The fundraiser at Dogfish Head was a big success! We had a great turnout throughout the day into that late Tuesday night. I saw friends, family, coworkers, Sigma Pi brothers, strangers, tall people, short people ... etc., etc. :) Thank you to everyone who showed up, ate, drank, sang, danced, bid in the silent auction, bought raffle tickets, and overall showed your support.
In the end, we raised over $4,700! Dogfish Head donated about $1,800 of that based on 15% of the profits it made that day. I not only love Dogfish Head beer, but also the food, staff, and overall organization. I truly cannot say enough nice things about Dogfish.
Originally, when we started collecting donations for the Nathan B. Marti Scholarship Fund in October 2007, the Radford University Foundation gave us 5 years to raise $15,000 in order for the scholarship to become endowed, which meant we would then be able to award a scholarship to a student each year. To date, only 1 year and 9 months later, we have raised close to $23,000. I am shocked by this number ... and completely thrilled. We hope to be able to award the first scholarship to a student in fall 2010.
Now that we've far surpassed our original goal, are we going to stop here? No way. I would like to hold one fundraiser a year for Nathan and to keep growing the scholarship fund. The sky's the limit regarding how much we can raise. To me, the scholarship and fundraisers have multiple purposes: first and foremost, to honor Nathan and serve as a memorial to his life and what he means to us; to help me channel my grief in a positive way; to financially help a Radford student who shares similar interests with Nathan; to give friends and family a way to show their support, remember Nathan, and perhaps help them in their grieving; and frankly, is a great excuse to get together with good friends and party, something Nathan really loved to do.
So for now, I'm going to rest and take this time to bask in the generosity and awesomeness that came from this fundraiser, and reenergize myself for the party next year.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
One week away - NBM scholarship fundraiser at Dogfish Head
In case you haven't heard, we're holding the 2nd annual Nathan B. Marti Scholarship fundraiser at Dogfish Head restaurant next Tuesday, July 14.
Dogfish Head will donate 15% of all money raised the entire day to the Nathan B. Marti Scholarship Fund. Please support us by enjoying lunch, appetizers, and dinner (and drink responsibly)!
Participate in the silent auction and buy raffle tickets to win an iPod touch, HP netbook, or gift cards to Cosi, Legal Seafoods, Cheesecake Factory, and the Great American Restaurants!
Tickets are 1 for $5 or 3 for $10. Buy tickets in advance or at the fundraiser. The raffle drawing will be that night, but you don't have to be present to win. Please contact me for more details (lindsay.marti@yahoo.com).
Dogfish Head will donate 15% of all money raised the entire day to the Nathan B. Marti Scholarship Fund. Please support us by enjoying lunch, appetizers, and dinner (and drink responsibly)!
Participate in the silent auction and buy raffle tickets to win an iPod touch, HP netbook, or gift cards to Cosi, Legal Seafoods, Cheesecake Factory, and the Great American Restaurants!
Tickets are 1 for $5 or 3 for $10. Buy tickets in advance or at the fundraiser. The raffle drawing will be that night, but you don't have to be present to win. Please contact me for more details (lindsay.marti@yahoo.com).
Friday, June 5, 2009
The day the sky fell down
That’s what I call June 5, 2007. When my mom called me that morning and told me about Nathan, it might as well have. Trying to remember the rest of 2007, and a lot of life since then is like searching for something underwater—blurry and sometimes hard to breathe.
Year two has been easier (for lack of a better word) than the first year: I don’t bawl my eyes out on the drive to and from work every day, only sometimes now. I don’t avoid social situations all the time, only occasionally. And I don’t get angry at the drop of a hat … ok, I still do, but anyone close to me knows that I did that way before the crash happened.
It’s hard having life continue, juggling my grief and the everyday things. Sometimes I don’t want things to be “easier.” It shows me that more time has passed, which means it’s been that much longer since I last saw Na, talked to him, hugged him, laughed with him. And then there are the things that didn’t mean much to me before, but now are painful triggers of grief: I can’t drive down the road without seeing someone on a motorcycle. For a while after the crash, I would have mini panic attacks while driving and seeing one. Today, I can barely look at them—just enough to keep my distance from them while driving. I also can’t stand seeing a dead animal on the side of the road. I can’t help but get sad and angry about how Nathan died—much like that squirrel or deer I see. (This is when the anger comes out.) I get mad at Vathana Chan and his stupid friends, who had no right to end Nathan’s life and let him die on the side of the road.
I also can’t shake the occasional urge to call or text Nathan. While I’m well aware that he’s not going to answer, I can’t wrap my mind around the fact that he’s not alive. I wonder if I’m always going to forget and think he’s just away somewhere on a trip.
I marvel at how my life can continue on when I’m now living so much in the past. I cling to memories of conversations with him, trying so hard to remember how his voice sounded and how it felt to tell him a dumb joke that made him laugh. I was so glad to discover that we have tons of pictures of him, but am now saddened that there will be no more.
