About

What is Miles for Mothers?

Miles for Mothers is my way to combine my love of running with fundraising for a cause that I am passionate about.

What is your current charity?

I am currently raising money for Postpartum Progress through their Climb Out Of The Darkness campaign.

How does it work?

It's pretty simple. If you want to help, you can do so through raising awareness, making a one time donation, or pledging a donation.
Raising awareness means you share my story and my blog so that others can learn about my project and about the organization I'm supporting.

If you'd like to donate, you can either do a one time donation to my fundraising page (which will get you on the list of supporters), or you can pledge a donation based on my running.

How does pledging work?

You can pledge a donation based on my weekly or monthly miles (this is ongoing for each week/month (weeks run from Monday to Sunday, months are calendar months); you can sign up at any time during the week/month, but your donation will be based on the cumulative total for that time period). When your week/month is complete, you will receive an email from me with the total amount that your donation should be with a link to the fundraising page. Once you've made your donation, just reply to the email letting me know, I'll look for your donation, and then add you to my list of supporters. Example: If you pledge to donate $1 for every mile that I run in a month and I run 87 miles that month, you would donate $87.  Or, if you pledge $2 for every mile I run in a week and I run 17 miles that week, you would donate $34.

You can choose how much you pledge per mile (you could even do 10 cents a mile! It is completely up to you. Just please, once you pledge an amount, stick to it)

When I have a race, I will also have the option for people to pledge an amount based on my finish time. Example: If I'm running a 5K, I may give three options such as: Donate $5 if I finish under 30 minutes, $10 if I finish under 27 minutes, and $15 if I finish under 25 minutes.
People who pledge to a race such as this agree to donate X amount depending on my finish time; you will only have to donate one amount unless you opt to go "all in" on my finishing time (i.e. in the above 5K scenario, if I were to finish in under 25 minutes, you would only have to donate $15, unless you opt to go all in, in which case you will donate $30 ($5 for under 30, $10 for under 27, plus the $15 for under 25)).

What is the list of supporters/pledgers and what do the levels mean?

People who make one time donations will be listed on my supporters list on this blog, as will people who pledge donations based on my mileage/races. There are three levels of supporters. The bottom level (any donation amount) is the Bronze Level, the mid level (total amount of donations from one time and pledged amounts is at least $100) is the Silver Level, and the top level (for those whose total amount of donations including one time and pledged amounts total at least $200) is the Gold Level.
Bronze supporters will receive a virtual thank you message at the end of the current campaign (for this one, that is on June 19). Silver supporters will receive a mailed hand written thank you card and small token. Gold supporters will receive a small gift pack as a thank you.

There is also a special Mile Markers list reserved for those who donate over $150 in pledged donations for my weekly/monthly mileage. Mile Markers will receive a specific thank you gift.

What is my goal?

I intend to continue with this project for as long as it is successful. Hopefully that means it will go for several months, possibly over a year. I do not have a specific fundraising goal (though my fundraising pages have one listed as it is a requirement of the site).

For this campaign, fundraising will end after the final event, which is on June 18.


What is the final event?

For my Postpartum Progress Climb Out Of The Darkness event on June 18, I will be running 14 miles to symbolize the 14 months that I suffered through postpartum depression/rage. As the date approaches, I will be encouraging supporters to pledge, not only to my weekly/monthly miles that June 18 will fall under, but also to pledge a donation based on my performance in that specific run (i.e. $15 for a sub 12 pace, $25 for a sub 11 pace, etc. Specific amounts/categories will be released later).