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Photos from our Holiday Party for kids in South Los Angeles

December 20, 2011 in Helping Children, In the news, Los Angeles, North America, Providing Medical Support, Rebuilding Communities by Jonathan White | Comments closed

Real Medicine Foundation and the Florence Western Medical Clinic in South Los Angeles will be hosted its 4th Annual Children’s Holiday Party on December 17, 2011. Each year, RMF provides toys, sports equipment, books and grocery cards for holiday dinners to meet the needs of these often-overlooked families.

Over 60 bags of gifts were given away at this Saturday’s Holiday Party for kids in South Los Angeles!-To read more about our programs at the Florence Western Medical Clinic, click here.

Photos from our event below:

 

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Dionicess IX: Beer & Booze for Charity

December 8, 2011 in Armenia, Events, Los Angeles, Providing Medical Support, Thank You by Sarah Stern | Comments closed

October 21st 2011, I had the privilege of going undercover as a waitress at the highly publicized and anticipated Dionicess IX, a culinary extravaganza which has been appearing on the LA scene for the past 3 years, with all proceeds benefitting charity.

Gev Kazanchyan,a member of the Real Medicine Advisory Board and creator of these events was introduced to Real Medicine 3 years ago through our Armenian Project Director, Nairy Ghazourian.  This introduction would lead to a series of pairings over the next 3 years benefitting our project in Shinuhayr, Armenia. From Dionicess II (which paired Coffee & Chocolate) to Dionicess VI (which paired Beer, Sausage & Fries) all have had rave reviews and have brought much needed awareness and support to our Armenian Projects.

This year’s event  teamed up Gev with Dave Waltrous (Beachwood BBQ & Brewing) , Randy Clemens and Matt Biancaniello featuring “Beer & Booze” with an assortment of vegetarian dishes to compliment each.

The event was held at the Steingarten LA, which gives you a feeling of times past. Dark woods, a beautiful patio area and an atmosphere of sophistication, were the perfect setting for what we were about to experience. Their extensive menu was hard to pass up, and I enjoyed an absolutely exquisite Wild Boar & Berry Sausage with owner Abraham Berookhim  between seatings.
Matt Biancaniello (voted  LA’s top bartender 2010) was hard at work preparing the garnishes for the cocktails. There was fresh verbena that had been hand picked at 2am, pumpkin infusions, and a rare Belgian elderberry liqueur thathad never seen American soil. International shipping had caused quite a predicament as the precious nectar-of-the-gods had only arrived 2 days prior to the event!

Author and Chef Randy Clemen’s tantalizing vegetarian dishes included items such as the “Taquit-Ohhh Yeah”, a fabulous “Risotto Pop” and myfavorite, “the Hop and the Hound” which had a had a kick stronger than a mule!  Randy’s “Sriracha Cookbook” is
available through Amazon.com and his recipes do deliver a punch! If you like it spicy, this is definitely the crème de la crème of cookbooks!

Having not waitressed since college (we won’t say how long ago that was!), I was a bit nervous-but with the assistance of  Dr. Susan Jarakian & Armenian Country Director Nairy Ghazourian we were well prepared for the days journey. The 1st seating’s attendees consisted of a host of press from a variety of culinary publications, some local and some from as far as Wisconsin.  The 2nd seating was primarily comprised of Gev’s cult following, this being his 9th highly anticipated event which each year sells out within days of its announcement.

This year’s event raised over $1,400 for our project in Shinuhayr ,Armenia which supports 8,000 people from surrounding villages and is the only access to medical care in the region. Last year, we were able to provide food and clothing to sustain families through the brutal winter months as well as providing the region with an ambulance equipped with emergency supplies.

A huge Real Medicine thank you to all that helped to put on this year’s event! To read more about Dionicess IX please go to:

DionicessIX: Combining Craft Beer & Cocktails for Charity and to be added to the
main invite list for future events please send a simple email request to: dionicessgigs@gmail.com.
For information about our Armenian Project and how you can help support the families through this year’s winter please go to:

RealMedicine Armenia or directly to our donor page here.

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RMF joins with Discover Communications for their Billion + Change Event

November 8, 2011 in General, Initiatives, North America by Jonathan White | Comments closed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RMF is very proud to be selected by Discovery Communications for their Billion +Change Event happening this Wednesday and Thursday.  For full description of this wonderful pro-bono event see below.

