And we're off...

A few months ago, my sister did a fundraising walk for breast cancer research. I was given to ponder this way of raising money for causes and was struck by a thought.

I could do this. A drive not for breast cancer though (albeit a worthy cause), but for a cause that is close to me as the father of two. I want to raise money for the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

I will do this. As my thoughts progressed as how to do so, I decided to incorporate a hobby I have been pursuing for nearly 15 years. I am going to collect guitar picks. But not for the sake of collecting them, no. Between January 1 and September 1 (Labor Day), 2008, I will be collecting as many guitar picks from as many bands, artists, people, venues or places as I can. I will be using my connections established over the years and my time from working concerts in the area to build this collection for the cause. I will be taking pledges from people willing to donate. The method is similar to a typical walk-a-thon, except instead of for every mile walked, donations will be for every pick collected. At the end of the end of the drive, I will collect the money from donors (checks only, made out directly to Children's Hospital) and present it to the Hospital with a list of all those who donated money or contributed picks to the drive. I also plan on either donating picks to children in the hospital if I am able to get one / some from a particular artist that interests a child. Otherwise picks will be donated to a local radio station to be auctioned off during their annual fundraiser.

Fortunately, I have needed very limited interaction with the staff at Children's Hospital, but when my daughter needed some tests done, their methods of dealing with her and the overall professionalism that was displayed was astounding. I was struck that they deal exclusively with children, in all ranges of health, with the same demeanor, patience and professionalism every day.

What I came to realize is that the people there deal with things that anyone with a heart would find, at the least, difficult to face - especially on a daily basis. The staff at Children's Hospital perform miracles every day and do it as if it was their calling.

My daughter's condition was merely an infection that cleared up with daily medication and the ability to be at home with her family in familiar surroundings and no limitations to her daily routine of being a kid.

Many more others that are taken care of at Children's Hospital do not have this luxury. Too many are limited to beds or wheelchairs, cannot go home to the comforts they deserve or can only do so for short periods of time.

Kids need to be allowed to be kids. Children's Hospital does whatever they can to make this possible, and for that they need support.

I will be updating this blog on a regular basis with lists of picks donated, names (if authorized) of contributors and a running list of how much money has been pledged, cumulatively, for the cause.

I will also post links to the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin website as well as other similar causes, should you like to research additional donations on your own behalf.

Thanks for following up and thank you in advance for any support you are willing to give.