Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Fred K’s Cancer Fundraising Party!

Support Fred K’s Cancer by joining us for an evening of pampering courtesy of Kimberly’s Arbonne Experience!

Experience a line of botanical products for the whole family, enjoy mini-facials, games, prizes, and more! 100% of the proceeds generated from product sales go to Fred K’s Cancer!

When: November 5th at 7:00 pm
Location: TBD
RSVP: 10/22 by email or on the Facebook Event Page

Unable to attend the party? You can still support the cause by logging onto http://www.arbonne.com/ and using ID 18683626 (no pin required).

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Fred K’s Cancer June 20, 2010

Registration began at 8:30 am, so The Freds and TBB met at Cantiague Park at 7:00 am in parking lot #2 in order to set up the registration table and install the trail markers.
At the table, we hung a poster that Lisa made of a thermometer tracking our fundraising process. We were at $1,600, $400 shy of our goal. We figured that once we collected everyone’s registration fee, we’d be up to $1,700, which we felt was still pretty good considering our poor start and that it was the first Fred K’s Cancer event.
Serena created a poster that showed support for the victims of oral and testicular cancer, as well as conveyed just how many people had been touched by the diseases. In addition to the people that we were walking in support of or in memory of, the poster included the names of celebrities who had been diagnosed by one of the diseases. To name a few: George Harrison, Aaron Spelling, Humphrey Bogart, Eddie Van Halen, and Bruce Paltrow were all diagnosed with oral cancer. John Kruk, Mike Lowell, Sean Kimerling, Scott Schoenweiss, and Lance Armstrong all suffered from testicular cancer.
We made sure to have brochures on hand as well as a few items to sell in support of Fred K’s Cancer such as awareness pins, raffles, and beaded bracelets.
Each walker received a gift bag with their event t-shirt, a water bottle, brochures regarding Fred K’s Cancer, Oral Cancer Foundation, and Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation, assorted items from the foundations, as well as a variety of free samples donated by our Avon representative, Nicole Giannakakis, and Vita Zorbo of the Lady of America Fitness Center in West Hempstead. The event t-shirts were generously sponsored by The Main Event Sports Bar & Restaurant in Plainview and created by customInk.com.
You may recall that we created “Captain’s T-shirts” for us, The Freds, and Nicole. All t-shirts had hand-sewn baseball patches on the sleeves and last names on the back. Fred #2 and Lisa wore gray t-shirts, the primary color for the Oral Cancer Foundation whereas Fred #1 and Serena wore navy blue for the Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation.
Our last names were in the color yellow, since yellow is shared by both foundations. The numbers on the backs of the t-shirts represent The Freds’ diagnosis years.
Since Nicole walked in support of her husband, Angelo, who’d been diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2004, she wore the colors of Sean Kimerling. To make her shirt a little different from ours, we created a yellow t-shirt with navy blue lettering on the back. On her back was the numbers “04.” Baby Giannakakis wore a specially made white onesie with the “We Walk for Fred” logo on the front.
Once the registration table was complete, we left The Freds in charge while we set up the trail markers.
Since we’d been without rain for a few straight weeks, the dirt was as hard as cement. We were forced to hammer the sticks into the ground.
Sometimes we were successful…
…at other times, we were forced to be creative:
The day was brutally hot and oppressively humid, which is atypical for June. Despite the weather, our walkers seemed pretty upbeat and excited.
In this photo: Jared Ahne, Fred Ahne, Serena Ahne, the Zorbo family, Roberta Hirsch, Kristy Morgan, Margaret Leone, Fred Leone, & Wendy Schack
In this photo: Kristy Morgan, Fred Leone, Lisa Leone, & Margaret Leone
In this photo: Jared Ahne, Fred Ahne, & Serena Ahne
In this photo: Kristen Sliasky, Sarah Einsidler, & Drew Kane
In this photo: Amy DeVito, Sandy Einsidler, Sarah Einsidler, & Max DeVito