CONTACT
Tammy Shea, Tammy_Shea@discovery.com
240-662-6506
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS ANNOUNCES NONPROFIT PARTNERS FOR SECOND ANNUAL “CREATING CHANGE” PRO BONO EVENT

– Employees to donate creative services at 12-hour marathon event supporting nonprofit missions –

Silver Spring, Md. – Discovery Communications today announced the nonprofit organizations selected to take part in the company’s annual pro bono initiative, Discovery Impact: Creating Change. During this 12-hour creative marathon, employees will lend their talents in marketing, communications, creative design services, social media and video production to help the organizations with their promotional goals. The second annual Creating Change marathon will be held at Discovery’s global headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland on November 9.

Discovery has selected 24 non-profit partners to receive design and communications services this year. The organizations serve a number of community needs, including helping the homeless, working with disabled veterans, preventing domestic violence and promoting literacy. In order to address the needs of all the organizations who applied, Discovery has created a series of workshops and roundtables covering a multitude of topics including Social Media and Press Strategy to be held during the event on November 9. All organizations that applied to Discovery Impact: Creating Change will be invited to attend these workshops.

“Discovery’s greatest assets are our talented, creative employees and Creating Change allows us to harness the passion and skills of our workforce to help nonprofit organizations with their marketing and communications needs,” said David Leavy, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Global Communications. “We are humbled by each of the organizations that applied to Creating Change and the extraordinary work they do to make our world a better place.”

Additionally, key Discovery partner Thinkstock (www.thinkstock.com) an image subscription site from Getty Images, will donate imagery from their library for use in print and online campaigns for the nonprofits, and Killer Tracks (www.killertracks.com), will provide use of their music library for PSAs and videos.
Creating Change is one of several Discovery Impact initiatives that leverage the power of Discovery’s brands, businesses and employees to make a direct impact on the communities in which we live and work. Discovery Impact enables employees to honor the company’s founder, John Hendricks’ original vision to make a difference by giving back to the source of Discovery’s greatest stories and most stunning images, our world.

Other Discovery Impact initiatives include Discover Your Impact Day, an annual day of global employee volunteerism, Discover Your Skills, a campaign to provide critical resources for obtaining job skills to the unemployed and underemployed, and a comprehensive disaster relief program. Most recently, Discovery launched Rebuilding Alabama, a partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Birmingham where 125 Discovery employees from across the US worked together with on-air talent to rebuild five homes affected by the devastating tornados last spring.

Please find below the complete list of the nonprofit partners who will be participating in Discovery Impact: Creating Change. To learn more about these organizations, please view: http://blog.discoverycommunications.com  in the upcoming weeks

Achieving the Dream
Good360
Northern Virginia Family Service
Basic Animal Rescue Training (BART)
Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County, MD Inc.
One Warm Coat
Colorbars Network, Inc.
Hero Dogs, Inc.
Real Medicine Foundation
Community Bridges League of Women Voters
Shenandoah National Park Trust
Computer C.O.R.E.
Literacy Council of Prince George’s County
ThanksUSA
DC Diaper Bank
Lydia’s House in Southeast
The Shepherd’s Table
Global Zero
Men Can Stop Rape
VolunteerMatch
GlobalGiving Foundation
National Network to End Domestic Violence
Wider Opportunities for Women

About Discovery Impact
Through its Discovery Impact programs, Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) leverages the power of its brands, businesses and employees to give back to the world. From programming that inspires and educates to annual events that make a direct impact on the communities in which we live and work, Discovery strives to celebrate, support and sustain the majesty of the earth’s people, animals and natural beauty. For more information about how Discovery is making an impact, please visit: http://impact.discovery.com.

About Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world’s #1 nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in 210 countries and territories. Discovery is dedicated to satisfying curiosity through 139 worldwide television networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science and Investigation Discovery, as well as US joint venture networks OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, The Hub and 3net, the first 24-hour 3D network. Discovery also is a leading provider of educational products and services to schools and owns and operates a diversified portfolio of digital media services, including HowStuffWorks.com. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.

 

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Real Medicine Foundation & Florence Western Medical Center Los Angeles Community Outreach

August 23, 2011 in Donate, Events, General, Helping Children, Los Angeles, North America, Sarah Stern, Thank You, Voices from the Field by Sarah Stern | Comments closed

“Back to School in South L.A.”

