LAPS Bowl-a-Thon (aka “Bowling for Bambinos”) Press Release, 4.28.10
Dear LAPS Supporters,
“Allow myself—to introduce myself.
My name is Richie Cunningham. And this is my wife Oprah.”
Actually, my name is Martin Mazloom, and I’m single. Some of you know me, some of you don’t. In some circles, I’m famous. In others, notorious. But if it’s something everyone agrees on, it’s that I’m incontestably certifiable. (I’m completely harmless though. Unless you begin to speak ill of Monica Bellucci.) At this point, you might be thinking, who is this guy? And why did Astrid give allow him to send me this e-mail? And does any medication exist that can help this deluded knucklehead? Before you “de-friend” Astrid on Facebook, please allow me to explain:
I worked as the director of development at LAPS from June of 2003 to August of 2006. To date, it remains the most rewarding job of my life. It gave me the opportunity to help build and help expand (just a bit) a cause I believe in deeply—LAPS’ pro-life work. During my time there, the LAPS Board of Directors and I got more creative in fundraising in order to keep LAPS open. (I will come back to this later, so please read to the end. You won’t regret it.) During those three years, I also got to see first-hand how vital LAPS’ work is.
Because of LAPS and its devoted counselors, hundreds of unborn children were spared from being killed and mothers were spared a lifetime of grief, guilt and trauma. While I was there, I too discovered in a very personal way how important LAPS’ existence is.
One night in December of 2003, LAPS was closed but I had stayed late to work. The phone rang. I could’ve let it go to voicemail but I chose to answer instead, believing one never knows when a pregnant woman in need might be calling. By taking that call, I unknowingly initiated a chain of events that altered a number of people’s lives forever.
A man driving through Arizona called to see if we performed abortions. He said his girlfriend couldn’t get an abortion in Arizona because she was already in her second trimester. She was about 4-5 months pregnant, but Arizona law forbids abortions after the first trimester.
I immediately, internally freaked out. My heart started pounding against my rib cage, I stood up and walked around nervously while listening to this man and trying to stay calm. At the same time I was thinking, how do I get this guy to change his mind? Or his girlfriend’s mind? Do they realize how big and developed a four-month-old preborn baby is? And they want to destroy it? This is insane!
With God’s help, after talking for a while, I persuaded him to come with his girlfriend to meet with one of our counselors. It was clear that he and his girlfriend both felt uncertain—even guilty—about having an abortion. This was a fantastic sign. It showed that both of them still had their consciences intact.
This couple met with several of our counselors and finally agreed to place the baby for adoption. LAPS ceaselessly and unconditionally helped this pregnant mother and her boyfriend to find an adoptive couple they felt comfortable giving their child to. What’s more, the adoptive couple generously took the pregnant mother and her other small child in to live with them during her pregnancy.
A few months later on April 29, 2004, the mother gave birth to a baby girl who was named Caitlin. Coincidentally, this week Caitlin will be celebrating her 6th birthday. And she’ll be celebrating her birthday because of LAPS. God used me as an instrument, but if LAPS had not existed I never would’ve been there to pick up the phone that night in December. And there’s a very good chance that Caitlin, who is absolutely adorable, would not be alive.
Everyday similar incidents happen at LAPS and other CPCs (crisis pregnancy centers) around the nation. Mothers and their unborn children are saved because of generous, devoted and compassionate people who day in and day out take calls from and counsel in person pregnant women who are in desperate need of emotional, material and financial support.
But these “saves” only happen because of financial supporters and because of fundraisers. The money donated and raised allows LAPS to keep its doors open so counselors can touch the hearts and minds of pregnant women, women who need support and help with making the decision to choose life. Moreover, LAPS continues to help women even after they’ve had their child for as long as these women need help. And women who leave LAPS and choose to have an abortion instead are always told that LAPS will still be there if they need our help in the future.
LAPS cares about all and refuses none.
Now, back to the creative fundraising I mentioned earlier.
I’m writing to ask you to participate in LAPS’ 10th Anniversary Celebration Bowl-a-Thon. It’s a fun and easy fundraiser that we last did in 2006 and which is a fun and easy way to raise lots of money for LAPS’ life-saving work.