Max walked with his sister, mother, grandmother, Aunt Sarah, and friends of Sarah’s in memory of his grandfather, Barry Einsidler, who’d been diagnosed with Oral Cancer in 2004.
Mamadukes and Mama L. volunteered to stand at predetermined posts on the trail to help guide the walkers to the finish line. Once they reached their designated spots, we were ready to get this show on the road. Fred #1 couldn’t walk due to a recent surgery on his spine, therefore he and Lisa stayed at the registration table in case any latecomers arrived and to solicit support from other park-goers. Before kicking off the event, we took a group photo (in retrospect, we should’ve done this before Mamadukes and Mama L. reported for duty).
In this photo: Drew Kane, Max DeVito, Sandy Einsidler, Amy DeVito, Nicole Giannakakis, Wendy, Schack, Sarah Einsidler, Kristen Sliasky, Kristy Morgan, Fred Leone, Lisa Leone, Artie Tergesen, Jared Ahne, Serena Ahne, Fred Ahne, Roberta Hirsch, Vita Zorbo, Nick Zorbo, Joe Zorbo, Charlie Zorbo, & Kaitlin Hoffman.

Serena led our little ducklings on their way. Fred #2 accompanied her.
In this photo: The Zorbo family, Serena Ahne, Roberta Hirsch, Wendy Schack, Kaitlin Hoffman, & Artie Tergesen

After a few feet, however, the ducklings began to make their own way and walk (or in some cases, run) at their own pace.
In this photo: Nicole Giannakakis, Kaitlin Hoffman, Kristy Morgan, & Fred Leone
In this photo: Kristen Sliasky, Sandy Einsidler, Jared Ahne, Drew Kane, Amy DeVito, & Sarah Einsidler

Brother brought up the rear, ensuring that no walkers got left behind! He also collected the Moms as he passed their designated posts.

In this photo: The Zorbo Family

Kaitlin Hoffman walked in memory of her brother, Peter Hoffman, who’d been diagnosed with oral cancer in 2008. Her fiancĂ©, Mike Caruso, was kind enough to photograph the entire event for us. Majority of the pictures you see on Facebook and in this post were taken by him.

In this photo: Max DeVito, Drew Kane, Amy DeVito, & Sarah Einsidler
In this photo: Nicole Giannakakis, Kristy Morgan, & Fred Leone

The Moms ended the race, whie Brother carried their chairs back to base.
Once the race drew to a close, we decided to count what we made in donations, registration fees, and purchases.
We ended up hitting $2,300 total!
Lisa made sure to update our thermometer. Mike encouraged her to get a little crazy.
Post Event Details: We decided to accept donations until July 1st just in case we had any stragglers. The gamble paid off. We ended with a total of $2,400, exceeding our goal by $400! Nicole’s Avon event raised a total of $40.26

With the financial backing and assistance from Mary Gerolimatos (aka: Mamadukes), we’re working toward filing for non-profit status in hopes that it will generate more interest and support for Fred K’s Cancer. We look forward to our 2011 event and will keep you posted!

To view more photos of the event, check out the Fred K’s Cancer Facebook page.

Edit (8/8/10): We incorrectly stated that Barry Einsidler had been diagnosed with Oral Cancer in 2008. The actual year of his diagnosis was 2004 and we've corrected this mistake. We apologize for the mix-up!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Thanks for Your Support!

We'd like to thank the following people for their contributions:

Linda Judice
John Sage
Rick Sepe

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

2010's Raffle Prize Winners!

We pulled the raffle winners while watching a Real Housewives of New Jersey marathon on Bravo later in the evening following the Fred K's Cancer event. Mamadukes witnessed each raffle pull in order to make sure that we didn't play favorites and that we stayed on track...because let's face it. We get distracted easily.