By Sarah Stern

This past weekend, Real Medicine Foundation & the Florence Western Medical Center hosted their first “Back to School” Event, providing more than 60 children and families with brand new backpacks filled with school supplies.

Recognizing the needs of this community has not been the challenge; the challenge has been how to encourage the community to show up for the services available to them. Free health and fitness programs for adults and children are offered at the center by Real Medicine, yet often we find a low attendance due to lack of access to information, transportation and health issues. While we have worked diligently to encourage the patients with incentives to attend these programs, at times it can be frustrating. Many charities in Los Angeles share this dilemma.

So the question becomes how can we bring about awareness of our programming in an area where the digital age has fallen behind? Phone numbers on sign-up sheets are often disconnected the following month. Most patients do not have home computers, making emails a futile effort. How can we meet the needs of the community and bring forth something that they will show up for, while giving them access to information about the center’s services and our programming?

The thought came to me that a “Back to School” event just might be the perfect solution. Given that our annual children’s holiday party has grown steadily these past few years, I wondered if we were to add an additional annual event, one that would prepare the children for the upcoming school year with a sturdy, brand new backpack if we would not have a good response from the community.  A backpack filled with school supplies that once upon a time were provided by the school systems. A backpack that would free the parents from the financial stress associated with back to school (and as most families have several children these stressors can be extremely hardening on the family as a whole); a backpack that would produce excitement in the child about returning to school.

Dr. Kevin Thomas and I discussed the idea and we proceeded to move forward.  Now the real challenges would begin! I contacted company after company to see about the possibility of donated or discounted backpacks for the event. Time and time again I received the same automated response that – “due to the overwhelming number of requests each year, unfortunately at this time they would be unable to help us”. I then turned to the internet and in search of ideas for discounted backpacks. Sure, I could go to downtown LA and get backpacks for cheap, but I was determined to give the children something they could be proud of, something that would last. Every parent knows that the backpack is just about the most important accessory in a child’s life (other than tennis shoes, which will be next year’s event goal!).

I presented my woes to Dr. Martina Fuchs, CEO and founder of Real Medicine who offered to delegate $1,000 from a recent event’s proceeds, and I asked that the remaining funds raised from my 2011 “Athletes for Real Medicine” LA Marathon 5k also be applied toward the budget. I searched high and low and finally found the source of our backpacks; Wal-Mart. They not only offered fabulous backpacks that fit the budget, but had the best pricing on the school supplies we needed to fill them!

In a collaborated effort, in the final week we were able to fill the backpacks and secure even more, as we had a waitlist of 21 children looking to attend the event on top of the 60 already confirmed.

Mary Miller returned to Northrop Grumman countless times for items such as pens, reusable water bottles and science books.  Florence Western contacted their partners and the Office of Councilman Bernard Parks for support; I reached out to friends and family with pleas on Facebook & a Causes “birthday wish”. The response from all was overwhelming and as the supplies began to trickle in, I found myself quite emotional. Monday morning I had 56 backpacks and a long list of supplies needed, we had some but where short on what we needed to complete each backpack. By Monday afternoon I had personally raised enough funds to purchase cases of notebooks, glue sticks, pencil boxes, colored pencils and 4 additional backpacks. When I returned home, I found that a friend had placed 5 cases of water from Costco inside my gate, which brought me to tears.

Tuesday morning, Mara Leng, the office manager from Florence Western Medical Center, called to say that they had secured 30 additional backpacks and several boxes of supplies from their Health Net representative, which allowed me to phone the remaining families on the waitlist and confirm their children for the event. One mother expressed tears of joy that her son would be able to attend and receive a backpack, which was a stark reminder of just how great the need for this type of event was and an affirmation of why I love my job so much. Wednesday, Real Medicine Team Armenia member Nairy Ghazourian introduced us to Amy Sheyer and Diane Baxter, Health Net executives who offered to provide all of the food for the event, which was a huge weight off our shoulders!  Chip Matthews from FWMC then informed me that several LAPD cadets would be available to assist with the event (also very welcomed news!!).  Thursday morning Nichole Stephenson a RMF volunteer and I began filling the 80 pencil boxes (I couldn’t help but be reminded of the “I Love Lucy” episode where Lucy and Ethel were on the factory line at the chocolate factory) we figured out what we were short and it was one last trip to Wal-Mart, 60lbs of red apples from Costco c/o Health Net to supplement the granola bars they were providing, and my all time favorite, the 99cent store for 60 water bottles. My apologies to the cashiers and to anyone that found themselves in line behind me this past week!  Friday morning the city of LA dropped off 10 tables and 75 chairs (this is a free service for community events, a huge thank you to the office of Bernard Parks!) We completed the backpacks, did a walk through, called volunteers and printed flyers about the Saturday children’s outreach program and sign-up sheets. I didn’t know if I would ever sleep again..

