Three successful events...

Whew! What a month!

I am delighted to report that all three fundraising events went splendidly this month! Our most recent event, the Comedy Night & Silent Auction, was a great success and the comedians were hilarious! A special thank you to Ryan, Joe and Angela for helping me organize. And of course, to Murphy's Pub for the use of their space! We raised over $1k and had a wonderful time doing so!

Now that the events are over, I will be spending the next few days making calls and writing emails to see what last donations we can bring in by 12/20! I will also be finishing up my Be Nice! campaign, so make sure to check in for my latest acts of kindess!

A very special thank you to all my friends who have been so generous with their time, helping me before, during and after all these events. You truly helped me stay positive and sane!

Many people have asked where I currently stand in my fundraising goal. So far we have raised over $4k in just one month! Not quite $20k, yet still enough to provide substantial aid to our 6 partner programs in South Africa. And of course, I'm not finished yet. I've got 4 more days before the deadline! Thanks again to everyone for helping me to raise funds for HIV prevention and education efforts in South Africa!

*If you'd like to make a donation, please click on the Donate Here link on the right hand side of this blog. Thanks!

Auction Items for Tomorrow's Event!

Here's a little tasty taste of our auction items for tomorrow night... don't forget to bring extra $!

Silent Auction Items:

1. A singing telegram - The lucky acquirer of this item will be entitled to a serenade consisting of a single song (or medley of songs). The song (and choreography, if desired) shall be of the acquirer's choosing and may be anything they like. The outfit sported by the serenader shall also be of the acquirer's choosing (with some negotiable restrictions around nudity). Can you imagine the look on your friend's/lover's face when you send them a hilarious/romantic singing telegram?! Maybe at the office to make it extra embarrasing/delightful?!
2. 1.5 hour reiki session by Jose Mauras - If you've never experienced the benefits of reiki, now is the time. Balance your body's chakras and allow your energy to move freely through the body. Revitalizing, strengthening & transformational; you'll be hooked.
3. 1.5 hours of Life Coaching by Toi Lynn Wyle, MS, MFT, ERYT - Clarify your life direction, set goals or move further along a path towards your future. (Please nobody bid on this, I want it for myself. Just kidding, you can bid, I'll just have to outbid you).
4. 1 hour Shiatsu Massage by Marissa in your home - Shiatsu uses finger and palm pressure along pressure points in the body to release tension, relieve stiff muscles, improve circulation and increase energy levels. Excellent for those sufferng from back & neck pain, fatigue, stress, arthritic pain and headache.
5. 1 hour Private Yoga Session with Sammie Host - An invigorating and mindful Vinyasa flow private, tailored to suit your body's needs.
6. 5 class yoga pass with Brian Stewart - A vigorous yet rewarding approach to Vinyasa yoga that links movement with breath and explores the grounding power of the earth, the fluidly of water and the heat of fire. Classes held at Mission Yoga, SF.
7. 1 hour massage by Mike Braxton - Ahh, ultimate relaxation. Your choice of massage! Choose from Swedish, Deep Tissue, Aromatherapy or Reflexology.
8. 5 class yoga pass at Satori Yoga Studio - Choose from all levels of Iyengar, Flow, Hatha and Restorative Yoga. A beautiful sanctuary located in the heart of downtown San Francisco.
9. 60 minute Yoga Nidra session by Julie Mallari - A guided meditation in your home with you, or a small group of your friends. Through breathing techniques, mental visualizations and total physical relaxation, we tap into the subconscious mind to release mental, muscular and emotional tensions. You will emerge feeling completely energized and rejuvenated.
10. Photography by Matt Cohen - Stunning photos by this talented, artistic Bay Area photographer.
11. One Year Zipcar Membership and Free Day in a Mini ($185 value) - The perfect gift for your friend without wheels. A convenient, affordable alternative to owning a car in ticket-happy San Francisco!

...and more!

Raffle Item: $25 gift certificate to Murphy's Pub!

My scribble-scrabble!

I'm trying to organize my thoughts and check-list for tomorrows Comedy Night & Silent Auction. Event planning is no easy task! I thought it'd be fun to post my scribble-scrabble here. ;)

1. Send out final emails X

2. Create SS of donors X

3. Create gift certs for all donors

4. Create program

5. Buy paper

6. Print program

7. Make itinerary X

8. Make will call/guest lists X

9. Print guest list/will call list and bid sheets

10. Starting bids for auction items

11. Make signs/poster for bar, so easy to find! Say "Check in at back for stamp"

12. Make bid sheets X

13. Make info sheet for helpers, and email tonite

14. Find digital frame, set up photos on frame

15. Envelopes for peeps for addtl donations

16. Make donation box

17. Make reserve signs for tables

18. Bring pens & tape

Itinerary

530pm - arrive at murphy's, get gift cert from lynn & tell her bout stamp

- tape posters

- set up auction items

- set up program on seats

- at door set up: person, raffle tix ($2 x 5), BPT will call list, guest list, stamp/ink

- guests stamped as they walk in (need for $1 off beer)

7pm - guests arrive. stamp, then direct them to silent auction downstairs and to grab a seat.

