Reflections on the Project Fit America Grant Campaign

In Creating Happiness, Recent Posts by Barbara Jacoby

The Faces Of Project Fit America

Enjoy this heartwarming gallery of the faces of the kids you’ve voted for!

voteHere2With just hours left in the voting for Project Fit America in its campaign to win a grant of $100,000 that will allow them to provide additional funding for “Fitness in Education” to schools throughout the country, I find myself reflecting on this adventure.  I remember the email that I received from its founder and our friend, Stacey Cook, asking whether my husband Kirk and I might help her as social media ambassadors.  You see, she had just learned that they, along with four other nonprofits, had been selected for the final competition based upon an application that they had submitted to the Lids Foundation at the end of December.  But, the winner would be selected by votes submitted to the Lids Foundation website.

So I turned to my usual weekly blog to get the word out that we needed the help of those on social media to spread the word and help us with their votes.  At the time, we believed that voting was based upon 1 vote per email address so we went to work to garner as many votes as possible to help them win but with no way to see the vote count, we had to get every single vote that we could and hope for the best.fit final feat

Just 4 days after the first post, we received some stunning information.  At a number of schools that would be receiving a part of the grant money if PFA were to win it, the families did not have any computers or even a cell phone from which they could vote.  So one of the schools created a set up of a main computer where parents could come to vote using the school’s computer and their own email addresses.  It was at this point that we learned that voting was also restricted to 1 vote per electronic device.  Imagine our shock when we realized that thousands of potential voters would not be able to vote because they did not own their own electronic devices.

I cried.  This wasn’t fair.  The very students who were in most need of these funds couldn’t vote and many of their family members and friends also were not able to do so.  So the kids got busy doing things like making signs and taking photos and creating videos with original songs and dances and the physical education teachers recorded them and sent them out to Project Fit America and posted them on YouTube.  As the first photos were attached and sent to me via email and I saw those darling children who were working so hard to get our votes, I cried again.  The blog site was quickly retooled as Kirk posted the pictures that we received into a photo gallery and the intense work began.

I can honestly say that I don’t remember the last time that I was so motivated to work so hard on a project.  I couldn’t imagine not doing everything possible to help with the voting.  We weren’t asking for money.  We were begging for everyone who could possibly hear our plea to just take a couple of seconds and with a couple of clicks, vote for these children who, in many cases, couldn’t vote for themselves.

fit america logo voteI don’t know what the final tally will be but I hope that our friends at Project Fit America can go back to those children with the news that we won.  That’s right – we all win when we help to support the efforts for promoting a healthy life for kids who will, in turn, become healthy adults.  I will let you know the outcome of the voting as soon as it is announced.  It is my understanding that the top 3 groups will be announced by Wednesday and that the final top winner will be announced at a dinner in Indianapolis shortly thereafter.  And here is my one last plea!  If you haven’t already voted, please do so right now and add your prayers that we win.  I want to know that all of us put smiles on those faces again when the good news was given to them that Project Fit America has won the $100,000 grant.