Showtime:

At 8:30am on Saturday, setup began. A host of RMF volunteers along with Dr. Kevin Thomas’s sister and niece began the process of preparing the stage – the large parking lot area in the back of the clinic. Everyone pitched in and to our delight we were completely prepared to meet the 60+ children that were due to arrive at 10am. Once the children were checked in, they began working on banners for the clinic and for the upcoming “Mobility Event” the following weekend. The children were then led in a large group exercise routine by our very own Roz Baker, I peeked around the corner and a huge smile crossed my face as I watched these children in a large circle working together.

At this point, Councilman Bernard Parks, former Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and now representing the 8th District in South Los Angeles, made an appearance, much to everyone’s excitement. His tireless efforts and compassion towards the families of South Los Angeles have made him a pillar within the community. Snacks and much needed hydration were handed out to the children followed by the grand finale: Backpacks!! We lined up the little ones first, managed to avoid any mob scenes and successfully handed out all of the backpacks (along with shirts and other goodies that Mary Miller had received last minute) and the children proceeded to personalize their brand new backpack with a rainbow of fabric pens.

Parents expressed their gratitude and filled the Saturday Children’s Program sign-up sheet (much to my delight!). The children’s thanks came with hugs as we watched them head out the gate with their backpacks in tow.

We all sat back and relished in the day’s events, there had been not a single glitch and only one scraped knee (which Dr. Kevin Thomas saw to personally). Cadets and volunteers enjoyed much deserved sandwiches and discussed the marvels of the day. We had all come together for a common cause, and the day could not have been more perfect. I thank all of those who came out to support, who donated funds, supplies and most of all helped create our First Annual Back to School Event which will now be a part of our services for years to come.

To contribute to this initiative, please click Donate button or visit our website at realmedicinefoundation.org/donors.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or become a fundraiser for us at Causes.com

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Real Medicine receives “Charity of the Year” Finalist Nomination..We need your vote!

July 25, 2011 in General, In the news, India, Initiatives, Los Angeles, Mission, Whole Health by Jonathan White | Comments closed

In recognition of our organization’s Malnutrition Eradication Project in India, we have been nominated as a “Charity of the Year” for the CLASSY Awards , sponsored by StayClassy  organization.  We need your help to vote for our organization so that we can progress from the list of 25 finalists to the final 10!

To vote for us, please visit this webpage: http://classyawards.stayclassy.org/classy-awards/voting , click on “Charity of the Year” and scroll down until you see Real Medicine Foundation and click on the “Vote” button.  It also allows you to vote for charities in other categories as part of your ballot if you would like.

The CLASSY Awards is the largest philanthropic awards ceremony in the country, recognizing the most outstanding philanthropic achievements by charities, businesses and individuals nationwide. StayClassy has published each nomination as it’s own article on the CLASSY Awards Achievement Blog to put a national spotlight on these amazing stories of achievement. Starting July 25th, America will vote for one winner in each of the 12 categories. The winners will be announced live during a Hollywood-esque award ceremony in San Diego, CA, similar in style to the Academy Awards, but philanthropy-inspired. 

For more information about our Malnutrition Eradication Project and the video that we submitted as part of our award nomination, watch on YouTube here .

Voting lasts until August 25th, so please help us spread the word!

The Team at Real Medicine

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Thank you to Andrew Weiss Gallery for Fundraising Event!

June 28, 2011 in Events, General, Helping Children, Los Angeles, North America, Partners, Providing Medical Support, Rebuilding Communities by Jonathan White | Comments closed

On behalf of all of us at Real Medicine Foundation, we would like thank everyone involved for the wonderful fundraising event at the Andrew Weiss Gallery on Sunday!

