Pat's PEPY Journal 
Monday, April 17th - 10:30 PM
Maybe it's the inspiration I received from watching the Boston Marathon today... maybe it's the sugar high I'm experiencing from all the chocolate goodies I ate on Easter... maybe there's something in the water in the college dormitory where I live and work as a resident director... maybe it's the kind generosity I received early on from my initial sponsors... maybe I'm simply going a little bit loopy... whatever the reason, I've decided to raise my fundraising goal to $5,000!
I've invested a lot of time over this three-day weekend to add more information onto my site (a new page on why to donate, some new pictures, a route map & itinerary), wrote a press release to be submitted to local papers and created a flier to be hung up around town and e-mailed to friends around the world to be printed and posted for more exposure. My fundraising campaign is really starting to take shape!
On Saturday I visited Jordan's Furniture in Natick. In an effort to make their showroom unique they've recreated Bourbon St. in New Orleans. As customers walk in you're given beads, the jazz music is playing and robots dance along to the beat. You can see some amazing pictures here (click on the "store tour" for the full experience). Jordan's Furniture frequently donates to charity and I'm hoping they see my cause as worthy, especially because of the obvious New Orleans connection. Hopefully I'll have a chance to fax over my press release tomorrow after it gets approved by the ride's organizer, Maryann. It'll also be great to send out the press release to local papers too. I hope at least a few of them pick up the story.
Thanks are in order to Reika, my first Japanese sponsor, as well as to Etsuko, another Japanese friend who quickly followed suit. Reika was one of the first people to teach my Japanese through a language exchange during my days in Kushiro, Japan and Etsuko introduced me to the wonders of taiko drumming while I lived in Muroran. Honto ni domo arigatou gosaimashita!
I also got a donation from my friend Charles Tsai who I met through Semester at Sea and recently visited when I was in Vancouver on The Peace Boat. He's been organizing a really cool organization called The Global Youth Fund and you can find out more details here.
Well, I've got to get some much needed sleep after this very busy weekend. Tomorrow promises to be a very busy yet sure to be eventful day.