I tried not living in the past once. So I looked forward and realized that there will come a day, God willing, that I will have been alive longer without Nathan than I was with him.
I stopped trying to find some grand scheme or plan that I’m supposed to follow because of Nathan’s death. Some people realize how much they love someone after that person dies, and others are sorry that they didn’t have a better relationship with that person, so they deal with regret. I didn’t need Nathan to die to realize how much I love him and how much he means to me. So where does that leave me? I believe in God and I believe that Nathan is in Heaven. I’m sure the whole “his work here on Earth was done” is true, and “he’s in a better place,” but the fact is, I’m still here and alive. I’m pretty sure there’s no amount of charity work or good will I can perform that will satisfy me or even begin to fill the void that I feel. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to do charity work, but I will not do it thinking that it’s what I’m supposed to do now.
“Don’t drink and drive,” they say. I remember seeing MADD ads and stickers over the years, and thinking “Yeah, drinking and driving is bad and dangerous.” I thought fleetingly about how people die in car crashes. Then all of a sudden, Nathan became part of a statistic, and I’m driving in my car and crying because I just saw a dead deer on the side of the road. I think that if for one day, everyone who has a driver’s license (and people who drive without one) could feel what it’s like to lose their best friend in a drunk driving crash, the roads would be safer. Consequently, these people also probably would hug their families more and be nicer to others. At the same time, I wouldn’t wish this feeling or what my family and I have been through on anyone. Ah, the irony.
So I’m not much of a Mary Sunshine, but I’m pretty sure that today I don’t have to be. I actually do love life and have a lot to be thankful for. I’m grateful to have a family who, despite everything, is very loving and supportive of one another. It’s amazing how, although we are all broken, when one of us has completely fallen apart, another is strong enough to put the pieces back together. It’s just that there’s still that missing piece.
Year two has been easier (for lack of a better word) than the first year: I don’t bawl my eyes out on the drive to and from work every day, only sometimes now. I don’t avoid social situations all the time, only occasionally. And I don’t get angry at the drop of a hat … ok, I still do, but anyone close to me knows that I did that way before the crash happened.
It’s hard having life continue, juggling my grief and the everyday things. Sometimes I don’t want things to be “easier.” It shows me that more time has passed, which means it’s been that much longer since I last saw Na, talked to him, hugged him, laughed with him. And then there are the things that didn’t mean much to me before, but now are painful triggers of grief: I can’t drive down the road without seeing someone on a motorcycle. For a while after the crash, I would have mini panic attacks while driving and seeing one. Today, I can barely look at them—just enough to keep my distance from them while driving. I also can’t stand seeing a dead animal on the side of the road. I can’t help but get sad and angry about how Nathan died—much like that squirrel or deer I see. (This is when the anger comes out.) I get mad at Vathana Chan and his stupid friends, who had no right to end Nathan’s life and let him die on the side of the road.
I also can’t shake the occasional urge to call or text Nathan. While I’m well aware that he’s not going to answer, I can’t wrap my mind around the fact that he’s not alive. I wonder if I’m always going to forget and think he’s just away somewhere on a trip.
I marvel at how my life can continue on when I’m now living so much in the past. I cling to memories of conversations with him, trying so hard to remember how his voice sounded and how it felt to tell him a dumb joke that made him laugh. I was so glad to discover that we have tons of pictures of him, but am now saddened that there will be no more.
I tried not living in the past once. So I looked forward and realized that there will come a day, God willing, that I will have been alive longer without Nathan than I was with him.
I stopped trying to find some grand scheme or plan that I’m supposed to follow because of Nathan’s death. Some people realize how much they love someone after that person dies, and others are sorry that they didn’t have a better relationship with that person, so they deal with regret. I didn’t need Nathan to die to realize how much I love him and how much he means to me. So where does that leave me? I believe in God and I believe that Nathan is in Heaven. I’m sure the whole “his work here on Earth was done” is true, and “he’s in a better place,” but the fact is, I’m still here and alive. I’m pretty sure there’s no amount of charity work or good will I can perform that will satisfy me or even begin to fill the void that I feel. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to do charity work, but I will not do it thinking that it’s what I’m supposed to do now.
“Don’t drink and drive,” they say. I remember seeing MADD ads and stickers over the years, and thinking “Yeah, drinking and driving is bad and dangerous.” I thought fleetingly about how people die in car crashes. Then all of a sudden, Nathan became part of a statistic, and I’m driving in my car and crying because I just saw a dead deer on the side of the road. I think that if for one day, everyone who has a driver’s license (and people who drive without one) could feel what it’s like to lose their best friend in a drunk driving crash, the roads would be safer. Consequently, these people also probably would hug their families more and be nicer to others. At the same time, I wouldn’t wish this feeling or what my family and I have been through on anyone. Ah, the irony.