Your support, generosity and contributions will make a difference in the lives of countless children and their families we serve around the world.

Photos of the event below:

RMF Los Angeles Outreach Program update

June 8, 2011 in Los Angeles, North America, Rebuilding Communities by Jonathan White | Comments closed

by Sarah Stern

Annual Report for RMF Outreach program at the Florence Western Medical Clinic

Real Medicine’s partnership with Whole Foods Market, Venice, California is continuing successfully. In the last 12 months, 1,728 patients were provided with bags of nutritious groceries. Patients sign up at the Florence Western Medical Center’s front desk to be considered to receive food. We are looking into additional partnerships with organizations and grocery stores that would be able to meet the growing dietary needs within this community.

Our children’s Health & Fitness program is held the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month, from 10am-2pm. Fitness instructor Roz Baker provides nutritional education and goals along with a fitness “boot camp” that provides children with fun, yet challenging exercises and a cardiovascular workout. Our yoga instructors provide the children with stress relieving breathing techniques and poses that they can take into their daily lives. 144 children were provided Health & Fitness instruction along with yoga and nutritional classes last year. The physical condition of most of the children participating in the program starts out as poor.

Many have very little cardiovascular fitness, are weak and some are obese. Our experience shows that after a few classes the kids understand the importance of being healthy and how it is in their own power to get healthy and fit. Regular attendees now request us to create exercises for them to take home and several children have started to lose weight. The majority of the kids live in areas where parks are dangerous, and few and far between. This program gives them the knowledge and confidence to take control of their health. Our goal is that it will transfer to all aspects of their lives.

Real Medicine Foundation believes in focusing on the “whole” child. In Sri Lanka, following the Tsunami of December 2004, we found the use of art therapy extremely beneficial in helping children to deal with the tremendous trauma they had experienced, to relieve post-traumatic stress and to open the door to communication.

The children of South Los Angeles face many emotional challenges, such as gang violence in the streets where they live, homelessness, unemployment and despair of their parents or caregivers on a daily basis, and our goal is to provide them with a safe atmosphere to be able to express themselves. Thus, we provide art, reading and specialized workshops as these services are unavailable within their community. Real Medicine will continue to expand this program by providing summer programs as well, i.e. a “Back to School” drive which will provide all children with new backpacks, school supplies as well as vouchers that can be used for clothing and shoes.

132 adults attended our “Healthy Living” workshops provided by our partner Health Net. Workshops educate the patients about the importance of a healthy lifestyle and how to incorporate it in their daily lives. Dietary suggestions as well as low-impact exercises are presented, along with encouragement to quit smoking and limit alcohol use. 80% of all patients who participate are suffering ailments due to obesity, poor dietary and lifestyle choices.

Our annual holiday party was held on December 18th, 2010 where 65 children received over $2,000 worth of toys, books and sports equipment donated by Northrop Grumman Corporation. We are looking forward to this year’s holiday and expect it to provide even more items and gifts for the families.

Four times a month, Real Medicine provides physical therapy sessions with a licensed Physical Therapist, Charmayne Cahn. In the past year over 25 patients (with a 50% return rate) received physical therapy sessions. The majority of patients are seeking treatment for injuries due to strokes, arthritis, falls and automobile accidents.

Our program continues to grow each year, and with the possibility of additional funding promises to provide even more services for patients including a registered dietician, Lifestyle counseling, field trips to cultural activities centers for the children and transportation to music programs, grief counseling and other free community services provided within Los Angeles. Depending on funding, we also aim to resume our Psychological Trauma Support Program since it is desperately needed in the community we are serving.

To contribute to this initiative, please click Donate button or visit our website at realmedicinefoundation.org/donors.

 Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or become a fundraiser for us at Causes.com

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Real Medicine Foundation To Participate in LA Marathon For Second Year, Portion of Proceeds to Go Directly to Relief Efforts in Japan

March 18, 2011 in Athletes for Real Medicine, Disaster Relief, Helping Children, Los Angeles, North America, Providing Medical Support, Rebuilding Communities by Jonathan White | Comments closed

Los Angeles, CA – March 18, 2011 – Real Medicine Foundation is proud to announce that for the second year, it will be an official charity of the LA Marathon this Sunday March 20th.  Runners from across California have joined Athletes for Real Medicine raising $18,000 so far for the non-profit which provides humanitarian support to people living in disaster and poverty stricken areas.

