Is prize #1 washed prior to delivery or no? That's an important detail, no?

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https://connect.garmin.com/modern/profile/domingjm

Either way it enters into weird fetish territory, IMO.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

you come here and this is your first post?..I'm donating to James H for this..bye

Great! Thank you for donating to SmileTrain!!

Yeah, how dare he not pay his dues by making a post about Lionel or telling someone their seat is too high. F'ing bastard comes in here like he owns the place and tries to raise money for charity with his first post.

Which would you prefer?

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

i resemble that comment.

Thanks for the post here and welcome to the forum. Administration is currently reevaluating mike s' position as greeter. Apologies on his behalf.

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https://connect.garmin.com/modern/profile/domingjm

He come here soliciating garbage ,asking for donations for his entry in IM Arizona. Agree to disagree, I think it’s not a classy thing..someone’s already doing the same thing here, for the same charity, he didn’t make a post about. But since he’s offering stuff as a raffle it’s fine?..if he didn’t have that he would’ve been out on blast

Donations go to charity or to fund his IM entrance fee?

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https://connect.garmin.com/modern/profile/domingjm

Good question. I come to ST for information and the drama/humor is a plus. Kind of interesting that the OP starts out with a mea culpa...

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

Yes, goes to both. If he doesn’t raise the donation amount then the entrant will be charged the difference.

All donations go to Smile Train. All donations are tax deductible. If OP (or myself) do not raise the required funding ($3500 in both our cases), we are responsible to make up the difference. That would then be a tax deductible donation to Smile Train.

The difference from 3500?! Jesus, that's high risk generosity. I almost feel obligated to donate now.

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https://connect.garmin.com/modern/profile/domingjm

I really don't want anyone to feel obligated to donate and am definitely not trying to ruin anyone's ST experience.

I found 3 world class athletes that wanted to help me out by donating something of value for my raffle. Jorgensen was going to give Oakleys but actually switched it at the last second because she thought I would make more $. I thought many would jump at the opportunity to be coached by Andy Potts. I thought ST of all places would be an OK place to post a raffle about some Triathlon Prizes.

I am an Arizona teacher who raced IMAZ last year through SmileTrain. My race didn't go as well as I would have hoped, but at the end of the day, I was able to raise $3k and create 12 smiles. THAT is why I believe in SmileTrain. It's bigger then just the race.


MIKE S- I would hope that you follow through with your public claim to donate to James H. It'd be a shame just to say that just to prove a point.

for what its worth the BBB has good ratings for smile train.

im going to chip in a little for this and i dont even care about the raffle prizes. the way i see it, my daughter is 100% healthy and happy and im extremely blessed because of that. i dont mind at all helping out a cause that can help kids live a better life.

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

Much Appreciated, thank you!!

yes steeeeeeeve, I did donate. thank you for your concern

 

And if you don't pay the difference??? Do you just walk away and not do IMAZ or are there legal consequences?

Are you just getting free entry or are there other expenses (travel, hotel, etc) that are covered as well?

If I don't pay the difference? They have my credit card, so there will be "consequences" for sure. Whether they are "legal" or not I suppose is up to me and whether or not I pay off my credit card balance.

You don't actually get "free" entry at all. You pay a registration fee with your charity of choice and you have to meet minimum fundraising goals across a few deadlines throughout the year. I've also donated to my own fundraiser in addition to paying the registration fee. All in I will probably pay about 2/3 of what a Tier 1 entry would cost. Thanks for asking about this, I'm hoping this clears things up for you.


Does the charity pay for my expenses? Is that a real question? Of course they do not. That would take away from the charitable part of the charity.

Maybe less than 2/3 as I've not donated yet. Need to wait until after tax season. You are on 2019's donation list.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

It's a fair question because there are many charities that pay for event entries and other benefits including hotel rooms and more. The more you raise, the more the athlete gets. Team in Training is notorious for this; and the athlete is a major beneficiary of the donations they are seeking. Attached is an example of the athlete goodies from the Chicago Marathon. And you are absolutely correct; it takes away from the charitable part of the charity.