8pm - show starts

930pm - show ends; give 'thank you' speech and remind peeps they have 10 more min for auction bids.

945pm - announce auction & raffle winner, receive payments

10pm - drink beer and relax. yay!!!

Comedy Night & Silent Auction!

Hey everyone! Don't forget to come out for a hilarious night of comedy this Thursday! Check the flier for the deets, and invite your friends! $1 off draft beers, a silent auction, and 5 great comedians including Kevin Camia as our headliner!

Be Nice! Days 5-10

with all the fundraising events this week, it has been difficult to maintain my Be Nice! updates! my apologies for being late. here is a summary of my acts of kindess for the last week...

- when i was in San Mateo the other day, i passed by 2 parking meters; one expired, and one with only 3 min left. i fed both of the meters to spare the car owners a parking ticket (cuz we all know how infuriating parking tickets are!)
- on a couple occasions walking in downtown SF, i picked up trash on the street and threw it into the garbage. this was pretty nasty, but hey, someone had to do it. i used napkins to pick up the trash, so i could be as sanitary as possible.
- one day when i was in the Bart station, the station worker was extremely friendly and helpful to me. so i went up to the Starbucks outside the station and bought her a cup of steaming green tea (it was freezing that day). she was so shocked and happy, and it made me feel really good to see her smile :)
- i took in my neighbors' trash cans after the trucks came around to empty the garbage.
- oftentimes when i get off work downtown, i leave food on the newspaper stand for the homeless people to eat. sometimes i'll leave hotdogs and popcorn, and other times i'll bring food from home and leave it out.
- i tipped a very nice bartender $20 on 2 drinks.
- i received excellent customer service at a couple of places last week. the employees i was speaking with were extremely knowledgeable and friendly, and i wanted them to be recognized and appreciated for their service. so i called the companies and spoke with their managers, complimenting their employees on doing a great job. they were pleasantly surprised to hear my comments, and said they would let their employees know.

phew! being nice is a lot of work! sometimes it's hard to think of really nice things to do for this campaign, so if you have any ideas, lemme hear em! more to come in the next few days... thanks for checking in!

Speed-dating Success!

speed-dating event turned out awesome awesome last night!!

we had 11 couples join in the fun, each guy meeting each girl for a 4-6 minute period before speeding over to their next date. lotsa laughs, good music, delicious drinks & apps, and lovely people coming together for a great cause! a special thank you to all my friends who helped out, and to MINK for sharing their beautiful venue for the event!

this week has been really busy, with the 2 fundraising events and one more coming up next week. planning one fundraising event in a month is a lot of work, and to plan 3 in a month is pretty, well, crazy! at times it gets a bit overwhelming, so i need to take a moment to breathe, trust, and keep things in perspective. thankfully i have great friends to support me.

tomorrow we have Native Elements and DJ Freeze at MINK Bar, which is gonna be super fun! it will be really nice to just chill, dance, listen to good music and hang out. can't wait! hope to see you there!

"Go. Make beauty in this world. Discover your gifts, and move. Be consumed by your projects, inside and out, so that you live and breathe and swim in them. You are excessively dedicated to your work. You are always on your path. You are relentlessly committed to making everyone around you better.
Do work."
-Cory Chu-keenan

Native Elements Fundraising show! 12/4 @ MINK

Be Nice! Days 3-4

Day 3: today i truly forgave someone that hurt me pretty badly. at first i thought this would be hard to do, because i was so sad about the situation at first. when i forgave her however, i felt as though a weight had been lifted off my chest, and i felt happy not to carry this heavy feeling in me anymore. it's so nice to not hang on to bad feelings, and now we're all good! secondly, i was at the climbing gym and cleaned up a puddle of water by the fountain that someone might have slipped on. and thirdly, i cleaned up my sister's dog's mess on the floor. normally i would ask her to do it, cuz let's face it, cleaning up dog mess is no picnic. but i decided to do it myself and saved her the trouble!

