I'm excited to announce my AIDS/LifeCycle Charity Raffle! I'm going to raffle off four handmade Elektra Steel pieces in order to raise $3,000 for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation by May 30th. Here's how it works: for every $20 that you donate toward the cause, you will earn one ticket in the raffle. The raffle will be capped at exactly 150 tickets. As soon as I've sold the last ticket, I'll draw four winners and ship the prizes! (And then I'll bike 545 miles from SF to LA, but more on that later.) Ready to get started? Donate now!
What is AIDS/LifeCycle? It's a seven-day, 545-mile bike ride from SF to LA that raises money for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, two organizations that provide critical services to people living with (and at risk for) HIV and AIDS. Those of you who know me outside of Elektra Steel know that this isn't my first rodeo -- this will actually be the fourth year in a row that I've participated in AIDS/LifeCycle. But it is the first year that I'm offering up handmade goods as an incentive for donating!
Prizes
I will be raffling off one hex votive, one copper/steel cube, one bronze/steel cube, and one geo bowl. Prizes will be shipped anywhere in the world (my treat).
Instructions
- Go to my AIDS/LifeCycle fundraising page and make a donation! Every $20 = 1 raffle ticket, so I'd recommend rounding up to the nearest $20.
- Check out the scoreboard to see your odds of winning, and how you stack up against others. (Spreadsheet will be updated daily.)
- Winners will be selected and notified as soon as all 150 tickets have been sold (May 30th at the latest).
Tips
Since there will only be 150 raffle tickets sold, you can calculate your approximate* odds of winning one of the four prizes! For example:
- If you donate $20, you have a 4-in-150 shot at winning a prize
- If you donate $100, you have a 2-in-15 shot at winning a prize
- If you donate $300, you have a 6-in-15 shot at winning a prize
- If you donate $500, you have a 2-in-3 shot at winning a prize
My Story
I participate in AIDS/LifeCycle every year for a number of reasons. I first got involved because the focus of my master's thesis research was HIV/AIDS, STIs, and sexual and reproductive health, and I wanted to find ways to support the cause outside of academia. I fell in love with AIDS/LifeCycle, and I kept coming back for more.
I ride because I have friends who have have been touched by HIV or AIDS, and I see that the fight isn't over. I ride because the federal government still refuses to fund effective harm-reduction programs like clean needle exchanges -- which means that we rely on private donations to keep these services afloat. I ride because I love the AIDS/LifeCycle community -- including everyone who has ever donated! -- and what we can accomplish together.
Need some additional encouragement? Check out this link to see exactly how the San Francisco AIDS Foundation will use your money.
Thank you in advance for your support!
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*I say "approximate" because I've simplified the math a bit. The formula at right should give you your exact odds of winning at least one prize, given that the four winners are drawn sequentially, and that the winning tickets are not put back in the pool for subsequent draws. In this formula, x = the number of tickets purchased. (Formula found here.)
Many thanks to my sister Mia for talking through the math with me in the middle of the night!