The Longest Day

If you follow us on Twitter, you know that not only did we reach our goal for The Longest Day, we surpassed it. The total right now is $2001 and it should go up to $2036 once another donation comes in that was mistakenly made on the main page. I can't put into words how much this means to our team. We were convinced we wouldn't meet our goal and were happy to get to 50% the night before. Thrilled, even. Admittedly, we were a bit disappointed in the lack of donations, but had come to terms with it. We were all very proud of the $700 we'd raised prior to Friday, June 21. That's still a huge amount, especially considering we weren't financially able to do the events we had hoped for. We had one contest, to give away the NKOTB Deluxe Box Set, which was a success. In the future, we will hold more contests and events. We consider The Longest Day the beginning of something really special for Blockheads looking to make a difference, to end this horrible disease. Already, team members have signed up for walks in Charlotte and Wilmington, North Carolina, and Houston and Waco, Texas. To find a walk in your area, go here. Our goal is to get as many BHs involved as possible, similar to Team Betty.

We also plan to have contests and merchandise in the future. 100 % of all proceeds will go to the Alzheimer's Association. Buttons are on order and I will tweet them out once I see how they look. ;) If there is interest, I'll have more made and sell them. Again, all proceeds will go to Alzheimer's Association. I'll pay for them from my own pocket. We've also had an offer for window clings. If you have any suggestions for merch or contests, please let us know. Cynthia Hill, a BH author, has also offered to give away copies of her books. Hopefully, we'll be organizing that giveaway soon. Check out her website.

One more thing. I'd like everyone to know that while Joe gave us a shout out on Twitter and is the reason we were able to exceed our goal, our team wasn't organized by him. We are extremely grateful and still overwhelmed by his generosity and all the support we got from him and Blockheads. He's not a team member but we wish he was!! He did give us a donation, which had all of us sobbing. If we could get him on our team and have meet & greet giveaways like Team Betty, we would be over the moon! For now, that one tweet was enough and if that's all we ever get, awesome. :) We're going to keep going, regardless. If you're wondering why he tweeted about us or how he found out, I told him about the group at my 5* in Charlotte. Donnie knows, too. Suffice it to say June 19-21 were very, very good days. :D

We are so happy to have all the new followers on Twitter @BHsAgainstAlz if you're not already following. Please donate to or join one of our teams when you can. Thank you so much for all of your support!! Let's Get This and #EndAlz

Amy Cavenaugh
@Twisted_writer

The Longest Day In Sight

Hi guys!

I just wanted to write a quick post to thank everyone who has donated to our team, Blockheads Against Alzheimer's. We are so, so grateful for every donation, from the $10 to the over $100 ones. We mean it when we say every dollar counts. I am excited we have $700 in donations. Blockheads rock! :) I pray we can still reach our goal, but am losing hope as The Longest Day quickly approaches. Every donation makes me ecstatic but to still only be 44% of our goal at 8 days out is a little disappointing. I thought we would be much closer by now.

I apologize for not holding more fundraising events. Our team members are very busy with our respective lives and honestly, we're all pretty broke so we weren't able to do all the contests and fun events we had planned. We wanted to do something at the venue for the concert in Charlotte several members are attending, but that plan fell through. I take responsibility because I did not make the money I thought I would before June 21. I personally wanted to do so much more than I've been able to do. But this isn't a pity party blog. Even if we don't meet our $1600 for The Longest Day, the team is going to stay together and continue to do events, including the Charlotte Walk to End Alzheimer's in September. Here is our team page for that. We encourage everyone to find a walk in their area and participate. We meant it when we said "we're in it until Alzheimer's is finished." This isn't ending if we don't meet our goal. We're not going to stop if we never get a shout out from Joe. Although that would be REALLY nice, we're not here for attention. We're here to raise awareness and end this hateful memory and life stealing disease. I don't like the word hate and I don't hate anyone but I fricking hate Alzheimer's. Please consider joining me and making a difference to #EndAlz. Thanks everyone for your support!!
https://thelongestday.alz.org/home/team/92022

Amy Cavenaugh, Co-Team Captain
@twisted_writer

Introductory post & Contest!

Hello Blockheads!!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Amy Cavenaugh (@twisted_writer) and I am one of the team captains of Blockheads Against Alzheimer's. I originally came up with the idea of starting this team when I saw the Alzheimer's Association tweet about The Longest Day, which is coming up on June 21. This came a day after the Boston Marathon, when I was desperately looking for something I could do. Granted, this is not to help the victims of the bombing, but it is something I can do to help others. Since I have recently become a runner, I needed a goal to get me in gear. The Longest Day is giving me that. I plan to run as many miles as possible on that day, in support of those suffering with Alzheimer's. It's a terrible, memory-sucking disease and I want to see it eradicated in my lifetime. My grandmother passed away in 2009. She had the disease. She always seemed to know who I was, thank God, but often forgot I was divorced, which kids were mine, things like that. It was tough but I know many have it a lot worse. One thing I'll always remember is how her face would light up when she saw my children. She may not have remembered they were mine but she knew she loved them. She knew they were special. I don't know if there's a bigger heartbreak than someone you love not remembering you. So we need to do what we can to put an end to this horrible disease.

On Super Soul Sunday, a TV show on the OWN network, I heard a quote about Alzheimer's that I'd like to share. I don't remember the exact wording but in a nutshell, Alzheimer's is like ripping a page out of a book each day until you're left with only the front and back covers. Heart-breakingly true.

I don't want this blog to only be a downer so I also wanted to announce our first contest. My sister and I ended up with an extra deluxe box set of NKOTB 10. We ordered two, but now realize we can share one. Why not give the other one away? So we decided to offer it to anyone who donates to our team, Blockheads Against Alzheimer's (@BHsAgainstAlz) I will leave the contest open until June 1 and we will draw a name from the donations. Simple as that. Be sure to let us know you've donated and that amount. If you want to donate anonymously, just DM me or @BHsAgainstAlz to let us know who you are and what you've donated. We are more than willing to share the love. :) Please help us in our efforts! Any donation amount is a blessing that we are so grateful for. Just think - you might get the box set for as little as $10! We hope to make more than that, but hey, whatever we can do. :) We were going to give it to the highest donation but have decided drawing a name old school style is more fair and fun. :) Good luck!

Thanks so much for reading! Now, let's get this and #EndAlz!! Donate here: thelongestday.alz.org/home/team/92022