-Valentina Garcia, MomsLikeMe.com

Through life we meet people in the craziest ways, sometimes it’s fate, chance or in some cases in today’s society a Web site.

Momslikeme.com has brought thousands of mothers together in the metro area and charitable women are no exception. When the Web site launched nearly a year ago, I took action and signed us up for the Komen Denver Race For the Cure. I insisted we would be a charitable group of women and our team would be great! I wanted us to join in the fight.

It was harder than I thought.

We had a humble team of about 15 women, still I was ecstatic. It was weeks before the Race and I didn’t put any expectations on fundraising nor did I have a plan. One day I checked our team website and low and behold 1,000! “What?” I thought to myself. I couldn’t believe it; these women were on a roll. With nearly 3 weeks before the race, no real fundraising plan, Team Momslikeme.com managed to raise nearly $1,800. We walked, we had a great time and we fought for a cure. During the walk, I was already looking ahead to 2009.

What a difference a year makes

I wasn’t surprised when a group of moms approached me about starting a Komen 3 Day team. Six of them would work diligently to raise their individual funds, coming up with the most creative of ideas for their team.

I’ve learned a lot from these women and their tenacity and I’m grateful as they have shared their ideas with others.

Their fundraising began with their team name and next they tapped into their creative talents. Naming the team would come from their community. They started a naming contest and thus Team Momslikeme.com Save 2nd Base was born. The women have come up with creative ways to raise money for their team. Flip Flops for the Cure, Moms Night Out For the Cure and Smiles for a Cure.

Jenna Schaffer, the team captain quickly took charge and jumped into action. From her seamless execution to her creative juices, Jenna was on a role. I asked Jenna last week at our Moms Night Out for A Cure (another brainchild of Save 2nd Base) event to come up with some thoughts on fundraising. Here is what she had to say.

“Once you tap out your family and close friends it’s time to get creative. I’d once made ribbon flip flops as end of the year gifts for teachers and had a lot of fun with it so I started making a few pair as a thank you to my donors. I love making them and blending ribbon patterns and colors. I even got lucky enough to find “pink ribbon” ribbon! My full basket of flip-flops started garnering so much attention that I tend to take it with me everywhere. It’s fun, colorful and very PINK! For each $20 donation that I receive, the donor can choose the pair of their choice. I always have 2-3 pair, per size on hand.”

In fundraising it’s important to share your successes with others and never look at failures as such. Simply learn from others or past experiences and keep on keeping on.

I’ve learned from the moms and together we’ll win. We’ll set team goals for fundraising and events. Together we will win!

We will keep Team Momslikeme.com Save 2nd Base alive and going strong as we continue to join Komen for the Cure in fighting the fight.

I’ve set our team goals higher and will ask each of our team members to ask 10 of their friends for $10! Look for an email from Save 2nd Base in your inbox soon. We’ll see you on October 4th, 2009.