Some of the funds raised will go directly to Real Medicine Foundation’s relief efforts in Japan. The organization has partnered with JEN (Japanese Emergency Non-profit) to provide food and supplies to emergency shelters. JEN’s motto of “psycho-social care and assistance for self-reliance” is very similar to Real Medicine Foundation’s focus on the person as a whole, providing medical, physical, emotional, economic and social support.

Forty LA Marathon runners have opted to run and fundraise on behalf of Real Medicine Foundation, which operates in 15 countries throughout the world, including at home in Los Angeles, serving more than 6 million people a year. Donations of any size are accepted, and donors may earmark funds to be dedicated to specific projects, including relief efforts in Japan.

Dr. Martina Fuchs, founder and CEO of Real Medicine was honored earlier this year with Lifetime’s Remarkable Women recognition.  Fuchs says, “We are thrilled to be included in the LA Marathon again this year.  With every step these runners take, they are bringing people around the world closer to complete health. If that’s not a great reason to run, what is?”

Real Medicine has received considerable support from the community, including Fox Entertainment Group’s FoxGives, CAA, Environment Charter High School of Lawndale, and Comfort Chiropractic of Monterey Park. Sole Runners Long Beach has runners dedicated to Real Medicine as well.

Lisa Suen, who oversees Real Medicine’s Creative Development, says, “The support we are receiving in the LA Marathon will allow us to continue battling malnutrition, providing screening tests for children, or even just providing the food people need to survive another day, whether in disaster areas like Japan or areas of on-going need such as Haiti and India.  We spend every day promoting health, so to see runners use their extremely strong health to benefit our work is doubly powerful.”

Real Medicine is sponsoring a cheer station at Mile 22 (San Vicente and S. Canyon View Drive) and invites the public to come and show support. The station will feature cheer boards to encourage runners, made by the children who benefit from Real Medicine’s Community Outreach Programs at Florence Western Medical Center in South Los Angeles.

About Real Medicine Foundation: Real Medicine Foundation (www.realmedicinefoundation.org), a 501c3 registered non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, provides humanitarian support to people living in disaster and poverty stricken areas.  RMF believes that “real” medicine is focused on the person as a whole, including medical/physical, emotional, economic and social support.  RMF’s unique approach to humanitarian relief involves partnering with local groups wherever they are to ensure that the clinics and solutions it creates will be sustainable long after the public spotlight has moved on.  Real Medicine’s CEO and Founder Dr. Martina Fuchs was recently honored by Lifetime as one of Lifetime’s Remarkable Women for the work she and her organization have been doing around the world. RMF currently has clinics and projects around the world, including Haiti, Peru, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda, the United States, and more.  For complete listings of RMF’s projects, please visit www.realmedicinefoundation.org/our-work.

Athletes for Real Medicine Fundraising Newsletter #2

February 11, 2011 in Athletes for Real Medicine, Los Angeles, North America by Jonathan White | Comments closed

February 11th, 2011

“Driving the Momentum – Mile for Mile, Dollar for Dollar”

Hello Athletes!

I hope your training is going well. We only have 40 days to go before Race Day!

On this newsletter, I wanted to highlight a few questions that have been asked:

  1. “What do I fundraise through?” There has been some confusion with which site to use for fundraising. The LA Marathon is promoting Crowdrise.com as the main medium. Active.com is the default link sent to you when you first signed up. You can use either but Crowdrise does give you some functionality that Active does not. If you have not yet set-up your fundraising page, please do so at Real Medicine’s Crowdrise Team page. Click “Join the Team” to start your own page in which your donations will be attributed to the team’s total page. You can view any team members page to get an idea of the set-up. Contact me if you have any questions.
  1. “How can I get my donors interested in my cause?” It all comes down to YOU and YOUR CAUSE. Let your donors know why you are passionate about running the LA Marathon for Real Medicine Foundation. Let them know that RMF separates itself as a nonprofit organization with 92% of donations going directly to its projects! Unheard of in a lot of organizations nowadays! Not only that, I suggest that you specifically fundraise for one of RMF’s projects in 15+ countries. This allows you to tell a story. We all love stories right? What better way to fundraise when you can bring to life a story of a child in India, Armenia, Peru, Haiti or right here in Los Angeles?! I encourage you to take a look at our blog, which is constantly updated: http://www.realmedicineblog.com/. OR I invite you to go an extra step and create your own story by volunteering at our Florence Western Children’s clinic on 2/19 or 3/5 as we make race day poster boards! More details to come or contact me if interested!
  1. “I’ve sent my initial fundraising email, now what?” If you’ve already sent out your initial email now is a perfect time to follow up if it’s been a couple of weeks. Remember, it takes a few friendly reminders to get a donor’s commitment. People mean well and want to help, we just need to remind them since it may be on the tail-end of their to-do list. So don’t give up!

