Gearing up for the 2014 fundraising

Dontay spent the holidays surrounded by family, friends and love. We've taken a break from the fundraising efforts to relax for the holidays, but we are still planning and looking for ideas to take us into 2014.

As a reminder, Dontay is a 16-year-old Junior at Noblesville High School. He is a sprinter for the Noblesville track team and he has been invited by Down Under Sports to compete in an international track & field competition in the Gold Coast City, Australia in July 2014.  We are trying to raise nearly $5200 to send him to Australia for this once in a lifetime opportunity to compete internationally.

We have an Indianapolis Colts Official NFL Gear Prize pack we plan to auction off in the next week. As Andrew Luck and the team head into the Playoffs, you'll want to get your bid in on this great gear that was donated to Dontay's trip by Elizabeth Sullivan.

I will also be giving away free 2014 New Year, New You Mary Kay Makeovers. Get the hottest, glamorous looks before your big New Years Party. Please message me here to schedule your free makeover right away!

And finally, we're working on setting up a Pet Show this spring. We're currently in search of a location and donations/sponsors to help with this event. We're going to split all proceeds with the Hamilton County Humane Society which will be a huge help just before their big rush of new pets needing homes for the season. Any ideas or offers of help are much appreciated. You may contact me here to reach out.

Thank you everyone for your continued supports and efforts. It's really means a lot. We currently still have about $4300.00 left to raise and the biggest thing you can do to help is spread the word to your family and friends and contacts.

We especially need help with events planning, finding venues for events, gaining press coverage and of course contributions are always appreciated! You can contribute directly by clicking the Go Fund Me image below.

Thank you again and all the best to your and yours for 2014!

Sincerely,
The Wells Family

Letter from Harvard University, Sponsors, and a new balance

It's been a while since our last update, and for that I apologize, however, we have several exciting updates!

Today, Dontay received a recruitment letter from Harvard University. Of course, we still have a lot to consider and many schools to look at, but this is indeed a step in a very positive direction.

Also, we received a very generous gift of sponsorship that we are planning to hold a silent auction on, from Australian Gold. Shelbi was gracious enough to put together an amazing gift basket of their tanning and sun care products for Dontay. So a very big THANK YOU to her and the folks at Australian Gold, headquartered in Indianapolis.

And finally, I wanted to give everyone an update on where our fundraising efforts stand as of today. We currently have a balance of 4294.60. We've come a long way, but we still have far to go. So please, if you can help Dontay get to Australia to compete in the Down Under Track & Field competition this summer, every little bit helps! We can't do this without the support of our wonderful family friends. So many of you have been so generous and for that, we cannot thank you enough! But we need your help in spreading the word. Please share our blog with your friends and family. Every connection helps us reach further. Thank you so much. And as always, if you'd like to contribute to Dontay's trip, you can click the image below. We appreciate you!
 
Sincerely,
The Wells Family

Down Under Sports will match donations at 30% until Friday

Dontay will get to go #snorkeling in the #GreatBarrierReef

Hi everyone,

This week's soup sells have netted us about $35.00 towards #DontaysBugAustralianTrip with #DownUnderSports.

We're getting the balance down but we still need your help! Right now is the best time to help by #donating. There are only two days left for Down Under Sports to match all donations we receive at 30% and every single dollar helps. So please, if you've been considering helping, now is the time.

Imagine being a 17 year old with the opportunity to travel to the other side of the world and visit the #DownUnder. It's an opportunity many of us will never get even now. But your help could be the difference to helping Dontay meet this dream. He will be able to visit the #GoldCoast and compete as a sprinter in the track & field competition then spend time sight seeing and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef.

Now is the time! Please click below to #donate today! Thank you so much for your consideration!

How to get your teenager to cook

Step 1: Dangle a trip to Australia in front of them.
Step 2: Tell them they have to find a way to raise money for said trip.
Step 3: Hand them a recipe.
Step 4: Watch!

Tonight's selections were Andouille Smokey Chili and the other choice, pictured above was a vegetarian red lentil, raisin and coconut soup which is simply fabulous!

