This is the big post you’ve all been waiting for. (Right? I can only hope you’ve been waiting for my blog posts since I’m so amazing at keeping y’all entertained…right?) This is the post that wraps up our crazy awesome birthday party/fundraiser, “30 Years, 1 Wish”.
I took the password protection off of the page, so now you can visit and re-visit all the amazing details, like the hotel we scored an amazing deal for guests that many of y’all didn’t take advantage of, although you should’ve cause it was incredible. Or the Über deal for new users that gave guests a sick deal on luxury car service to and from the brewery so you could drink as much as you wanted that night and not worry about getting home (or to another bar). Or the UNBELIEVABLE raffle items that were all donated to this event, totaling over $3400 worth of prizes to lucky winners who purchased raffle tickets at the party. Go on over to the page, and take a look. I can wait.
The party was unreal, y’all, we seriously can’t believe how successful the entire night was. Although we only got to spend, on average, around 3 minutes catching up per guest, it was such a whirlwind of fun and incredible memories that we will never ever forget that night. Our friends, family, and loved ones showed up in DROVES (around 200 of y’all!!) to support our causes and support us. It meant more to us than words will ever be able to express to see such steadfast, loyal friends who flew and drove to Atlanta just for our event. Who paid babysitters, and dressed up, and made a night of it just to support this idea. Honestly, even if y’all just needed a night out to drink beer, we’re so thankful you chose to come to our event to do just that!
We did miss some people who had RSVP-ed that they were indeed coming and didn’t show; we never got any explanation where those people ended up, if they were even in Atlanta at all. To them we say: thank you if you donated online, it really means a lot even if you weren’t able to show up. Things pop up, that’s understandable, and we’re just thankful you wanted to support our fundraising efforts.
WARNING → RANT FOLLOWING: To the rest that were no shows, no donators: um, what happened to you? I think some of y’all needed to be there to receive the message we spoke about during our speeches: “It isn’t all about you.” Other things are important, not just your important stuff, and we all need to remember to put life in perspective. People are hurting out there, people are dealing with greater misfortune than any of us will ever know. They deserve and need help from those who have more.
If anyone needed to hear that message, it’s the people who blew us off, didn’t respond to emails or phone calls or texts, who thought that even though the mailed invitation was a beautiful invitation that obviously showed that this was a legitimate event, who cares because you have more important things to do than RSVP or even show up, like focus on your life and your life only. And donate? Who has time to donate $25? You clearly had more important things to use that money for, so go ahead boo, and do you.
But I’m not bitter or anything.
RANT OVER. For those that did show up and/or donate, holy shit, you guys rocked. You bought tons and tons of raffle tickets, you donated so much money to the event, in person and online, and heard the message we wanted everyone to leave with. We got tons of messages after the event from people who felt what we had to say deep within, and it spurred them to start doing for others and reaching out to help where help is needed. We reconnected old friends with Jake, many of whom hadn’t seen him in years, and the entire Lyons family had a blast. It was an emotional night for sure, but emotionally positive and uplifting I hope.
Now, for the part of this post you’ve been waiting for: how much did “30 Years, 1 Wish” raise? Our goal was to raise at least $3000, so that each organization received $1000 each (each organization being: the Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence (in Atlanta), the American Indian College Fund, and the Colon Cancer Alliance). We would like to give thanks to the Women’s Resource Center for acting as the fiscal agent so that all guests were able to receive tax-deductible donation benefits and also for distributing the funds to the other two organizations.
Well folks, here it is. In the end, we raised…
$3900!!!!!
We totally surpassed our goal, and now each organization is receiving nearly $1300 each!!
And the raffle itself raised…
$1700!!!!!
Because the money came out of our pockets to reserve the entire Red Brick Brewing Company for Saturday night, we were able to not go into serious debt as a result of the raffle donations.
We just cannot be thankful enough to everyone who supported our idea of donating to charities that mean something to us, in honor of our 30th birthdays. Even if all the charities didn’t strike a chord with you, we’re hopeful that our message did. We can always take time to give back, no matter what our lives are like, how busy we are, how broke we are, how sad we are — there’s always someone who is doing worse and who needs your help.
Now for pictures!! I warn you, there aren’t that many because my mother was the photographer and forgot to take pictures (actually that’s a good sign, because she was a busy little social bee and was chatting it up with nearly everyone there! SUCCESS!). I’d like to thank her for taking the pictures she did get and I’d also like to thank my dad because later he told me that he didn’t know if he was supposed to know people, so instead of telling the truth (which is he can never remember people’s names or faces), he just started hugging and kissing everyone so that no one could tell the difference. That is so gangsta, and is proof positive that my parents do indeed love and support me. 🙂
Thank you thank you thank you again to everyone who made the trip in, who donated money and raffle prizes, who drank beer, who bought raffle tickets, who showed up to say hi, who is our friend and supports us no matter what. You all are so ride or die, it’s crazy. Till the next time, we love you.
♥, VB & Timmy
From Peaches to Beaches 
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