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administrator
October 14th, 2014, 02:18 AM
By Megan Daniels

Every year since 2010, Jay Gallagher, has raised money for the LiveSTRONG Charity by participating in the 24 Hours of Booty ride in Atlanta, Ga. There are 2500 cyclists that participate in the fundraiser each year and donate on average one million dollars to LiveSTRONG.

Gallagher became involved in the event after his close friend Ann was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He challenged his friends to ride in Charlotte, NC. However the Charlotte event filled up before they could register. They decided to join the newly started Atlanta ride to raise money with a four person team.

An alumnus of McNeese State University and former Center for the Pokes, Gallagher turned to their message board to try and raise money. It also happened to be a rival football game weekend with Northwestern and he raised money on their site as well.

“I didn’t really know what to expect or how to fundraise but we finished in ninth place as a team and I finished 11th individually. I really fell in love with the event and decided to really commit the next year,” said Gallagher.

The following years the team began working with more riders and raised more money. In 2012 there were 100 riders on the team and they raised 80,000 dollars earning them the top spot in team earning for two years. There were many donations by members of Any Given Saturday that helped boost his total dollars earned.

http://www.anygivensaturday.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=19826&d=1412949487

“In 2014, that support continued, but this time Mike Schlosser ended up as not only the largest AGS donor, but also my largest individual donor to the ride overall. I finished with 8,037.15 dollars, thanks to a last minute donation of 37.15 dollars by Troy to commemorate the Montana 37 tradition, and the retired #15 jersey of former Montana standout QB Dave Dickenson. AGS members combined to contribute just over $3,000 to the ride,” Gallagher said.

A tradition that came out of the ride was Gallagher wearing the jersey of any school fan base that donated 200 dollars or more. He had 14 jersey changes in 2012 and then 15 in 2013.

In 2013 Gallagher qualified to go to Austin, Texas for a weekend to be honored by LiveSTRONG for being a top fundraiser worldwide. He is now one of 238 LiveSTRONG Leaders in the world.

“None of that would've happened but for the tremendous support I've gotten from Troy, Kevin, Dustin, Jordan, Michael and countless other AGS members. In five years, my donors have combined to contribute 37,000 dollars to fight cancer. AGS members have donated more than 8,000 dollars of that over the last three years. I posted solicitations the first two years I did the ride, but things really didn't get kicked off until TheRevSFA and Troy really got behind it three years ago. I'm tremendously in their debt.”

FormerPokeCenter
October 14th, 2014, 07:31 AM
LOL, I think "The Administrator" might have been having a little fun at AG1's expense! The $37.15 donation was Alpha's, rather than Ursus' ;)

Thanks to AGS Intern Megan Daniels for the write-up!

There are a couple of things I probably made overly confusing in talking about the ride, etc. The LiveSTRONG Leader Program is something you have to apply for and commit to. It's LiveSTRONG's grassroots awareness and fundraising program. It's completely separate from THe Ride For The Roses. Anybody can apply for the LiveSTRONG Leader Program, but it's selective and I'm reasonably sure the only reason I got selected was because of the fundraising and qualifying for TRFTR, which happened in large part because of the tremendous support I got on AGS. I probably gave the impression that they're officially connected, rather than causally connected for me, but that's not the case at all ;)

I singled some AGSers out, but that list wasn't complete by any means, as the support here has been fantastic!

Also, there are several McNeese and Northwestern posters who've provided incredible support for the ride since the beginning. I didn't single them out since they've been on board since the beginning, independently of the AGS challenges, but that was probably an oversight, as they also post on AGS, too...

CBuck, McNeese72' McNeese 75, McNeese 77 and Geauxpokes are all serial donors who've hit me with donations every year, often donating several times per year. The same holds true for the guys from Northwestern. Houston Demon, Ghost82, Budman100, Scribe62 and Kubwambe have all been serial donors, often with multiple donations per year.

Doc (McNeese 72), Houston Demon and Budman100 have each donated more than $1000.00 cumulatively to the cause.

It's truly been a team effort. One of the more amazing things, to me, has been the number of individual donors each year. For the last four years, there have been more than 100 donors to the ride. LiveSTRONG recognizes what they call their "Messenger of The Year" which is the fundraiser who brings in the most individual donations, though not necessarily the most money. LiveSTRONG believes that signifies getting the early detection and healthy living message out, because the thought is that those donors will talk to others, effectively spreading the word... In 2013 LiveSTRONG's messenger of the year had 130 individual donations. In 2013, thanks to the strong work here, by TheRev, IBY and AG1, we had 142 individuals donate to the ride! 24HOB doesn't track that stat, so it didn't get considered by LiveSTRONG, but thanks in part to you guys, we had a bigger audience than LiveSTRONG's top messenger.