I hope this Q&A session has helped you kick-start or further your fundraising efforts. Now is the perfect time to drive that momentum! If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Lisa Suen anytime at lisa.suen@realmedicinefoundation.org or Brandi at brandilhowell@gmail.com.

Remember, it is because of you and your support that the Real Medicine Foundation can help so many patients in 15 different countries! Thank YOU for being an Athlete for Real Medicine!

And remember:

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – Confucius –

For more information on our website about RMF’s Athletes for Real Medicine, click here.

Follow us on Twitter or our Athletes for Real Medicine Facebook page or RMF’s official Facebook page.

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Athletes for Real Medicine: LA Marathon Training…Trail running!

February 3, 2011 in Athletes for Real Medicine, Los Angeles, North America by Jonathan White | Comments closed

By Brandi Howell

If I had to choose one word to describe Sunday’s training run it would be “ouch”.  Ouch during the run, ouch after the run, ouch still, three days later.  Nonetheless, we had a great time, we were elated once it was over, and we are now one training run closer to the finish line.

Sunday’s run was a grueling fourteen miles, six of which were uphill…2,000 feet uphill.  We started at the base of Temescal Canyon and followed the trail into the Santa Monica Mountains.  We were immediately surrounded by trees, creeks, paths and the sounds of the wild.  Within minutes of setting out, we were climbing steep switchbacks, dodging hikers, breathing hard and feeling the burn in our legs.  We climbed 900 feet for over two miles before getting a break.  When we reached the first plateau, I thought my lungs were going to explode.  Taking a minute to catch our breath and to stretch our already tired legs, we were able to enjoy the panoramic views and cool breeze.  We saw the clouds thickening overhead and realized that the “chances of rain” were more like definite rain.  But, we pushed on and on, covering another three miles and 800 feet of elevation gain.  It started to sprinkle.  The smell of wet dirt and fragrant sage wafted through the air.  We ran through waist-high weeds that whipped and soaked our numb legs.  We finally came to our turn around point.  I thought it would never come or that I would collapse trying to reach it.  The truth is, the guys were much faster than me and I was just feeling wimpy that day.  Running is such a mental game.

Once we headed back down the mountain, I knew I was going to be fine.  We let gravity pull us down, as we swung our arms faster to speed up and widen our stride.  We hopped over boulders, caught ourselves before tripping, and took advantage of the physical ease to guzzle down oxygen.  We came to a familiar fork in the path and turned left instead of right.  This took us around new corners and bends, over a bridge, past a few waterfalls, and down more steep, rocky trails until we eventually saw Sunset Blvd. and our parked cars.  As tired as we were, we took a water and nutrition break and then set out to run another seven miles.

We headed down Temescal Canyon Rd, at the bottom of which we joined the bike path and our usual route.  We ran north until the path ended, then turned around, ran south for a few miles and looped back to the bottom of Temescal.  One more huge hill to conquer.  I later found out that Temescal Canyon Rd is one mile long and climbs 300 feet.  This was a tough way to finish an already intensely difficult run, but we had to get to the top.  When we made it back to our cars, it felt like 8:30 am and our pre-run chat was weeks ago.  We were completely spent, ready to shower, get warm and relax.  We were also very proud of our accomplishment, a little bit closer to one another for having gone through it together and excited that while we could have been sleeping, we were out there making a difference.

For more information about RMF’s Athletes for Real Medicine, click here.

Follow us on Twitter or our Athletes for Real Medicine Facebook page or our Group page on Facebook

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