Day 4: today was Thanksgiving and i didn't have much opportunity to go out in public and perform acts of kindess. so, i decided to write emails to 3 people in my life, listing the 10 things i like and admire about them the most. we often appreciate little things in other people, and don't tell them often enough. my lists included things like:

- you stand up for other people and act with integrity
- you bring out the fun, playful side in others
- you're talented and have the potential and drive to create any life that you want
- you're incredibly generous, helpful and supportive
- you always smell good

i received an email back from one of my friends the next day, expressing her happiness and surprise upon reading my email :)

Donors & Sponsors!

Here is a list of my generous donors & sponsors thus far.....THANKS EVERYONE!!!
If you'd like to donate or be my sponsor for the Be Nice! campaign, please click the "Donate Here" button to the right!

Anson Ho

Andrea Stern

Angela Cronin

Asian Chan Orlando

Austin Marshburn
Being Yoga
Brian Desmond

Brian Stewart

Busola Omolayole

Christine Maog
Cil Agbunag
Cory Chu-Keenan

Denise Trevino

Donna Meneses
Emily Vu
Eran Marom

Gigi Miranda

Gregg Heaton

Head Tripz

Isso SF
Janice Mallari

Jaime Lalongisip

Joann Guico

Joe Nguyen

Jose Mauras
Julie Tsang

Lisa Chen

Lynie Hitomi

Mae Felicitas

Malcolm Steward
Maria & Eddie Sassin

Maree Biscarra
Marissa Chang-Flores

Matt Cohen

Mike Braxton

MINK Bar

Murphy's Pub

Native Elements

Sammie Host

Serena Seifer

Rob Roden
Robin Duffy

Ryan Cronin

Satori Yoga Studio

Serena Seifer
Sudha Patel
Tania Riss
Taramin Lourie

TJ Berrings

Toi Lynn Wyle
Tyler Brown
Whitney Gallegos

Zipcar SF

And of course, thank you to everyone who came out to attend the fundraising events!

Be Nice! Days 1-2

the Be Nice! campaign has begun! it's going well so far, and i wanted to share my first 2 days..

Day 1: today i got in touch with two people from my past who i had unfinished business with. i wrote them sincere emails, expressing my appreciation for them, and making amends the best way i knew how. it felt really good to say things that i'd meant to say for so long. and, i know the letters must have made them smile. for my other act of kindness, i bought a meal for a homeless guy downtown. as i left the yoga studio after teaching, i ran into a man rummaging through trash, looking for food. his hands were black even though his face was white, and i think they were just really dirty. i asked him if he wanted something from Jack in the Box. he nodded his head 'yes,' and when i asked him what he wanted to eat, he didn't seem to know what to say. so, i got him a cheeseburger meal and handed it to him as i walked to the Bart. he seemed shocked, and looked at me as he said "God bless you!"

Day 2: 1) i bought a drink for one of my difficult customers at work. this wasn't easy for me to do, because he really is hard to be around. he's the kinda guy that's says really offensive things without even realizing it, and makes people feel uncomfortable all the time. but i thought, he's a nice guy deep down and doesn't mean to be difficult. when bought him a drink, he was totally surprised and appreciative :) 2) i smiled and said 'hello' to 3 people today. they smiled happily and greeted me back. 3) when i bartend downtown, we usually wrap up our leftover plain hotdogs in paper and put them outside for anyone to take. but i thought, "a plain hotdog isn't very much fun to eat." so i dressed it up with a bun, ketchup, mustard and relish before wrapping it up and putting it outside.

Sponsor me to BE NICE!

As part of my fundraising efforts, I am starting a “Be Nice!” campaign. I commit to going out of my way to perform THREE random acts of kindness everyday for the next THREE weeks!

Now I know what you're thinking. "But Julie, you're already so nice!" Well, it's true. But these acts of kindness will be things I wouldn't normally do, or that might be difficult for me to do. Things like: paying honest compliments to people who are unkind to me (I work in a bar, so it's not hard to find these people); writing Thank You letters or sending gifts to people who have positively influenced me; buying a meal for a homeless person; or letting LOLs (little old ladies) have my seat on the Bart (jk - I already do do that sometimes.) My campaign begins today. I will blog about these kind acts to keep you updated on my progress and experiences…the funny, the unexpected and the lessons learned.

You can sponsor me for any amount you like! 100% of the donations go towards the Global Seva Challenge: South Africa. Just send me an email (juliesglobalchallenge@gmail.com) stating the $ amount per act you’d like to sponsor me for. When I finish being nice to people on Dec. 13th, you can submit your donation here (select "Global:South Africa," then "Julie Mallari" from the drop-down menus). And remember, every dollar counts! (More dollars are better). Many thanks!

