Over the last couple months while on Facebook I kept seeing Jen Maisano’s posts about her daughter Trinity’s efforts to fund-raise for Breakthrough T1D. They have been active members of the Mid Jersey Chapters Walk to Cure Diabetes at Rutgers, Cook Campus and Trinity is also a Youth Ambassador for the chapter. Over the last few years Trinity and her family have  raised close to $12,000.  With Jen being so vocal to her Facebook Friends I thought it would be a good idea to also share it with the rest of the Breakthrough T1D Family.

Some of the ways Trinity raises money for her Breakthrough T1D goal each year:

1. Always turn to family and friends first. They have been our biggest support system since Trinity was DX’d over 9 years ago, so they’ve seen first hand a lot of what having T1 has put her through. We always let them know that “no donation is too small” because every penny helps!

2. Each year Trinity hosts a lemonade stand. The lemonade is not for sale. The lemonade is “FREE with a donation to Breakthrough T1D” This leaves it up to the donor to decide if they’d like to give her 50 cents or $1, sometimes complete strangers have even given her $20. We have a huge banner stating “FREE lemonade with donation to Breakthrough T1D” and it draws a lot of attention. People sometimes pull over just to hand her a dollar and say “My brother has type 1 diabetes, thank you for bringing awareness.” We usually try to host a lemonade stand at least two times during the summer. We like to bring out some of her personal and team awards from walks we have done over the years so people can see all the efforts we’ve put forth to raise money. (Plus so they see it’s legit for Breakthrough T1D and not some scam)

3. We start fundraising approximately 3 months BEFORE our official walk date, but continue to hand in donations even after the walk. The sooner you begin, the better. It gives people plenty of time to give you a donation they are comfortable with and sometimes people will donate more than once. Example: they will donate $20 on-line, but then attend a lemonade stand and donate another $5.

4. We throw a benefit show called “Mosh for a Cure”. A friend of mine organized it last year and has decided this will be an annual occurrence for Trinity. He has local bars “donate” the stage for a night and local bands “donate” their time to play. He asks for a $15 donation at the door and all of that money goes straight to Trinity’s Breakthrough T1D goal. We also hold a raffle. The raffle items are donated. They include everything from band t-shirts (the bands that play the event donate their merch), to gift certificates from local tattoo shops (donated by the shops) and last year we had a friend donate a brand new large HD TV, a new dart board, and even a bass guitar. The raffle tickets sold like crazy and all of that cash was added to the door money and put towards her goal.

5. We have Breakthrough T1D sneakers. I’ve ordered them in past years since you guys give them away to team captains. A friend of ours bartends. The bar allows her to ask the customers for donations on Trintys behalf. The donors sign their name and our friend hangs the sneakers around the bar. Since most of the people who donate are ‘regular’ customers of the bar I wait for a busy day (such as a football Sunday) and bring Trinity to the bar to personally thank those who have donated. She walks around with the sneakers while there to see if any other customers would like to donate.

6. Home-made jewelry. My sister-in-law makes home-made necklaces and bracelets. She has dedicated a line specifically to help Trinity with her Breakthrough T1D goal this year. The pendants hanging from them say things such as “HOPE” with the ‘T1 ribbon’ (the one with the drop of blood) or people can customize their own with their child’s name, etc. All proceeds from the line will go towards Trin’s goal this year.

*Trinity also has a friend this year making crafty bracelets and selling them just to be able to donate to Trin’s goal. (So sweet!)

7. We’ve ordered personalized silicone bracelets in years past. (This year they are being sold to help send her back to D camp next summer) We sell them to friends, family, and at Mosh for a Cure. They were a big hit last year so this year I ordered 400.

8. I plan to make a YouTube video