Thanks again for the absolutely amazing support. And thanks again to Megan for writing about the ride!

You guys ROCK!

superman7515
October 14th, 2014, 07:44 AM
Wait... Megan Daniels??

FPC, she can write any damn thing she wants, don't you dare try correcting her!

http://s3.amazonaws.com/ink_prod/photos/0295/8226/Megan_Daniels_6_large.jpg

FormerPokeCenter
October 14th, 2014, 08:36 AM
LOL! Point taken!

TheRevSFA
October 14th, 2014, 08:57 AM
Nice

ursus arctos horribilis
October 14th, 2014, 11:46 AM
LOL, I think "The Administrator" might have been having a little fun at AG1's expense! The $37.15 donation was Alpha's, rather than Ursus' ;)

Thanks to AGS Intern Megan Daniels for the write-up!

There are a couple of things I probably made overly confusing in talking about the ride, etc. The LiveSTRONG Leader Program is something you have to apply for and commit to. It's LiveSTRONG's grassroots awareness and fundraising program. It's completely separate from THe Ride For The Roses. Anybody can apply for the LiveSTRONG Leader Program, but it's selective and I'm reasonably sure the only reason I got selected was because of the fundraising and qualifying for TRFTR, which happened in large part because of the tremendous support I got on AGS. I probably gave the impression that they're officially connected, rather than causally connected for me, but that's not the case at all ;)

I singled some AGSers out, but that list wasn't complete by any means, as the support here has been fantastic!

Also, there are several McNeese and Northwestern posters who've provided incredible support for the ride since the beginning. I didn't single them out since they've been on board since the beginning, independently of the AGS challenges, but that was probably an oversight, as they also post on AGS, too...

CBuck, McNeese72' McNeese 75, McNeese 77 and Geauxpokes are all serial donors who've hit me with donations every year, often donating several times per year. The same holds true for the guys from Northwestern. Houston Demon, Ghost82, Budman100, Scribe62 and Kubwambe have all been serial donors, often with multiple donations per year.

Doc (McNeese 72), Houston Demon and Budman100 have each donated more than $1000.00 cumulatively to the cause.

It's truly been a team effort. One of the more amazing things, to me, has been the number of individual donors each year. For the last four years, there have been more than 100 donors to the ride. LiveSTRONG recognizes what they call their "Messenger of The Year" which is the fundraiser who brings in the most individual donations, though not necessarily the most money. LiveSTRONG believes that signifies getting the early detection and healthy living message out, because the thought is that those donors will talk to others, effectively spreading the word... In 2013 LiveSTRONG's messenger of the year had 130 individual donations. In 2013, thanks to the strong work here, by TheRev, IBY and AG1, we had 142 individuals donate to the ride! 24HOB doesn't track that stat, so it didn't get considered by LiveSTRONG, but thanks in part to you guys, we had a bigger audience than LiveSTRONG's top messenger.

Thanks again for the absolutely amazing support. And thanks again to Megan for writing about the ride!

You guys ROCK!
No it was not Alpha's donation it was mine.
http://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthread.php?154817-Yep-it-s-that-time-again-I-m-begging-for-Booty-The-24-Hours-of-Booty-that-is&p=2153821&viewfull=1#post2153821

FormerPokeCenter
October 14th, 2014, 12:09 PM
Dammit! I screwed that up....You and AG1 were the last two AGS donors, on the last day....for $37.15 and $37 respectively...

All you generous maroon clad bastards look alike....

Except for Grizo. He looks like a miniature clone of you two.

Only he's bald...

and older....

Gnome what I'm saying?..

In all seriousness....sorry about effing up the credit on the $37.15.

ursus arctos horribilis
October 14th, 2014, 12:16 PM
Dammit! I screwed that up....You and AG1 were the last two AGS donors, on the last day....for $37.15 and $37 respectively...

All you generous maroon clad bastards look alike....

Except for Grizo. He looks like a miniature clone of you two.

Only he's bald...

and older....

Gnome what I'm saying?..

In all seriousness....sorry about effing up the credit on the $37.15.

No worries, I proofread brother. She did a real good job there.

FormerPokeCenter
October 14th, 2014, 04:33 PM
No worries, I proofread brother. She did a real good job there.


Yes she did!

IBleedYellow
October 14th, 2014, 05:28 PM
What a great write up! Great job Megan!

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