Category: Event

Gleaning the Farms and Other Items

Brian FullfordLeave a comment

For anyone who is interested, I have contacted SoSA (Society of St. Andrews) to volunteer time in the farms of Florida, gleaning food for the hungry. This is a group that works in a good number of other states (here). If you are at all interested in spending time to help let me know. When they contact me with availability I will share it on the site.

With South Carolina being another state to glean in I will probably be requesting times there as well.

A few other projects being worked on are below. As you can read, Chris is very busy.

  • I have sent out an email to some friends I think can offer their services or direct me to ones who can for a chili cookofff I would like to host in December. Proceeds would go towards the Second Harvest of North Florida and the West Chatham Food Pantry. My plan is to ask for a $5 donation and 5 cans of food. The food collected will go directly to Second Harvest. My first order of business is to get some chefs. Let me know if you can help.
  • I am trying to frame a Pop Warner Scholarship Fund so we can help pay for at least one child to play Pop Warner Football. Listening to Fred Taylor’s retirement speech today, where he spoke of his grandmother scraping together $60 for him to play, has further inspired me that this will be a worthy effort.
  • Chris is working to coordinate a food drive at Wake Technical Community College with other like-minded campus groups.
  • Chris is working to coordinate an event for Veterans Day. This could include acquiring a flag that has been flown over the state capital and presenting it to the oldest living veteran in North Carolina.
  • Chris is working to set up a $500 scholarship fund on Wake’s campus.

The $1 Facebook Friend Fund never got off the ground and with Chris now off Facebook I am carrying the standard. I know the one-click donation link will help (or I hope it will) and it has not been forgotten. Also, please don’t forget to keep those BoxTops. Remember, I will come and get them.

Some Toad for You

Brian FullfordLeave a comment

In honor of tonight’s show at Cat’s Cradle here are a few videos get the juices flowing.  The first is “Little Heaven” from In Light Syrup. I am sure I could have looked harder for a live performance but the lyrics are so inspiring I thought this worked even better. The second is “Hold Her Down” from Fear. Ironically this anti-rape song was targeted by some feminists as promoting rape. The third song is “Come Down” from Coil. Lastly is “Walk on the Ocean” also from Fear.

For me the band served to help me decide on my major in college and I used them to court my wife. If you are not a fan of Toad you should be…so fix that problem. 🙂

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Fitness to Purpose

Brian FullfordLeave a comment

Nitzer Ebb fans will get the title. They may also remind me the meaning of the song is probably not where I am going with this piece. And they would be correct. However the title alone does serve my purpose of pointing out the many ways in which you can satisfy both your need to get fit and to give back.

Years ago my good friend Chuck Schoonmaker asked me to participate in Jacksonville’s Gate River Run. A 15k (with a nice bridge at mile markers seven and  eight) seemed an impossible task but together we made it through. Now our pace was just fast enough to beat a snail but that was not the point. For me it was a watershed moment of proving what I could do physically.

That is not to say I was a lethargic sofa cushion. I played in a flag football league and engaged in a pick-up game of basketball from time to time. But participating in an endurance event requires a different degree of commitment and mental strength.

Once I had the Gate bug, running became part of my life routine. It was not until my friends Brian Thompson and Joe Peters approached me to take a leg of a sprint triathlon that I really began to understand what the draw was to these type of events. The interesting piece was not so much the sense of satisfaction you get from crossing the finish line (especially at a better time than your last) but also the sense of community and the inspiration from the other participants.

For example, after I finished last year’s Gate I fueled up and found a spot about 50 yards from the finish line. I wanted to cheer on my wife and our friends as they came by. What I was also witness to were pairs of obese competitors pushing each other to success along with few who fell along the route. Those injured, while bleeding and limping, had just as much intent on their faces as those who had finished much earlier.

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