So I’m not much of a Mary Sunshine, but I’m pretty sure that today I don’t have to be. I actually do love life and have a lot to be thankful for. I’m grateful to have a family who, despite everything, is very loving and supportive of one another. It’s amazing how, although we are all broken, when one of us has completely fallen apart, another is strong enough to put the pieces back together. It’s just that there’s still that missing piece.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
2nd Annual NBM Scholarship Fundraiser -- July 14
The second annual NBM Scholarship fundraiser will be at Dogfish Head (Falls Church) again this year! Check out the Evite here or look for it in Events on Facebook.
Dogfish Head will donate 15% of all money raised the entire day. This includes food, drinks, and Dogfish merchandise.
Tuesday, July 14, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
I'm selling iPod touch raffle tickets through June and the beginning of July, and they also will be available to buy at the fundraiser. The drawing will be that night. (You don't have to be present to win).
Dogfish Head will donate 15% of all money raised the entire day. This includes food, drinks, and Dogfish merchandise.
Tuesday, July 14, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
I'm selling iPod touch raffle tickets through June and the beginning of July, and they also will be available to buy at the fundraiser. The drawing will be that night. (You don't have to be present to win).
Tickets are $5 apiece, or 3 for $10. Contact me to buy some!
Also come check out my friends' band, Compliments of George. It'll be a great time :)
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Walk Like MADD 2009 -- Walk for Nathan
If you live in the DC area, please join me for Walk Like MADD in September! If you live out of the area, please consider joining the team as a virtual walker or make a donation to our team. Here are the details:
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Potomac Nationals Pfitzner Stadium
Woodbridge, VA
Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the Web address:
http://support.madd.org/site/TR/WalkLikeMADD/WLM-FairfaxVA?px=1738403&pg=personal&fr_id=2511&et=K4a6YAaz72eVUP8_5wwOcA..&s_tafId=25110
Click here to view the team page for Walk for Nathan.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the Web address:
http://support.madd.org/site/TR/WalkLikeMADD/WLM-FairfaxVA?team_id=47920&pg=team&fr_id=2511&et=FjJYvkcSoW89HVC9zai4Xg..&s_tafId=25110
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Potomac Nationals Pfitzner Stadium
Woodbridge, VA
Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the Web address:
http://support.madd.org/site/TR/WalkLikeMADD/WLM-FairfaxVA?px=1738403&pg=personal&fr_id=2511&et=K4a6YAaz72eVUP8_5wwOcA..&s_tafId=25110
Click here to view the team page for Walk for Nathan.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the Web address:
http://support.madd.org/site/TR/WalkLikeMADD/WLM-FairfaxVA?team_id=47920&pg=team&fr_id=2511&et=FjJYvkcSoW89HVC9zai4Xg..&s_tafId=25110
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Getting close!
The fundraiser at Sharkey's was fun, fun, and fun. I was excited to see so many familiar faces -- alumni, brothers, current students, oh my!
Sharkey's is graciously donating $200 to the NBM Scholarship, and we raised a little over $300 from general donations and by selling pint glasses and tshirts.
This puts the grand total of the fund to date at $14,061, so we only have about $940 to go!
Sharkey's is graciously donating $200 to the NBM Scholarship, and we raised a little over $300 from general donations and by selling pint glasses and tshirts.
This puts the grand total of the fund to date at $14,061, so we only have about $940 to go!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
More Radford Homecoming Fun
We're having an NBM Scholarship fundraiser at Sharkey's Wing and Rib Joint in Radford, Friday, February 27. Sharkey's will donate a portion of its profits from 5 p.m. to close (2 a.m.). All you have to do is show up and eat (and drink responsibly)!Here's the Sharkey's Web site: http://www.sharkeyswingandribjoint.com/
I'm hoping it's a great turnout. We only have about $1,500 left to reach our $15,000 goal!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Radford U. All-Greek Reunion
I hope everyone had a nice holiday season. Mine provided a great opportunity to relax and reflect. It surely feels weird and sad to start another year without Nathan.
After taking a break from NBM Scholarship fund raising, I'll be at Radford's homecoming the weekend of February 27-28. Radford U. Foundation staff are helping us reach our goal by suggesting fund raising opportunities and identifying ways to publicize the NBM Scholarship.
I will attend the All-Greek Reunion that weekend and hope some Sigma Pi guys and friends will join me! Stay tuned for further information, including the current tally of how much we've raised to date.
After taking a break from NBM Scholarship fund raising, I'll be at Radford's homecoming the weekend of February 27-28. Radford U. Foundation staff are helping us reach our goal by suggesting fund raising opportunities and identifying ways to publicize the NBM Scholarship.
I will attend the All-Greek Reunion that weekend and hope some Sigma Pi guys and friends will join me! Stay tuned for further information, including the current tally of how much we've raised to date.
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