We decided to tackle the big fish first, which Mamadukes was the most interested in: A men's Cypress St bicycle made by Giant and donated by the Tulip Bike Shop, located in Floral Park, NY.  While the Manzos vowed never to speak of Danielle again, Serena shook up the plastic jar containing the bike raffles. Lisa pursed her lips together and made mock drum roll sounds. Serena extended the jar toward Mamadukes and allowed her to pull the winning ticket. Mamadukes glanced at the blue ticket between her fingers and announced, "Linda Judice." Lisa and Serena shrieked indiscernible cries of excitement and jumped up and down, slapping each other five. Linda works with Serena and is like a second mommy. She has been very supportive and encouraging of our Fred K's endeavors.

Once we finished the celebrations on behalf of Linda, we got down to business. We had a bunch of other raffle prizes to give away. Lisa shook up the raffles for the first prize, a baseball autographed by Long Island Ducks' pitcher, Joe Valentine. The winner of this glorious gift from the the Ducks is Kim Hastings! Yay for Kim!

Now, we proudly present to you the winners of the remainder of the prizes:
  • A voucher for (4) Field Level tickets to a select Mets home game during the 2010 season - Mark Zucco
  • (2) Derek Jeter Fathead Juniors - Adrien Chavez & Neil Bisciell
  • Sterling silver Return to Tiffany Heart Tag necklace - Tasha Riley
  • Silk flower arrangement designed and created by Country Arts in Flowers - Roberta Hirsch
  • Avon Strawberry Flower gift basket - Grace Jablonski
  • (6) wine baskets - Brian McNamara, Kathy Maher, Maxine Spooner, Pat Darienzo, Theresa, & Frank Calandra
  • Mini-chocolate fondue set made by Mud Puddle Books - John Scaliso
  • Coffee set made by OGGI Corporation - Cindy
  • Fred K's Cancer t-shirt - Debra Cooper
Congratulations to our all of winners. You will be contacted within the week in order to arrange for the delivery of your prizes. Thanks to all that entered the contest! Your contributions went directly to the Fred K's Cancer foundation.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Thanks for Your Support!

We'd like to thank the following people for their contributions:

Artie Tergesen
Mike Caruso
Janet & Rick Sliasky
*In Memory of Barry Einsidler*
Kaitlin Hoffman
Sandra Einsidler
The Zorbo Family

A major thank you goes out to all of our walkers who came out to Fred K's Cancer to show their support!

Fred Ahne (aka: Fred #1) & Fred Leone (aka: Fred #2)

Jared Ahne
Michael Caruso
Amy DeVito
Sandra Einsidler
Sarah Einsidler
Mary Gerolimatos
Nicole Giannakakis
Roberta Hirsch
Kaitlin Hoffman
Drew Kane
Margaret Leone
Kristy Morgan
Wendy Schack
Kristen Sliasky
Artie Tergesen
Charles Zorbo
Joseph Zorbo
Nicholas Zorbo
Vita Zorbo

Friday, June 18, 2010

Thanks for Your Support!

We'd like to thank the following people for their contributions:

Melissa Anzovino
*In Memory of Barry Einsidler*
Jennifer Hanley
*In Memory of Barry Einsidler with great love for the Einsidler Family*
Jenn Meyers

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Bellmore Spring Festival 2010

Sorry for the late posting, but with all the activities we've been doing in order to prepare for Sunday's event, we've been quite busy! Please forgive us!

