Strength in Numbers!

Do you often feel like you won't be able to make a significant difference by yourself when it comes to finding a cure for Crohn's and Colitis? I know it is easy to think that the effort a single person can put in won't make much of an impact. However, when we all work together, it becomes much easier to make ourselves and our cause stand out.

The saying goes that wo heads are better than one. How about five, ten, or 1,000 heads? When it comes to the Take Steps walk, we encourage our participants to form teams of their frends, their family, their co-workers - anyone they can think of. Check out the following Flash Mob video to see how a large group acting towards one goal can make the people around them take a time-out during their busy lives to pause and take notice:

Two of our teams in the Twin Cities understand that "size matters" and have worked on building up large teams of family and friends to help extend the reach of our mission of finding a cure. Meet team "Semi-Colons" and "Team Valentyn!"

Semi-Colons

Lindsay Wright is the captain of team "Semi-Colons" which is made up mostly of campers and other counselors from CCFA's annual summer camp for kids with IBD: Camp Oasis. Lindsay's team already has 14 members and the walk is still over three months away! Lindsay has had Crohn's disease for over 12 years, and so she understands that there are often many obstacles and negatives in the lives of those suffering from IBD. However, she also knows that there is the potential for great strength among those who are fighting a common battle. She has used this, and has turned it into something positive for her team members. She uses the Take Steps team format to instill a positive competition between her team mates. "If you are walking by yourself, there is no one to push you to reach higher" Lindsay said. The final point Lindsay made was that one voice can be very soft, but many voices can force others to stop and take notice, as you saw in the video above.

Team Valentyn

Jessica was diagnosed in 2005 with Crohn's disease. Last year, Jessica walked with 7 team members and they raised over $2,000! Jessica employed the "phone tree" tactic of recruiting team members and spreading the word about the walk and her fundraising. For every person she asked, she asked them to ask ten other people to join them or to donate to them! Having a louder voice through her supportive team is so important to Jessica because she knows that a lot of people do not understand IBD. She knows that educating others is the ONLY way to raise enough awareness and funds to find a cure.

IBD can be an isolating disease, especially when others don't "get it." Can you think of a better remedy than gathering thousands of people to fight together?

~Lindsay, Semi Colons and Jessica, Team Valentyn