We are in our 4th year of Relay and struggling to come with meaningful gifts - we like to give something to all survivors and if possible their caregivers. We have done the Relay seed packets, big cups full of little things, but really kind of out of ideas.
We are starting at noon and so will do the little glow necklaces to encourage them to come back for luminaria, but need something more. So eager to hear any and all ideas. WE are limited with committee people so probably cant go making crafts or whatever but still would like those type of ideas.
Thanks so much,
Kip in Acton, MA
Trackback URL for this post:
http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/trackback/672
March 20, 2007 - 1:34pm
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
PDF version
Girfts for Survivors
I'm the Survivorship Chair for my college's Relay and our mascot is a bear so I'm trying to get stuffed Relay bears donated and our bookstore to donate sweatshirts and bandanas they make for the stuffed animals in the bookstore that say Bridgewater State College on them. Since I'm a survivor and I'm graduating I want to make it as personal as possible for my fellow survivors.
Survivor Medals
I am a cancer survivor and last year was my first year to be Survivor Chair. I purchased Relay for Life medals and got stick on metallic numbers (like those used on homecoming mums) donated by a local florist. When the survivors checked in they were honored with a medal and a hug. They were asked how many years of survivorship they had and then that number was put on one side of the ribbon that the medal was attached to. It was amazing to see the number of years of survivorship in one place. I will be glad to send a picture to get a better understanding if you would like by sending a request to BRS564@aol.com.
Buttons of Hope -- put a face on your fundraising
Kip not sure if this is exactly what you are looking for...but...
I am the captain of a bike team MojoRiding -- we do a lot of fundraising -- I know how challenging it cna be to get things going-- to engage and motivate the team year after year -- it is albeit a "labor of love".
I started making photo buttons for our team to honor and support the loved ones we ride for -- to "put a face on fundraising" from that I started a company www.buttonsofhope.com where people can upload a photo and make a photo button (add a name or phrase) to wear in a event like RFL! And there are no minimums -- make a single button if you like $5 each and $1 from each goes to the charity of your choice -- that's it plain and simple. We can set up a gallery for teams too like the one here we are doing for my bike team!
I hope this does not sound like too much of a sales pitch -- that is not my intent -- just trying to get the word out to people like you who are leading amazing efforts to support friends, family and fight cancer. If you have a couple of minutes please check out my website -- watch the video too! Email me michael at buttons of hope dot com or call me at 704.341.1954. Again congratulations on what you are doing -- I look forward to answering any questions you might have!
makehope
michael
Gifts for survivors
We have made corsages and boutonniere - pink and white with purple bowes. We ask them to bring them back everyyear and we add a different color ribbon.
We have a western theme one year and made bandanas. We ironed on relay decals with either survivor or caregiver on them.
Ideas for gifts
Might be nothing brilliant or original here, but who knows, it might inspire you. Here goes - ideas from other volunteers:
· Angel pins for participants – Ask Survivors to find participants, give them a big hug, pin & thank them
· Shirts and Pins - Try to use survivor shirts for the first year that a survivor participates, ask them to save it, and give them survivor pins for each year after.
· Have centerpieces for Survivors to Take Home
· Hand-print painting t-shirts - hand-print paintings on the back of survivor shirts (care-takers, or spouses place their hand-prints on the survivor's back.) – Thanks to Michael and http://relayamerica.com for this great idea!
· Purple Relay Teddy Bears, Organza Bags, and Magnet – “We bought purple ( small) organza bags ( very inexpensive), small teddy bears with little banners that said 2005 Relay, a purple wristband and a cool round magnet ( that looked like a stone) that says CELEBRATE. It was received warmly by men, women and children” – Thanks to Pam R. for this one!
· Here are some other items to take a look at!:
· Survivorship medals
http://www.costore.com/relaystuffcatalog/productenlarged.asp?peid=212&pid=388488
· Survivor wristband: ($1)
https://www.costore.com/relaygear/productenlarged.asp?peid=284&pid=437810
· Cancer Survivor collectable pin ($2)
https://www.costore.com/relaygear/productenlarged.asp?peid=284&pid=325043
· Various pins and magnets
https://www.costore.com/relaygear/productthumbnails.asp?pg=3
gifts
We have a group of "senior ladies" knitting lapwarmers, in purple/white and pink/white to give to the survivors at their dinner at the relay this year. This may be tough to get done this year, but you could keep it in mind for next year and start looking for donations of yarn and knitters to make them........Happy relaying!!!
Cindy
"Never stop laughing, Never stop dreaming, Never stop fighting, Never give up hope"
HOPE Rocks
We did this at our Relay last year and got a lot of postive responses. We got small/medium river rocks at the local craft store and wrote the word HOPE on them with a Sharpie marker. If the rock was dark we used a paint pen, it rubbed off some of these stones. We usually give our Survivors their shirts at the Survivor Dinner, so got some bags and put the stones and the t-shirts in a bag and gave them out. We also included a postcard telling them what the stone was (handing out HOPE to other cancer patients) and another postcard to return to the ACS office if they would like another stone. We also gave them extra stones if they asked for them. They were very well recieved. We used smaller bags to give the stones and postcards out to those Survivors that didn't attend the dinner but came to the Relay.
-Lori
Survivor Chair Boone County Missouri
Joined: 2006-08-19