I have come to discover that I do not like asking for things. When I am feeling overwhelmed, overworked, and passed over, my hunk of burning love will look at me and ask “Why didn’t you ask for help?” That always gives me pause and I wonder well, why didn’t I ask? Generally, I think it is because I have always been a doer – someone who relies on herself to take care of business. Who needs help? Who needs advice? Who needs items or money for a fundraiser? Not me.

Yes, me. Don’t get me wrong, we had a fantastically wonderful evening at our wine tasting and silent auction fundraiser at Water 2 Wine but it couldn’t have happened without a lot of asking and, in some cases, straight out cajoling to get auction items and partiers to attend. Big partiers. I found out that asking for things can be a whole lot less painful if there is a bunch of fun involved. So, we had wine, we had humus, we had music, we auctioned off a ton of stuff ranging from an official RAAM cap to a week in Vail at a private home that is truly a dream, to a Feng Shui package. Most folks ended up winning an item, so at the end of two hours there were many, many happy people. We raised more than we anticipated on behalf of LiveWell Colorado, our friends got to meet us and each other, people made off like bandits with unbelievable bargains and our ball is officially rolling.

As the evening went on, even more offers to help poured in. Tim Dwyer, offered to provide music at another event, Dr. Steve Visentin of Care Chiropractic  (http://carechiropractic.com  ) not only was a great emcee for the evening but gave our friends a little bit of insight to our commitment and our challenge, offered his continuing support, Erin and Derek from Water 2 Wine and the greatest hosts ever, would be happy to have another party, and Jim Harper – well, what he is able to say in one 4 min 37 second video is beyond. Just beyond. To think he is not yet done with us, wow. This is not mentioning the friends who started sentences with “if there is anything you need . . .” or “if I can be of help in any way. . .” or “can I have your wine if you’re not going to drink it . . . ?” There is always one in every crowd, right? SO happy for that one.

FUNdraising. Maybe it is possible. Maybe asking for help isn’t such a bad thing. Maybe this momentum will continue to rock on as we gather the support and help from the friends we have and the ones we have yet to meet. There is a great, big, wonderful, warm and very helpful world out there. Thanks to all of you who are in it.

And watch for the next FUNdraiser. Coming soon. Promise.