original goal of $500.00. I posted a link to this site on my Facebook page.
< 5
After posting this site on my Facebook page, it took less than 5 minutes to get the first 3 donations. The friggin cyber ink was not even dry…the friggin 1s and 0s were not even fully arranged when friends (and fundraisers in their own right) Bridget Rose, Julie Michalenko, and Rhonda (Sissy) Clement had dropped some start-up money on the website.
< 5
In less than 5 hours, the website had exceeded the original goal by $70.00
5
The dollar goal on the website increased 5 different times, because we were meeting the goals so quickly. This is where the magic started to occur.
>5
This is a sensitive line, because respecting someone’s desire for privacy is a must. But more than 5 of the people who donated either on the web page, or by other means, asked that their donation be kept anonymous. It’s actually much more than 5, but I have a “5” thing going here, and it’s still numerically correct…the amount is greater than 5.
73
I sent out 73 “shout outs” over 16 days to friends that donated to this cause…that may have been the most enjoyable writing experience of my life. Honoring friends and family is easy work.
>6
The Betts team raised over $6,000.00…all of us with very little understanding of how to raise funds. The 13 employees that played this year will be better next year. We are excited about this team.
>90,000
With more than $90,000.00 raised, the 2011 Warren County Relay for Life fundraising event was a success – by any measurement.
But because I’m not a numbers guy, I don’t know what all these numbers really mean, and I don’t know what all these numbers add up to. I have been told that numbers don’t lie. I have been told, “Just look at the numbers” when evaluating any kind of strategy. Numbers are simple emotionless facts.
This is what I do know… when you look at these numbers, they mean something more. Every one of these numbers is attached to a person. All these numbers are attached to someone’s heart and soul…that’s the good stuff. All these numbers are attached to hope, or concern, or honor. We donate because we believe this can create hope for someone who is suffering. We walk a track at 2:00 AM, in the mud and the rain because we want to honor someone we have lost, someone who is fighting for their life, or someone who has won a battle with cancer. We do these things because we are people who are concerned about other people. That’s what these numbers add up to, and numbers don’t lie.
The people who walked the track, and represented the over $6,000 dollars donated to the Betts team…Gomez and Wednesday Adams, Big Bad Bob, Jerry The Hammer, Jerry’s Kids, The Mighty Coursons, The Plundering Pillaging Lunds, Bobbie and the Mohneys, Mike The Iceman, Ryan’s Hope, Special K and her Wicked Spawn, APB and The Shrimp Shak Shooters, Wica Wica Wica, King Henry plus 3, and yours truly…were not thinking of themselves when they made this commitment. They certainly were not thinking of themselves when they honored their commitment.
It was cold, it rained, the wind blew, and some people didn’t sleep for about 40 consecutive hours. We had teammates who walked laps in the rain, all alone at 1:00 AM or 3:00 AM, to very little cheering or encouragement. We had a pregnant woman with her two-year old in a stroller, and when the rain fell, and the wind blew, she simply covered up the kid, picked up an umbrella, grabbed her husband’s hand, and kept on walking. I saw a lot of discomfort, but I didn’t see any quitters.
I didn’t see any quitters because every person that came, just like every person that donated, did it for hope, concern, and honor.
And that’s the truth, because numbers don’t lie.
Thank you to every person that made a donation. Thank you to every person who couldn’t make a donation this year, but encouraged this team along our journey. Thank you to the amazing Betts team for showing some real heart. You all make me want to be a better person.
Thank you for reading, and giving me a voice.
The Large Man
The Large Man Chronicles 
If you add up all those numbers, they equal…ONE MILLION DOLLARS!
Not really, but I thought it would be fun if they added up to a round number.
GREAT WORK!
Some people are circles, some people are squares…. some people are hearts, but they’re quite rare. You are talking about a lot of hearts….hmmmm….maybe they’re not that rare after all. You, dear friend, are surely a LARGE heart.