May 29, 2010: The Traveling Baseball Babes and Miss Avon USA 2010, Nicole arrived at the Bellmore train station at the grey hour of 7:00 in the morning. The weather did not look promising, the sun blotted out by dark rain clouds and a strong, brisk breeze reeking havoc on the vendors’ stations. The man in charge directed us to a parking spot on the Sunrise Highway side of the fair near the Center Avenue traffic light. Despite being the only “booth” without a tent or more than one table, we set our display cheerfully.
Since we only had one table, it didn’t take us long to finish setting up. By 7:45, all we had left to do was sit around and wait for customers to arrive…and the fair wasn’t scheduled to begin until 10:00.
Nicole brought Avon catalogues and samples to promote her Fred K’s Cancer online event (and potentially attract loyal customers). The previous evening, we had baked brownies and cookies to sell for $2/each. Also on hand were our raffle tickets, sexy homemade bracelets, awareness pins, and tootsie pops. For people not interested in purchasing anything, we were prepared to hand out even flyers and brochures regarding Fred K’s Cancer, the Oral Cancer Foundation, and the Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation.
At first, we didn’t get a lot of attention from potential contributors, but in their defense, we had zero experience in this department and were clueless as to how to sell our Fred K’s Cancer concept to strangers. Initially, we greeted passerbies with smiles and “Good Morning. How are you? Have a nice day.” They responded with polite nods and continued on their way. Eventually, Nicole had had enough. She grabbed a bunch of Avon catalogues wrapped in Fred K’s Cancer flyers and basically forced them upon people. Serena followed suit, handing out flyers and brochures in front of the table to anyone walking by and Lisa called out to customers, encouraging them to support a good cause. Our first sale was a brownie.
Finally, the sun showed itself and we rolled. We scored some very ridiculous tan lines, but sold a few raffles, bracelets, and tootsie pops. The baked goods were a huge success. We nearly sold all of them before finding it necessary to slash prices (2 baked goods for $1) as we neared the end of the day. The pins were a bit of a failure unfortunately. Apparently, if people were going to donate $1 to the cause, they’d rather get 2 tootsie pops than an awareness pin.
We earned $306 by the end of the day. At the time of posting, our total currently stands at $1,500 with just days before the big event. Even though the walk takes place this Sunday, we will continue to accept donations until July 1st.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Thanks for Your Support!

We'd like to thank the following people for their contributions:

Jill Bonfiglio (in support of Sarah Einsidler)
*In Memory of Barry Einsidler*
Jan & John Collier
Rachel Einsidler

Monday, June 14, 2010

Thanks for Your Support!

We'd like to thank the following people for their contributions:

customInk.com
Marisa Fischetti (in support of Sarah Einsidler)
*In Memory of Barry Einsidler*
Anthony & Barbara Gerolimatos
Barbara Gerolimatos & Alan Brown
Catherine Gerolimatos

Friday, May 28, 2010

New York Mets Support Fred K's Cancer!

The New York Mets have donated a voucher for (4) Field Level tickets to a select Mets home game during the 2010 season for us to raffle off! The games available for choosing are July 27th against the St. Louis Cardinals, August 24th against the Florida Marlins, and September 15th against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The voucher expires on August 1, 2010.

We'll be selling raffle tickets to win this and other prizes at the Bellmore Spring Festival tomorrow 11-6 pm! Be sure to stop by, say hello, and enter the contest! We look forward to seeing you.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Thanks for your support!

We'd like to thank the following people for their contributions:

AJ Ryan
Deb Cooper
Dorothy Scheublein
Sandra Graziano

Bicycle Raffle

The Tulip Bike Shop located on Tyson Avenue in Floral Park, NY is generously donating a Men's Cypress St Bicycle made by Giant to raffle off in support of Fred K's Cancer. The retail value of the bike is approximately $300! We are greatly appreciative of their contribution as well as the time and effort Roberta Hirsch put into soliciting their assistance.

We'll be selling raffles for the bike and other assorted prizes on Saturday, May 29th at the Bellmore Spring Festival. Raffles for the bike are $5/ticket or $10/3 tickets. The bike will be on display at the Lady of America Fitness Center in West Hempstead, NY, where Vita Zorbo, gym owner, will continue to sell raffles for the bike up until the Fred K's Cancer event on June 20th. Winners of all raffles will be announced and contacted following June 20th.

