An Early Christmas Present

December 19th, 2011 by Donor By Design Team

The following is a wonderful example of interest, capacity and the power of relationships all coming together to create positive change in the world. And it all started with a football game…

Mark and Deb Scoular were watching a Bears game when Deb idly remarked, “You know, you don’t hear much about Jay Cutler’s diabetes anymore.”

Here’s some important information you need to know:

Jay Cutler, quarterback of the Chicago Bears, has Type I diabetes.
Mark Scoular is the director of YMCA Camp Carson in Princeton, Indiana.
Camp Carson wants to launch a camp for kids with Type I diabetes in 2012.
Jay Cutler grew up not too far from where Camp Carson is located. His sister worked at camp one summer.

All of these things had been true before that insignificant remark from Deb, but suddenly Mark connected them and wondered if he could turn those connections into support for this new camping program.

The next week, Mark contacted Cutler’s sister, asking if it was OK that they mentioned her connection to Camp Carson. She agreed that it was a great idea.

He looked up the Cutler Foundation on the web, and sent an email to the contact address listed. It was a long shot, he knew, but he explained the program and the plan to serve 40 kids with Type I diabetes in the summer of 2012. He explained that the program will cost about $25,000 and any help or advice the Foundation could give would be greatly appreciated, even if Jay could just visit the kids at camp.

About ten days later, he got a call from a representative of the Cutler Foundation. That person invited Mark and 10-15 kids who would be in the program to come to a Bears home game in Chicago. The kids would get to meet Jay Cutler.

If the story stopped there, it would already be pretty awesome. After all, Jay Cutler is a hero to so many kids with Type I diabetes. As a professional athlete, he is living proof that a disease doesn’t have to get in the way of your dreams. Plus the seats were second row in the end zone!

On December 4, Mark and several Camp Carson campers and their parents arrived at Soldier Field. They were led onto the field before the game and soon Jay Cutler came out to greet the kids, sign autographs and take pictures.

The group understood that the purpose of the visit was to talk about the camp with Jay and see how he might be interested in helping. They never even got that far.

During his photo time with the kids, Jay grinned and said he had a big surprise for everyone: a check for $25,000 – enough to fund the whole program next summer!

According to Jay, “Our Foundation is very happy we could help and support YMCA Camp Carson in starting the first diabetes focused camp in Southern Indiana, where I grew up. Bringing the Camp Carson crew up to Soldier Field and meeting the directors and some of the kids that will be involved with the camp was a great way to kick off our involvement with the project.”

This story is not only heart-warming, it’s illustrative of several fundraising best practices.

Have a strong case for support.
The power of relationships – who is connected to your organization and who might they connect you to?
The gift comes where interest and capacity meet.
It never hurts to ask.

Congratulations to YMCA Camp Carson and, more importantly, congratulations to those 40 kids who will get to have an overnight camp experience for the first time next summer. Thank you to Jay – and all the other donors large and small – who work to make children’s dreams come true each and every day.

Want to learn more? NBC Sports is doing a feature on Jay and Camp Carson to be shown during the pre-game of the Christmas Day Packers-Bears game.