Donations

July 23, 2015 In BLR Play It Forward 2015, Blue Lollipop Road Memorial Scholarship, Do good, Donations, Donations and Sponsorships, Great companies, Thank you, Vermont

community support = awesome

What a happy surprise to arrive at my office today from the Bank Of Bennington!

Scholarship Donations

One of our alumni friends works for Bank Of Bennington, and now for 2 years in a row, they’ve matched her donation to the Blue Lollipop Road Memorial Scholarship fund. Now that’s what I call awesome! I dig companies who do good.

Thanks Bank Of Bennington! Your support helps give students the opportunity to travel and see a world they might not otherwise have the chance to.

#Community #DoGood #PlayItForward

February 21, 2015 In 2012 Best of the Road Rally, Do good, Donations, Great companies, Links, North Carolina, Projects & Organizations I dig

don’t forget your condoms

We are going to this event tonight; Art, entertainment, and fabulous people- all to benefit Planned Parenthood:

Don't forget your condoms!

Whoop! Fashion creations made out of condoms by local artists? Awesome.

I’m a huge Planned Parenthood fan.

Years ago, I remember reading a gigantic binder full of thank you letters sent in by girls of all ages when I was in a Planned Parenthood office in Virginia, waiting to have my annual exam. (God those exams are about as fun as never eating chocolate again.) Some of the letters made me smile, some made me cry, mostly they made me thankful that there was a safe place to help girls who had nowhere else to go. When you’re a young woman sitting in a quiet waiting room reading words written by a 15 year old who lived in an abusive home and was always told she’d “get the shit beaten out of her” if she ever came home pregnant, but was fortunate enough to have a place to get birth control pills, or from a 23 year old who was scared out of her mind not knowing how to tell her boyfriend she was pregnant, but was fortunate enough to have somewhere that offered counseling to coach her to have that conversation with a positive result- it makes you stop and think about your own life; That could be me, any of us- and what would I have done if I was in those shoes and had no where to turn?

Thank you, Planned Parenthood.

I believe that every one, every day has a chance and a choice to change their life. I will always be in major support of any organization that offers chances and choices for those who might not have them otherwise. Hat’s off to Planned Parenthood for all their years of education and advocacy to protect and advance women’s health and rights.

If you are in Charlotte, NC tonight- come join us for a fun night with an awesome mission!

How do you support the organizations you believe in?

#SupportYourCommunity #Choices #CLTEvents

July 12, 2013 In BLR Play It Forward 2013, Donations, News & Updates, Photos, Thank you, Vermont

it’s blr play it forward event kick-off day!

Wahoo! Could I be any more excited? It’s been go, go, go since my arrival back from the Adirondacks and I am loving every minute of it.

Today is Friday July 12 and time for Play It Forward round 2!

I’ve picked up jerseys (pink and blue) for registered alumni, and the t-shirts (white) we will be selling tomorrow:

(Kids white tees $10 and adult white tees $15.)

I’ve picked the lollipop supply (Thank you for the donation for the second year in a row Willy’s Bakery & Variety Store!):

(We might force you to eat one when you come to the field tomorrow:)

I’ve picked up the farm fresh goodies. (Thank you for the donation for the second year in a row Clear Brook Farm!):

(Of course I had to test out a couple of my recipes last night. Twist my arm sampling such yummy locally grown food! Guests at Howard Park tomorrow get ready for some good healthy eats!)

I have the Vermont Voltage coming tomorrow to hand out free tickets to their July 17th Premier Soccer Club game at Apple Jack Field:

Finally, We have picked a winner for the 2nd Annual Blue Lollipop Road Memorial Scholarship that’s awarded in honor of teammates Maria Green and Brandy Brown who we lost in 1994. This scholarship winner will be announced at 1pm tomorrow during the Strong Mojo Summit at Howard Park before our 2pm Alumni Game. I’m thrilled to give another travel scholarship to a deserving current female soccer player from my hometown, and I can’t wait to reconnect with all the inspiring alumni who come out to play, and all the great old friends, teachers, neighbors, and other wonderful community members who come out to support BLR!

We kick-off the weekend of fun events tonight at the Welcome Back Party at 7pm at Madison’s Pub and Brewery, so come one and all! Husbands, wives, partners, friends, soccer players, non-soccer players, everyone from the community is invited! Madison’s has agreed to donate a % of bar sales after 7pm back to Blue Lollipop Road! Yay!

Tomorrow night (Saturday) we have Celebration Cocktails at Pangea Lounge at 8pm to wrap up our weekend. Pangea has generously offered to donate 10% of all sales from BLR Play It Forward event traffic, so please come out to join us for some specialty cocktails created by their staff just for us!

Donations from all of you out there during the year are what keep BLR/BLR Play It Forward/The Blue Lollipop Road Memorial Scholarship Fund going and growing, so a huge thank you to everyone for such amazing support to help this dream come true again in 2013! Together we can encourage people of all ages to stay curious, to maintain a healthy & active lifestyle, and to be fearless in pursuit of goals.

