Bras Across the Water

Bras Across the Water is my fundraising event to promote Breast Cancer awareness and raise money for the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation. On September 30, 2005, I am going to steer a small boat with a sail made out of bras to an island in the middle of Percy Priest Lake. While I am on the island, I will be updating this blog hourly with photos, comments, and observations (and probably requests for camping tips). The idea is for me to collect pledges for every hour I remain on the island similar to a Bike-a-thon or jog-a-thon, except this is going to be more of a survive-a-thon. If I can get 100 people to pledge $1/hour, and I hold out for 48 hours, that will raise nearly $5000! Spending forty-eight hours alone on an island may not seem like a big deal to you, but for this 42 year-old city boy who hasn't been camping since he was a teenager, is terrified of snakes, and thinks dial-up internet is barbaric, it should be quite an adventure.

Thursday, October 6, 2005

Bras Across the Water is over. It was a great success on several levels, particularly in raising the level of Breast Cancer Awareness among my friends, family and other readers of this blog. At first I was disappointed in the amount of money raised in this year's event. Considering the amount of my own time and funds it took to pull this off, I probably could have gone door to door with an empty KFC bucket and collected just as much money in a few weeks. Then a good friend of mine asked me, "What if all of your talk about Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Bras Across the Water, and soliciting bras for your sail and money for the Minnie Pearl Breast Cancer Foundation, convinced some woman to go ahead and get the mammogram that led to early discover of breast cancer, improving her odds of survival, and maybe saving her life? Was it worth it, then?" Some people just know what to say to make a guy feel better. I'm still trying to catch up on all of my regular life stuff, so I will post a couple of pictures and call it a day.

Saturday, October 1, 2005

Twenty-five hours later

My great plans for semi-hourly blogger posts while I am on the island have obviously fallen by the wayside, but I have been taking notes in a journal for a later post. The main problem is my computer is having trouble reading the driver for my cell phone. The weather has improved dramatically, and I even managed to catch a coouple of fish today. I tried to photograph some of the people who have passed by the boat today. The looks on their faces as they saw the sail was priceless. Before I lose the connection again, I will try to post a photo.

Friday, September 30, 2005

The Landing

It is proving to be more difficult than I thought to post from the island. I do have a photo taken seconds after landing here on Pig Island. Call or email all your friends and encourage them to make a donation!

The crossing

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

tick...tick...tick...

Ship Ahoy!

The official watercraft of Bras Across the Water, the SS Moondog, is now sitting in my driveway ready for action. My truck is not big enough to pull this monster, so Commodore Trey will be towing the boat from my house to the Anderson Road Recreation Area boat ramp for the launch. Mrs. Moondog continues to work tirelessly assembling the mighty BraSail, and she is almost finished.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to mount the sail onto the boat. I am also working on a pre-launch checklist so I don't find myself alone on that island without something important. If anybody out there can think of any important, but often overlooked camping items I might be forgetting about, please comment on this post.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Stop Sending Bras. Start Sending Money!

Two more large packages full of bras arrived today (one of them contained a check too, Woohoo)! We now have more than enough bras for the sail and decorations for the boat. I am so pleased with the response to the requests for bras. Now it is time for me to start making a serious plea for monetary donations. When I fisrt started this thing, I was pretty certain that I was going to have to make a trip to the Salvation Army Store to buy bras just to complete the sail. I could not have been more wrong. If the same number of people that donated a bra for the sail decide to donate $20, that's $3000 right off the bat. I keep getting questions from people that are confused about the donation pledge form. Forget about it. Please just donate what you can.

By the way, the next 10 people who donate $50 or more via this website will receive an official Moondog Free Press T-shirt as a token of our appreciation (I will email you next week to get your size and mailing address).
Also, if any of you want to conatact me while I am on the island, send me an email at jeff@moondogfreepress.com. If my cellphone-laptop contraption works as planned, I will check my email and post to this blog every hour that I am on the island, and I will also respond to emailed questions or comments in this blog.
Finally, I talked to Mark Mascolo, my friend who offered the use of his pontoon boat as the official watercraft of Bras Across the Water. He was enroute to pick up the boat this afternoon when I talked to him. He said he would be taking the boat to his farm, transferring it onto a better trailer, and bringing it to my house tomorrow afternoon. This is perfect timing because I am very close to securing a live interview with a local on-air personailty very early Wednesday morning. Exposure on local TV could be HUGE for donations!