We still need your help! We're trying to raise close to $5200 to send Dontay to Australia. To date we've raised approximately $1000.

We'd love to hear your ideas for fundraising and if you have contributions we could use as auction or raffle items, that would be amazing!

Please keep spreading the word and sharing our page. If you'd like to contribute, click below. Any amount helps. 

College visits

Dontay and Cameron outside of the Indiana University Admissions Office

 Australia is of course on all of our minds in our family. However, it's not the only thing on our minds. We have two juniors in high school right now who will be off to college soon. Today Dontay went with his dad and his brother Cameron to visit the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Indiana.

I have to give these guys credit. They were trekking through the snow in 18 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours, to visit IU today.  They were pretty impressed with the school and the campus but I think they are both still undecided at this point. That's okay, they still have plenty of time and a lot of options.

These guys have their whole futures ahead of them and an entire world to explore. I hope that Australia is just one of the many places Dontay will get to explore, because this guy is going places!

If you'd like to help Dontay begin his world travels by helping him get to Australia, please click below and donate to his trip today. We thank you for considering us and taking the time to read our progress!

Warmest regards (because it's sooo cold here tonight!),
The Wells Family

What do you call a lazy baby kangaroo?

...A Pouch Potato!

Dontay says he wants a baby kangaroo.  Funny stuff! I do hope he gets the chance to see some kangaroos while he's in Australia

He will fly into Brisbane, stay for one night, then it's onto the Gold Coast City where he will be competing.

He will stay at Mantra Circle on Cavill which looks pretty swanky to me! There, he will share an apartment with 3 or 4 other track & field athletes for the duration of his stay. He will have a free day where he can do and see what he'd like, so if anyone has any recommendations, we'd love to hear them!

Again, thank you all for your support. We appreciate you taking the time to keep up on how we're doing. We'd love it if you could share our page with your friends and family to wish him luck in not only his fundraising efforts, but also on his competition when he gets there. If you'd like to donate to help him raise the nearly $5200 he needs for this trip please check out Dontay's Big Australian Fundraiser.

Also for those who are not yet aware, in the local Indianapolis and surrounding areas, we are selling quarts of homemade soup as part of our fundraising efforts. This week's selections will be Coconut Red Lentil soup (vegetarian) as well as Smokey Chili with Sausage. We are selling these for $6.00 a quart. They will be delivered to you frozen in quart freezer bags. If you would like to order these, they will be delivered the week of December 9th (to Indianapolis and surrounding areas only). Today is the last day to place an order for delivery next week. You may place your order in the comments section below and pay cash when we deliver or you can pay on Dontay's Big Australian Fundraiser site, and just let us know how many quarts you would like of each type of soup. Thank you again!

We appreciate each of you so much!

Sincerely,
The Wells Family

Why we're blogging

Hey everyone! That's Dontay, leading the pack. He is a sprinter for the Noblesville High School Track & Field Team in Noblesville, Indiana. He is a junior this year. Down Under Sports has invited him to compete in an international track and field competition in Australia, in July 2014. So we are currently seeking ways to fundraise nearly $5200.00 for his trip. As of December 5th, 2013, that balance is down to approximately $4400.00 because of help from people like you.

This blog is our way of keeping our friends, community and family informed of our progress and eventually of his trip and competition in Australia. I would love for this to become a very interactive blog, with ideas and advice about fundraising and possible (free or low cost) venues to hold fundraising events. We are currently looking for businesses or individuals who would be willing to donate items that we can raffle or auction off. You can also help by donating here: Dontay's Big Australian Fundraiser. As of today we have just 10 days left to earn a 30% match from Down Under Sports on everything we earn.

I hope to provide daily updates on totals, fundraising plans, photos and more!

So please share our blog with your friends and family. Bookmark us and come back often to check in. Most of all, help us spread the word. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. We have a large task in front of us and we can't do it without you!

Thank you so much for stopping by and for your support. It really means a lot to us!

Hugs,
The Wells Family