Here’s how it works:
You get as many people as you can (family, friends, relatives, Monica Bellucci, overpaid coworkers, parole officers, fans of Glee, Monica Bellucci, sugar daddies, circus clowns, Ricky Martin, members of the Dharma Initiative, Monica Bellucci, whoever you want) to sponsor you a small amount of money (10 cents, 15 cents, 25 cents; etc.) for every point you score in TWO games of bowling. So let’s say you’re a crappy bowler like me. You make a conservative prediction of how many points you think you’ll score in two games of bowling. (My prediction is that I’ll be lucky if I get 75 points for each game for a whopping total of 150 points.) You let your sponsors know beforehand your “point prediction.”
Thus, if your point prediction like mine is 150 and if they sponsor you at 10 cents/point, they can expect to make a donation to LAPS of around $15.00. If they sponsor you at 20 cents/point, their donation will be around $30.00. So, let’s say I have 10 sponsors each sponsoring me at 10 cents/point and another 10 sponsors each sponsoring me at 20 cents/point. If I bowl about 150 points (in two games), that works out to be a grand total of $450 in donations (from 20 sponsors) that all goes straight to LAPS. You can also choose to take lump sum donations of $10, $15, $25 or $30, etc.
Trust me: the math is simple. I’m not lying to you! It’s that easy to make money for LAPS! Train for 6 months to run a marathon? Puh-leeeeeease. Why crawl across hot asphalt for 8 hours when you can have fun bowling in an air-conditioned bowling alley for a couple of hours? (Sorry, Astrid.)
Now imagine if we get 100 people to come out to bowl. Stay with me here and let’s do a conservative estimate. Let’s say each bowler gets $250-$300 in sponsorship, that works out to $20,000 to $30,000 in donations that all goes straight to LAPS. Beautiful, eh? And it’s easy and fun to boot! This kind of money will help tremendously in reaching our goal of converting LAPS to a medical clinic equipped with an ultrasound. And remember that amazing statistic: 80% of women who see an ultrasound of their baby choose to have their baby and not abort it!
Now when Astrid first told me that she believed we could get 100 people to get sponsors and come out to bowl, I admit I was skeptical. But I’ve come to realize with great joy and genuine amazement that she is right. LAPS’ supporters have grown by leaps and bounds in the past four years. So I now wholeheartedly agree with Astrid. With thousands of LAPS supporters plus Astrid’s personal Facebook army of 640 friends, it’s completely possible to raise at the very least $20,000 for LAPS. At the very least, $20,000!
Now to make this fundraiser even more fun, we’re asking bowlers to form teams of 5-6 people and to give your team a name. (Note: Three names are no longer available. Team Jacob, Team Edward and Team Monica Bellucci.) We also ask that each bowler commit to raising a minimum of $250 in sponsorship. (You can do it! Trust me, it’s a cinch.) Once you register your team of 4 – 10 people, we will email you pledge sheets. We will give out prizes for the following categories: the team that raises the most money; the person who raises the most money; the person who scores the highest number of points regardless of how much they raise; and my personal favorite, the best-dressed bowler.
So let’s do this for LAPS in order to celebrate LAPS’ 10 years of pro-life work here in the City of Angels and to help LAPS finally convert to a medical clinic!
Let’s get to it! Pull out the stops, put it in fifth gear, go the whole nine yards and most importantly release the kraken!
EVENT: LAPS’ 10th Anniversary Bowl-a-Thon
AKA: BOWLING for BAMBINOS
DATE: Saturday, May 22, 2010
TIME: 7:00 – 9:00 pm
LOCATION: Alhambra Bowling Center (ABC) 1400 E. Valley Blvd., Alhambra 91801 626-289-5168
GOAL: At least $20,000 to help LAPS convert to a medical clinic with an ultrasound machine!
AFTER-PARTY: Time and place TBA
CONTACTS: Astrid Bennett at 213-382-5433 or astrid@lapsforlife.org
Martin Mazloom at 626-340-7449
YOUR TEAM MUST RSVP by Wednesday, May 5th 2010.
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