REMINDER: Our Avon event is still running. 5% of your Avon purchase can be donated to Fred K's Cancer, but only for a limited time! After June 4th, the FREDKCANCER5 promotional code will no longer be valid.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The Bellmore Spring Festival

The annual Bellmore Spring Festival, presented by Showtiques, is a fair running from Saturday, May 29th through Monday, May 31st located at the Bellmore Railroad Station on Sunrise Highway. The fair will showcase vendors featuring wood, jewelry, clothing, florals, unique gift items, food, and so much more! Parking and admission to the event are free.

The Traveling Baseball Babes will have a booth at the festival on Saturday, May 29th. We will be selling raffles, handmade bracelets, awareness pins, and freshly baked cookies and brownies in order to raise money for Fred K’s Cancer. Educational material regarding Fred K’s Cancer, the Oral Cancer Foundation, and Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation will be available and our Avon rep, Nicole Giannakakis, will also be on hand to give out free samples and the most recent Avon catalogue.

If you’re in the area, be sure to come on down and see us!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Fred K's Cancer Raffle Prizes

As previously mentioned, we're looking to do two "mini-events" in order to drum up interest and donations prior to the Fred K's Cancer walk on June 20th. Raffle tickets for some pretty awesome prizes will be sold for $1 each or $10 for an arm's length of tickets at both events. Items up for grabs are:
  • a Joe Valentine autographed baseball, kindly donated by the Long Island Ducks
  • 2 Derek Jeter Fatheads, donated by the Traveling Baseball Babes
  • a necklace from Tiffany's, donated by Nicole's sister, Annie Matthews, a Tiffany's employee
  • a silk flower arrangement designed and created by Country Arts in Flowers in West Hempstead, donated by Roberta Hirsch
  • an Avon gift basket created by Nicole Giannakakis
  • 6 wine-themed baskets, contents donated by Mary Gerolimatos
  • a coffee-themed basket, contents donated by Lisa Leone
  • a mini-fondu set, donated by Lisa's sister, Kristy Morgan

We're also working with a local bicycle store in hopes that a bike will be donated to raffle off for Fred K's Cancer. If this venture is successful, the bike will be raffled off at the Lady of America gym in West Hempstead. Tickets will be sold for $5.

Edit (May 25, 2010): The coffee-themed basket is actually a coffee-themed set donated by Lisa Leone. Apologies for the misunderstanding.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Confessions of a She-Fan Promotes Fred K's Cancer!

We are pleased to announce that Jane Heller, author of 13 books and writer of the blog, Confessions of a She-Fan, was kind enough to promote Fred K's Cancer in her posting last night. Here's what she had to say:

"Before I sign off, I'd like to give a shout out to she-fans extraordinaire and friends of this blog, Serena and Lisa, whose own Traveling Baseball Babes is one of my favorite blogs. They're organizing a terrific fundraising event in Hicksville, LI in June called "Fred K's Cancer." Both of their fathers are named Fred and both men are cancer survivors (and big baseball fans), so Serena and Lisa decided to educate people about their diseases in a very special way. They created a Fred K's Cancer blog, so please check it out and read about their fab event!"

For those of you who are interested, Confessions of a She-Fan is a well-written and informative blog following the New York Yankees.

Thank you for your support, Jane!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Fred K's Cancer Strategic Planning

We kicked off the day by heading off to Cantiague Park in order to perform a "mock" Fred K's Cancer event. After discussing the location of registration and plotting how many trail markers we'd need, we hit up the crafts store and grocery store to buy some Fred K's Cancer related merchandise prior to our strategic planning meeting scheduled for that evening.