Sponsor me for any $ amount / act of kindness:
.25/kind act (3 kind acts/day x 21 days) = $15.75
.50/kind act (3 kind acts/day x 21 days) = $31.50
$1/kind act (3 kind acts/day x 21 days) = $63.00
$5/kind act (3 kind acts/day x 21 days) = $315.00
$10/kind act (3 kind acts/day x 21 days) = $630.00
OR you can donate any flat amount!

FUNdraising is FUN!

ok, i know that was really dorky. i apologize.

but it is fun! i spent the evening at Cil's house w/ a few other wonderful friends to plan the details of our Speed Dating event on Dec 2nd. pizza, soda, and Serena's hilarious wit = a great night. we were quite productive and completed our Speed Date to Fight the HIV flyer! check it out, RSVP and send it out to all your single friends! (and to your friends that probably should be single). now that it's 3:30am, i should probably get some shut-eye..

The wheels are in motion...

i've been working a lot in the last few days, exploring ideas, connecting with people, making plans... and i'm excited to report that things are starting to fall into place! so far...

1. we've secured a date and venue for a Native Elements concert, an awesome bay area island reggae band (thank you Cil and Native Elements!).

2. we have a venue for hosting a speed-dating night! (yes, a speed-dating night!) i plan on registering 30 sexy singles (15 guys, 15 girls) for a night of cocktails, appetizers and flirtatious conversation. how fun will that be to watch...

3. my friend's husband, a local comedian, and 3 of his friends will volunteer their time to perform stand-up for a comedy show in SF! venue is tentatively secured, so now it's just a matter of ironing out the details and marketing.

these are the main events scheduled so far, and i'm working on a few other ideas as well. the biggest challenge for me now is to stay focused, organized and positive. sometimes i start thinking, "hm, maybe that idea isn't going to work" or "well, would people really want to come to that?" and i'm realizing that you really never know until you try. this will be a trial & error process, so we'll have to put it out there and see what happens!

My story...

greetings friends!

today i committed to taking Off the Mat's Global Seva Challenge of raising $20,000 in 33 days. the money will go towards HIV prevention as well as supporting, feeding and educating AIDS orphans in South Africa. when i reach my goal of $20,000 by December 15th, i will travel to South Africa in February 2011 for 2 weeks on the Bare Witness Tour to work directly with the organizations and children that are supported by this fundraising. i will be documenting my experiences through writing and photography, so those who support me in this endeavor can see the direct impact of their donations.

i heard of this seva challenge last weekend at a karma yoga workshop in SF with Kerri Kelly. i attended the workshop because, like so many others, i am looking for ways to live a more purposeful life. i thought a karma yoga (selfless service) workshop would provide me with some structure and inspiration because, also like so many others, i have difficulty translating my good intentions into action. good intentions are just not enough to create change in a world that greatly needs, and is fully capable of, change.

Christine, one of the other students in the workshop, was $3000 away from her $20,000 goal. as she spoke of her experience and of the Off the Mat (OTM) organization, i started to get inspired. OTM's Global Seva Challenge is a program that "builds community, provokes critical consciousness about global issues of social justice and equity, and raises significant funds to support communities in crisis." what an amazing way to give back; i wanted to join the challenge! i thought, "if i start now and the trip is in February, i'll have 3 months to raise the money."

so, i decided to go for it. 3 months would be a stretch, but hey, anything's possible! i started brainstorming like crazy for fundraising ideas. i was getting excited! the next day, however, i did some research and found out that the money is due by December 15, 2010. my heart sank. 5 weeks? how in the world am i going to raise $20,000 in 5 weeks?! i almost threw in the towel. i held it in my hand, drew my arm back, and was about to let go. and then i thought... well... hm... call me crazy (many people do anyway), but maybe it is possible. how would i know if i didn't even try? even if i didn't reach $20,000, all the money i raise is still going to support these organizations in South Africa... and isn't that the point?

so here i am, ready to work, think, collaborate and hope. everyday i will set my intentions of reaching this $20,000 goal. it's going to take some time, creative ideas, and help from others, 3 things that i'm not lacking. every time i tell someone of this challenge, (and after their eyes widen and shrink back down to normal size), they add another fundraising idea to my list. i've got everything from hosting a speed-dating night to donation-based yoga classes; the list is long. now it's just a matter of getting focused, and thinking positive. all comments and other fundraising ideas are welcome! thanks for reading, and i hope you join me on this journey, as i'll be writing about my progress over the next 5 weeks. wish me luck!