Over the last 4 years Lora and John Olson, through our company Superior Cleaning Solutions, have been helping to raise money for the fight to rid the world of blood born cancers. Both John and I have had family members who have had cancer (John's dad died of cancer and my mom has conquered her fight with breast cancer). All of us know someone who has been touched by cancer.

The reason we got involved with this particular fundraiser was because of Barry and Carol Costa who lost their daughter Kim to this horrible disease. I met Barry in March 2007 (John had known him for several years already), when we had our first Water Restoration Technician class as a new company. It was a challenging week, as we had had some “unfortunate incidents” happen at work. The incidents don’t matter now, but Barry’s calming influence that week meant a lot to me...but little did I know what I would get when I took his WRT class at the end of that week. Barry is much more than a teacher...and really touched my life with Kim’s ten life lessons (please see below) he shared with the class. It is safe to say...Barry touches every student’s life when he teaches a class. Our favorite times of the year are spring and fall...when Barry comes to teach. Barry and Carol are a big part of who we are, and what our company has chosen to “focus” on as a business...giving back!

When we had decided to get involved with fund-raising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, we were only holding a small local raffle with a “dunk tank” during our customer appreciation day...pay $5 a ball to dunk John! But, this just wasn’t enough, so over the years we have pushed a little harder and have given a lot more to this fight.

Last year, we raised over $3,000, doubeling the amount from the previous year (every year since we started this fund raising, we have doubled the amount of money we have donated). Honestly...since last year I had been wondering how in the world we were going to double $3,000 in 2011??!!

And then it dawned on me...hey I can run too!!

So, I’m running the Disneyland ½ Marathon on September 4th, 2011.

So, as a company, we are shooting for $6,000, so we can double last year’s donation. I have personally committed to raising $3,400, but I want to do much, much more!!

Now for the details...you can just donate if you have no interest in being in the raffle we are doing in June, and thank you very much if that is what you are doing!!

If you want raffle tickets ($5 each) you can do that several ways:

• The first way is you can make a direct donation through this website. Just make sure to let us know you donated through this Team in Training Donation page and want raffle tickets entered in your name.
• Next you can call us with your credit card. We will send you an invoice for the IRS. And just so you know, we cover all credit card fees so if you send $100, the L&L Society gets $100!
• You can mail us a check or cash if your brave (or want to bring it in). Please make sure you include all your contact information so we can make sure you get your stuff if you win anything in the raffle.

The raffle will be held on June 11th during our CAD. You do not need to be present to win but you are responsible for the cost of shipping should you win.

What is there to win? There is an extensive list here: http://mikeysboard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=48444. Items are still being added and if you wish to donate a prize you are more then welcome. Doesn’t matter what it is and it doesn’t have to be cleaning related (last year we gave away coffee and this year Lora’s mother is donating time for genealogy research)…

Thank you all, family and friends who are helping us to reach this goal of $6,000 this year! And for next year...getting to $12,000??? Yikes, I dunno...

...maybe I’ll just have to run a full marathon with Barry!

Me and my step-son Kade at our race on April 30 (I did 5K and he did the 1 mile kids run).

...and here are Kim's 10 Life Lessons...

TEN LIFE LESSONS

Life Lesson Number 10

DEAL WITH LIFE ONE DAY AT A TIME

Sometimes when life gets crazy we feel like we'll never sort everything out. But if we just deal with everything one day and instance at a time, life just has a way or working through things. It also makes life's circumstances a little less overwhelming.

Life Lesson Number 9

TURN EVERY LIFE EXPERIENCE INTO A LEARNING EXPERIENCE

The best way I have found to cope with hard times more easily is to become knowledgeable about what is going on and try to find a meaning to everything that happens. Trust me, there is always one there.

Life Lesson Number 8

ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE POSITIVE

No matter how bad life can get, there is always a positive to be found. If you focus on the positive aspects of life, the hard times are easier to get through. The power of positive thinking is amazing and it works.

Life Lesson Number 7

TRY TO DO AT LEAST ONE NEW THING EVERY DAY

Much too often, people get into a routine of doing the same thing every day and their lives get boring. The new thing doesn't have to be big. It can be something really small like taking a different route to work or trying a new kind of food. Make a wish list for yourself of new stuff you want to try. Some things can be small and others, big. Plan on completing one of those things each day and by the end of every day your life will be that much more full.

Life Lesson Number 6

BE TRUE TO YOURSELF

No matter what happens in your life if you are true to yourself and confident about who you are, you can overcome anything. Always stick to who you are and don't worry if people are going to accept you or not. If you are confident with yourself, it will show and the people who really matter will accept you for who you are, not for who you are not.

Life Lesson Number 5

TOUCH AS MANY LIVES AS YOU CAN

Every time you meet someone new, you leave a little bit of yourself with them. They are affected by you. The more people you meet, the more complete both their and your lives are because of how you have been affected by each other. Think of the possibilities.

Life Lesson Number 4

ENJOY THE LITTLE THINGS

Although the big accomplishments in life are important, sometimes it's the little things in life that are more enjoyable. The conversations with you best friend in the middle of the night, or a quiet moment somewhere peaceful where you were just able to think, can add up to be much more important and memorable than any big thing.

Life Lesson Number 3

DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

Many times in life, people begin getting concerned with petty things. What people forget is that in the long run, it doesn't matter what "he said" or what "she did." It's not worth your time to get worked up about anything small or petty.

Life Lesson Number 2

HOLD ON TO YOUR FRIENDS

No matter what happens in your life, good or bad, your friends will be there for you. Whether it is a pat on the back or a shoulder to cry on that you need, your friends are there for you always.

Life Lesson Number 1

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT

Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose. We should never throw any opportunities away.

These life lessons were written by Kimberly Joy Costa, a 19-year old who passed away on July 24,2000 after her battle with leukemia. These words were presented to TEAM in TRAINING participants at the Walt Disney World Marathon on January 6, 2002