First item on our meeting agenda? Captain's t-shirts. Lisa and Fred #2 will be sporting grey t-shirts with yellow writing (the Oral Cancer Foundation's colors), Serena and Fred #1 will be wearing navy blue t-shirts with yellow writing (the Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation's colors), and Nicole, our lovely Avon Event representative, will be rocking a yellow t-shirt with navy blue writing (her husband had been diagnosed with testicular cancer several years ago). The ladies' shirts will have an adorable little softball player decal, while the Two Freds' shirts will get a little baseball player.
While Serena sewed small baseball patches to each of the shirts' sleeves, Lisa tackled the issue of decorating a number of coffee cans to be left at local stores for fundraising.
Nicole had the misfortune of analyzing the bracelet situation.There were a few bead explosion incidents at first...
...prompting slight insanity and the need for a lot of wine and pizza. However, once Nicole figured got into a groove, the bracelets started coming along easier. Unfortunately, by that time, we were tired and in need of some rest so we closed shop for the night. We did manage to come up with a few items to raffle off at our mini fundraising events like wine-themed baskets and this silk flower arrangement:
We may have a lead on a potential sponsor for the event's t-shirts, but we'll keep you posted on that front as more confirmed details come in. In promotion related news, the event has officially been posted to the Events Calendar for Newsday!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Support & So Much More!

First, we'd like to start off by thanking Jenn Myers for raising over $40 on behalf of Fred K's Cancer by selling pins and chocolate pops!

We'd also like to extend a thank you to Maria Crenshaw for her recent donation.

Lastly, we've received the good news that starting in mid-May, the Hicksville Illustrated News will begin promoting Fred K's Cancer in its Events Calendar!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

The Latest in Fred K's Cancer Fundraising!

Good publicity news for Fred K's Cancer! Long Island Business News has posted the Fred K's Cancer walk to its 2010 Events Calendar for the month of June! Hopefully this drums up more interest in our cause!In the meantime, we still have Islanders' Yearbooks available to our next big donors! All you have to do is give $20 or more and you'll receive an official 2009-2010 New York Islanders Yearbook!

Our Avon Event is also still going on through the first week of June! Your purchase can donate 5% to Fred K's Cancer!

Coming Soon: We're planning two bake sales for the month of May to take place in Bellmore, New York & Plainview, New York in order to raise money and awareness for Fred K's Cancer. In addition to delicious cookies, we'll also be selling pins, bracelets, raffle tickets for fun prizes, and giving away Avon samples! We'll keep you posted as we confirm details.

Monday, April 12, 2010

New York Islanders 2009-2010 Yearbook Giveaway!

Vita, owner of the Lady of America gym in West Hempstead, was kind enough to donate three 2009-2010 Official New York Islanders Yearbooks to Fred K's Cancer!
These yearbooks will go to the next three individuals who give $20 or more to Fred K's Cancer!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Thanks for Your Support!

We'd like to thank the following people for their contributions:

Arthur
Cathy DeLuca
Don
Ellen
Gary the Coffee Truck Guy
Greg
Hammad
Isabel
Jenn Myers
Juan
Michael Fuchs
Nancy Gilroy
Nick O'Connor
Roy
Stephanie DeGiogia
Sue Torre
Suzy

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Fred K's Cancer Partners with Avon

Fantastic news for Fred K's Cancer!

Effective March 5, 2010, a portio of every purchase made through Nicole Giannakakis' Avon Event Page with a specially created promotional code will go to Fred K's Cancer. Simply enter "FREDKCANCER5"at check out and 5% of your purchase will be dedicated to raising awareness and support for testicular and oral cancer.

There aren't enough words to effectively convey the overwhelming amount of gratitude we feel for Nicole for the time and energy she spent in order to set this up for us. We love you, Nicole!

Friday, February 12, 2010

Thanks for your support!

We'd like to thank the following people for their contributions:

Christine
Dino Vecchione
Kenny Doherty
Maritza
Rita
Ryan

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Thanks for your support!

We'd like to thank the following people for their contributions:

Kathy Maher
Mary Gerolimatos
Andrea Stoltz
Carolyn Jones
Adrian

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Thanks for your support!

We'd like to thank the following people for their contributions:

Alana Aloi
Carline
Dave
Linda Judice
Melissa S.
Peet Luetters
Pete
Spooner

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Thanks for your support!

We'd like to thank the following people for their contributions:

James Conigliaro
Matt Tibbals
Mitch Jacobs
Tasha