Here’s to a most fun and memorable weekend for the whole community!

June 27, 2013 In BLR Play It Forward 2013, Donations

thank you!

A big thanks (and big hugs) to my friends Jen and Chris Ponessi for their donation to BLR Play It Forward/Blue Lollipop Road Memorial Scholarship Fund 2013! Not only are these two donors, but they insist to keep an open door policy 24/7 for me to have a BLR “Headquarters” when I am in Vermont. They feed me, house me, and help prep, and schlep for event weekend too. Jen and Chris are the best kind of good old friends a girl could have! (Not to mention they’re super fun and have a ridiculously comfy couch:)

Thanks guys! Lucky me. I love you.

If you’d like to donate, please click here.

June 19, 2013 In BLR Play It Forward 2013, Donations, Photos, Sponsors

blr play it forward 2013 event poster

Thank you to our alumni friend Tracy (Tracy Bushee Designs) for creating a fantastic poster for me again this year!

June 12, 2013 In BLR Play It Forward 2013, Donations

thank you mike cutler!

Lucky me to have perfect strangers like Mike who’ve continued to be generous with their time & talents volunteering 2 years in a row to help make BLR Play It Forward possible.

Mike Cutler of MHC Photography was introduced to me by and old friend early last spring and jumped right in to edit all the video footage from our big event for free. He created a DVD that captured a day of great moments which will always remain precious to me. This year Mike will be the photographer for Play It Forward, so if you’re coming to Howard Park on July 13th- get ready to smile! I couldn’t have a nicer guy to work with.

Thanks Mike! I cannot thank people like you enough for donating all your time and great energy.

June 6, 2013 In BLR Play It Forward 2013, Donations, Maine, Million Mile Joe, People, Photos, Videos

donation!

I’m happy to share that my friends Sharon and Joe (AKA “Million Mile Joe“) LoCicero have donated once again to the BLR Play It Forward Event and Blue Lollipop Road Memorial Scholarship Fund! Since meeting Sharon and Joe in the fall of 2011 during my Honda sponsored road trip and fun in Maine, they’ve been incredibly supportive of me and BLR which I am so thankful for. (Fellow road warriors stick together!) Joe and Sharon are tried and true hard working, sweet, generous New Englanders, and a great example of why I have so much pride for the part of the world I came from.

I had to go through the archives to find a few photos from my time in Maine with them. Here I am at their house behind Old BLUE (Joe’s 1990 Accord with 1,000,000 miles on it), giving a thumbs up to Honda:

…and check out Joe with his blue lollipop!

Here are the three of us after the big parade Honda put on to give Joe a new car back in October 2011:

(A bit blurry but I love this one. That was a seriously fun day.)

Joe and Sharon are soon embarking on an adventure of their own that I will write about later this summer. Besides that, they’re coming to BLR Play It Forward on July 13th in Vermont! Yay! That’s right, Joe and Sharon are road tripping from Vacationland to come watch and support my big annual Blue Lollipop Road event. Awesome!

Thanks for the donation and constant support Sharon and Joe! Looking forward to seeing you soon.

January 20, 2013 In Blue Lollipop Road Memorial Scholarship, Donations

thank you bob harris!

In lieu of gifts for a retirement party I attended this weekend it was suggested that guests make a donation to their favorite charity. My newly retired friend Bob’s wife requested that for my donation, I give to the Blue Lollipop Road Memorial Scholarship fund- which I happily did.

A hundred years ago I dated Bob’s son, Andrew, that’s how we know each other. Andrew might not know this, but he had a huge part in influencing my choice to live the “vagabond” lifestyle, so how perfect that all these years later Bob and his family still support young people reaching their travel goals.

Thanks Bob! I look forward to sharing who becomes the recipient of the 2013 Blue Lollipop Road Memorial Scholarship. Here’s to adventure at any age. You are just getting started!

January 7, 2013 In Donations, People, Virginia

thanks for lunch, andrew coast guard

And! Thanks once again to Matt Carter of DPI in Wilmington, NC for branding my bumper nearly 3 years ago. I sure have met a lot of nice and interesting people because of a small gifted piece of vinyl! Awesome.

Andrew:

Here’s to Upstate NY, The Great Alaska Highway, and to writing books. Hopefully we will both get one out in the nick of time- so each of our adventures can continue 🙂

August 8, 2012 In BLR Play it Forward 2012, BLR Reunion Soccer Weekend 8/18/12, Donations, Sponsors, Vermont

sponsors for blr play it forward continue to come in

A big shout out to yet another fantastic BLR Play It Forward sponsor!

Thank you Price Chopper Supermarkets!

Price Chopper is supplying all the cups, plates and napkins we will be using to nosh on our sponsored local farm fresh goodies, at the Strong Mojo Summit and Alumni Game next Saturday. They have also gifted us a store credit for any last minute items we will need to stock up on.

We dig companies who give to us, so we can give back to the community we love! Thanks again Price Chopper!