Hi all!

As you may have heard in episode #151 of Motivation to Move, I am raising money for an incredible organization called Hospice of the Comforter.  This group came in and took care of our family in our time of need, and I’ve committed myself to the challenging goal of running 26.2 miles at the San Francisco Marathon to raise awareness of Skin Cancer and how great Hospice is.  If you are able and willing to donate to our cause, please visit http://www.austinhastings.com and donate.  Proceeds go towards the same Hospice organization which directly helped our family in 2006.

Also, in the process of training for this marathon since January of this year, I’ve learned a lot about what it takes to get used t running long distances.  In last week’s long run, I burned 2800 calories in one run alone and ran 17 miles!  If you have any questions in terms of long-term training, endurance, etc., I would be very happy to answer as best as I can.  I’ve not always been an endurance athlete, but I’ve leanred a lot in marathon training that I’d be happy to pass on.

Thank you for your support, and for being such a great community!

Austin

I went to Austin’s website and listened to his video - very moving.  Even though i was initially hesitant about giving my charitable contribution to an organization in a state all the way across the country (Santa Cruz, CA here, near Austin at least!), i couldn’t resist supporting this organization after hearing what they did for his family and what they do for other families without asking for anything in return.  If everyone gave a little time in their area of specialty out there, what a great world and community we would create!  I’ll think of you Austin while your running for a few HOURS and i’m on the stationary bike for my one hour of slow burn, as i ran a marathon in high school and have no intention of doing one now days.  Enjoy!
Kevin

I’m sure my brother will join me in offering a sincere thanks for your charity, Kevin.

I’m pretty excited that we - as a family and as a community - have the chance to not only give back to this particular Hospice organization, but also to share in insight into what an angel any Hospice organization can really be.

Before my Mom got sick, I really had no clue exactly what they did, and how much they could help us. But as it turns out, the Hospice nurses, counselors, even the equipment delivery guys, made it possible to enjoy every last minute with my Mom. And the amazing part is they never asked for a dime. With all the meds, equipment, and man-hours involved… that just blows me away. So as you can guess, I’m very happy that Austin’s taken the initiative to organize this charitable fund raiser to show our appreciation for their help with our family, and for their commitment to so many other families.

Thanks again, Kevin. You can be confident your donation’s going to a top-notch organization!

Do I have great kids or what?

Never in our wildest dreams did we think we would need to call upon Hospice. 

Still - from the first phone call until Sheryl finally passed they were with us every, difficult step of the way.  And they have stayed with us since.

Karma is a great thing.  When you give… even if it’s all the way across the country… it tends to come right back to you, right where you live.  So thank you Kevin and everybody else who is making a donation.

Hi Kevin,

Thank you for supporting Hospice!  I’m right with my dad and sister in saying, this Hospice organization really deserves recognition and support.  In addition to them being an amazing group who had a lasting impact on our family, as an organization, we found them to be very well run.  They were absolutely on top of logistics in terms of equipment delivery, the support was there at exactly the right moments and overall, we were very much impressed with how well everything was managed. 

To be honest, I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen an organization do such a great job so quickly, and especially whether or not they were directly financially compensated by the family.  What an extraordinary group.  And what an extraordinary thing you’ve done in supporting them.  Thank you so much for your help!

Even though this is in support of a Florida organization, in looking at the donor list, there’s a fair amount of California representation.

Austin